If you're going to install wood walls in your new closet, there's no reason not to go all-out and install cedar walls. Cedar is a favored surface for closets because the sharp, clean scent of the wood infuses the clothes and repels moths. Cedar is installed like other types of wood walls, with tongue-and-groove boards that you hang horizontally over the bare studs of the closet instead of hanging drywall. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Measure the width of one of your cedar boards with a tape measure and add 1/2 inch. Measure this distance up from the closet floor on one of the wall studs and mark the spot with a pencil. For instance, if your boards are 8 inches wide, the mark should be 8 1/2 inches off the floor.
2. Hold your carpenter's level horizontally across the wall where you made the pencil mark. Mark all the studs at that level.
3. Measure the width of the closet wall. Cut a length of cedar board to that measurement on a miter saw.
4. Place the board horizontally across the studs, under the marked line. Position the tongue side facing upward, with a 1/2-inch space below it.
5. Shoot nails from your trim nailer through the face of the board where it crosses the studs. Put one nail near the top of the board and one near the bottom on each stud it crosses.
6. Cut the next plank the same length. Set it on top of the first one, locking the groove down over the tongue.
7. Secure the second board by shooting one nail per stud through the upper edge of the board, right next to the tongue. Angle the nail downward so the next board will hide it.
8. Repeat the process for each board, building up the wall. Cut the top board lengthwise on a table saw, if necessary, to leave a 1/2-inch space at the top. Cover all the walls of the closet in the same manner.
9. Cut trim on your miter saw to fit at the floor and ceiling of each wall, covering the 1/2-inch spaces. Attach the trim with your trim nailer.
Tags: your trim nailer, 2-inch space, horizontally across, Measure width, trim nailer, wood walls, your trim
