Cover Outdated Wallpaper With An Affordable Alternative

Even if you know the best way to remove wallpaper, the process is difficult and time-consuming. Covering it with shiplap can seem like a quick and easy solution, but it's also expensive. An 8-foot primed shiplap board can cost nearly $10. Luckily, there are cheaper alternatives. If you want the look without the expense, you can fake it by making it. DIYing your own version of shiplap is a less inexpensive way to get rid of wallpaper without spending hours scraping and peeling. A 4-foot-by-8-foot piece of pine plywood costs about $25 and can be cut into roughly eight lengths of boards for the shiplap, making the cost about $3.12 per board — a big savings over the real thing. 

Installing shiplap on a wall is simple. All you need to get started is a few sheets of plywood, a table saw, and construction adhesive or some finish nails and wood filler. Carefully measure the wallpapered area you need to cover and decide how much of a gap you want between boards to determine how many you need. How much gap you leave is up to you, but if you don't want to see the wallpaper, consider leaving no gap at all. Alternatively, you can paint the wallpaper first to make sure it doesn't show through. Cut the plywood into planks — shiplap is typically 5 to 6½ inches wide — to be applied to the wall using construction adhesive, finish nails, or both. As you move through the process, remember to continuously check to make sure your boards are level.   

There are a few more steps before you get to a finished product. If you use construction adhesive to apply the faux shiplap, wait for it to dry, then proceed with painting. If you use finish nails, you will want to fill the holes and cover nail heads with wood filler and sand accordingly. For a seamless look, also caulk any gaps around the edges before priming and painting. If the shiplap sounds like more construction than you can handle, fret not, there's another way to cover up wallpaper with very little effort. 

Beadboard panels can be used to cover up your trouble spots with significantly less work than the faux shiplap. Beadboard paneling is designed to look like narrow planks, installed vertically and separated by grooves, and is most often used as wainscoting. However, there's nothing to keep you from getting creative and going all the way to the ceiling with it. At under $14 for a 32-inch-by-48 inch panel of beadboard, it could save time and money in the right spot. Ultimately, the solution you choose to cover your outdated wallpaper will likely come down to how much wall space you need to cover, if you prefer the vertical or horizontal board look, and what sort of time and effort commitment you're willing to make.