EASY STEPS TO YOUR TIMBER WALL FEATURE AND MIRROR

2022-02-03 -

Gather your supplies

• 2400 x 1200 x 12mm MDF

• 30 x 11mm x 2.4m Tasmanian oak (30)

• 12 x 12mm x 2.4m Tasmanian oak (2)

• 2400 x 1200 x 17mm plywood

• Self-adhesive LED light strip

• 800mm round mirror

You’ll also need

Measuring tape; pencil; circular saw; undercoat; black paint; painting equipment; mitre saw; sandpaper; staining pad; Danish oil; air-powered nail gun with 23-gauge nails; clamps; spirit level; 7 and 4mm plastic spacers; drill; countersinking drill bit; 30 and 60mm screws; scrap timber for trimmer jig; trimmer fitted with a straight cut bit; hammer; nail; glass and mirror silicone

For you to note

Before installing panels, have an electrician rough in wiring to power LED lights.

Here’s how

STEP 1 To find height of backing panels, measure from sideboard to underside of cornice and to top of skirting. Make panels 5mm less than these distances.

STEP 2 Cut MDF to size, using circular saw. Width of each panel is 1078mm.

STEP 3 Undercoat MDF then paint panels black. Allow to dry after each coat.

STEP 4 Using mitre saw, cut Tasmanian oak battens to length to suit height of backing panels.

STEP 5 Sand battens to make smooth. Remove dust.

STEP 6 Use staining pad to coat battens in 2 coats of oil. Allow to dry and sand lightly after the first coat.

STEP 7 Nail 12mm battens to 30mm battens to create four L shapes to hide side edges of backing panels. Use air-powered nail gun and 23ga nails, which don’t need filling and sanding.

STEP 8 Nail L-shapes to side edges of panels.

STEP 9 Clamp spirit level to workbench to easily align remaining battens with edges of backing panels. Push backing panels against level then nail battens to panels, using a 7mm plastic spacer for even gaps.

STEP 10 Occasionally measure battens already laid to ensure they are not ’creeping’ and you don’t end up running out of room on panels. If they are creeping, slightly adjust gap on subsequent battens to bring them back into line.

STEP 11 To ensure fixings to attach panels to wall are hidden, determine where timber wall studs are in relation to panels and leave off those battens. They can be attached once panels are fixed to the wall.

STEP 12 Sit top panel in place against wall, using 4mm plastic spacers to create a gap to sideboard. Predrill and countersink

holes in panel to go into wall studs, then screw in place using 60mm screws.

STEP 13 Nail battens that were left off on panel, using 7mm spacers to ensure gaps to other battens and sideboard are correct.

STEP 14 Attach panel under sideboard to wall as you did for top panel, then fix remaining battens.

STEP 15 For mirror, mark out 17mm ply with an 800 x 800mm square. Use spirit level to mark diagonals of this square to find centre.

STEP 16 To cut circle, first make a circle cutting jig for your trimmer. Screw a scrap length of timber to trimmer, then measure from the bit and mark points along it to suit radius of circle you are cutting. Mark a spot 375mm along jig then nail this to centre of square on ply.

STEP 17 Set trimmer to cut a few millimetres deep and rotate on jig to cut circle. Work in an anticlockwise direction and make multiple passes around the circle, cutting a few millimetres deeper on each pass.

STEP 18 Sand cut edges of circle. Remove dust then apply undercoat to faces and edge of the circle.

STEP 19 Stick adhesive LED light strip around the edge of the circle.

STEP 20 Apply a generous bead of glass and mirror silicone on front face of circle. Sit mirror on top and press down. Measure around mirror to circle to make sure it is centred. Leave for silicone to set.

STEP 21 Use circular saw set on a 45° angle to cut two 600mm long split battens out of 30mm Tasmanian oak, with the angled cut along one edge of each. Predrill, countersink and, using 30mm screws, screw one to back of mirror with angled cut facing ply and at bottom edge of batten. Sit it towards the top of the mirror. Also screw a small oak spacing block to ply towards the bottom.

STEP 22 Screw second split batten to wall. Position so it will interlock with batten on mirror, taking into account its position on wall.

STEP 23 Connect LED light strip to low voltage wire. Lift mirror onto wall so split battens interlock.

FOR SHOPPING DETAILS AND PROJECT SUPPLIES, SEE OUR STOCKISTS PAGE