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Day 8 of Kristi Linauer’s 2013 bathroom makeover records the finishing stage for her faux wood plank walls: she primed and painted horizontal hardboard strips, leaving the final trim work for later. The wall treatment used 3/8-inch hardboard (also called eucaboard) cut into 4-inch strips, attached with paneling adhesive and finishing nails, with 3/8-inch tile spacers setting the gaps.
The project is useful as a precise record of one DIY installation, but its moisture reasoning needs careful qualification. Linauer said oil-based primer worked into the gaps made the boards resistant to steam and moisture. That was her explanation at the time, not a published test result or a manufacturer’s approval for a bathroom, countertop splash zone, shower edge or other wet location.
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What Day 8 covered
Linauer’s January 31, 2013 update was the priming-and-painting installment, not the installation of the planks themselves. She reported that the horizontal strips had been primed and painted and that trim work still remained. The underlying wall treatment had been installed in the preceding installment, dated January 29, 2013.
That distinction matters when reading the project as a how-to. Part 2 explains the coating and finishing decisions. The dimensions, fastening method and layout come from Part 1. Together, the two posts describe a decorative wall assembly rather than a tested system for wet-room construction.
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The wall assembly reported in Part 1
Material and strip size
The planks were made from 3/8-inch hardboard, which Linauer also called eucaboard. She bought two 4-by-8-foot sheets for the bathroom and had them cut into 4-inch-wide strips at Home Depot. The strips were installed horizontally, creating continuous bands across the wall.
| Reported item | Project detail | What the record establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Panel material | 3/8-inch hardboard, also called eucaboard | The substrate used for the faux plank treatment |
| Sheet size | 4 by 8 feet | The size of the two sheets purchased for the room |
| Strip width | 4 inches | The visible height of each horizontal plank |
| Layout | Horizontal | The direction selected for the finished stripes |
| Gap spacing | 3/8 inch | The joint width set with tile spacers |
| Adhesive | Loctite paneling adhesive | The adhesive named in the installation account |
| Mechanical fastening | 3/4-inch finishing nails driven with a brad nailer | The reported nail-and-tool combination |
| Hole treatment | Wood filler | Used to fill nail holes before finishing |
| Edge treatment | Quarter-round trim | Planned for corners and exposed edges |
The table reflects what the historical account says was used; it is not a current bill of materials or a statement that every listed product remains available, compatible or approved for present-day bathroom use.
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Linauer used 3/8-inch tile spacers between strips while installing them. The spacers established a consistent visual separation and kept one board from sitting directly against the next. The project account identifies the spacer size, but it does not report a movement calculation, ventilation design, backing specification or moisture test for the finished joints.
How the strips were held in place
The installation account names two forms of attachment: Loctite paneling adhesive and 3/4-inch finishing nails installed with a brad nailer. Nail holes were filled with wood filler. Quarter-round was planned to cover corners and edges after the field of strips was in place.
Those details explain how this particular decorative treatment was assembled. They do not establish the load capacity of the wall, the condition of the underlying surface, the spacing of fasteners, or whether the same assembly is suitable beside a shower or sink without additional protection.
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Priming the faux planks
The primer Linauer selected
For the coating stage, Linauer identified Zinsser Oil-based Cover Stain as her preferred primer. She wrote that she found it sandable once it was completely dry. Her description is a dated project observation: the post does not provide a drying time, temperature or humidity, number of coats, film thickness, sanding grit or independent adhesion test.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Oil-based primer was applied over the hardboard strips and into the spaces between them. Linauer specifically said she made sure plenty of primer reached the gaps. The intent was to seal the visible joints before paint and to avoid a separate caulking step between boards.
Why she did not caulk between boards
In the January 31 post, Linauer explained: “First, I didn’t caulk between the boards. I didn’t see any need to because I used oil-based primer on the boards, and I made sure that I got plenty of it in the gaps to seal the spaces between the boards and the wall. That also makes the boards resistant to steam and moisture.”
This quotation should be read as her belief about the assembly, not as proof of performance. The post supplies no test data showing how the hardboard, primer, adhesive, fasteners and painted joints behave after repeated steam exposure, splashing, cleaning or countertop leaks. It also does not say that the primer manufacturer approved this exact wall construction for a bathroom or wet location.
Painting and the later trim work
After priming, Linauer painted the plank treatment. The January 31 update says trim work was still unfinished, so the photograph or description from that point should not be interpreted as the final edge treatment.
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In a later comment, she said she finished the plank edges with quarter-round trim and then caulked, primed and painted. This clarifies the sequence at the perimeter: she did not caulk the spaces between the field boards, but she did later caulk around the quarter-round and its edges. Those are different joints serving different visual and sealing purposes.
What is known about corners and exposed edges
Part 1 says quarter-round was planned at corners and edges, and the later comment says that trim was installed and caulked. The sources do not provide a measured trim profile, a corner diagram, a product specification for the caulk, or a detailed treatment for every transition.
A reader specifically asked what happened where the planks met edges, including the shower edge. The documented answer is limited to quarter-round at the plank edges followed by caulking, priming and painting. The posts do not establish a separate shower-edge waterproofing detail, membrane, backer system or manufacturer-approved transition.
Why the boards run horizontally
Linauer was asked why she ran the boards horizontally instead of vertically. Her answer was aesthetic: she wanted an unusual look and liked horizontal stripes. The orientation was therefore a design choice, not a performance claim.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteHorizontal strips emphasize the width of a small room and create repeated bands across the wall. That visual effect was the point of the choice in this project. The source does not report a comparison of horizontal and vertical layouts for water management, structural movement, cleaning or durability.
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Moisture, steam and countertop exposure: what the record does and does not prove
The author’s rationale
The bathroom raised predictable reader concerns. One commenter asked how the treatment would hold up to the “use/abuse” around the countertop. Another asked what would happen when a small bathroom filled with steam. Linauer’s response was that oil-based primer in the gaps would make the boards resistant to steam and moisture.
That statement explains the decision she made in 2013. It does not verify the result. Neither the project post nor the installation account reports a controlled exposure test, long-term inspection, failure rate, water-absorption measurement or current manufacturer instruction for this assembly.
Limits of the documented evidence
The available record does not establish whether 3/8-inch hardboard with this adhesive, nail pattern, primer and paint is suitable for all bathrooms. It does not establish suitability inside a shower, directly at a tub, behind a sink that receives frequent splashes, or anywhere that remains wet rather than merely humid.
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It also does not establish how the wall performs when water reaches an unsealed cut edge, a nail hole, a board end, the back of a joint or the seam between trim and another material. Those locations can differ from the broad painted face, and the historical posts do not document them individually.
How to describe the method accurately today
The defensible description is that Linauer used oil-based primer over the hardboard and into the gaps because she believed it would improve resistance to steam and moisture. A careful reader should not convert that rationale into a guarantee, code interpretation or manufacturer recommendation. Anyone adapting the look now would need to check the current instructions for the exact panel, primer, paint, adhesive, caulk and intended location, especially where direct water is possible.
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Project chronology at a glance
- January 29, 2013: The preceding installment described two 4-by-8-foot sheets of 3/8-inch hardboard/eucaboard cut into 4-inch strips.
- Installation: The strips were laid horizontally, spaced with 3/8-inch tile spacers, attached with Loctite paneling adhesive and 3/4-inch finishing nails driven by a brad nailer.
- Preparation for finish: Nail holes were filled with wood filler, with quarter-round planned for corners and exposed edges.
- January 31, 2013: Linauer reported priming and painting the plank treatment. She said she did not caulk between boards because she worked oil-based primer into the gaps.
- Later comment: She said the quarter-round edges were caulked, then primed and painted.
What a reader can safely take from this makeover
- The faux-plank look came from inexpensive sheet material cut into repeated 4-inch horizontal strips, not from solid tongue-and-groove boards.
- The visible 3/8-inch joints were created during installation with tile spacers.
- Both adhesive and finishing nails were part of the reported attachment method, followed by wood filler over the nail holes.
- The finishing stage depended on primer reaching the joints, with paint applied afterward.
- There is a meaningful difference between the uncaulked field joints and the later-caulked perimeter trim.
- The horizontal direction was chosen for appearance and an uncommon striped effect.
- The author’s moisture statement is historical reasoning, not independently verified evidence of waterproof or wet-location performance.
Questions the original project leaves open
Was the wall assembly rated for a bathroom?
The posts do not say that it was. They document what Linauer installed and why she believed the primer would help, but they do not cite a rating, test or approval for the complete assembly.
How did it meet the shower?
The documented edge treatment is quarter-round followed by caulking, priming and painting. No more specific shower-edge construction is given.
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How long did the finish last?
The supplied project account records the installation and finishing decisions but does not provide a measured service-life report or later durability test.
Why not caulk every gap?
Linauer’s stated reason was that oil-based primer worked into the gaps and, in her view, sealed them sufficiently for steam and moisture resistance. That is her explanation, not a universal rule for painted hardboard walls.
Bottom line for this historical makeover
Day 8 shows the visual transformation step: the hardboard strips had already been installed, then were primed with oil-based Cover Stain and painted, with quarter-round and perimeter caulking completed afterward. The project’s distinctive choices were the 3/8-inch hardboard, 4-inch horizontal strips, 3/8-inch spacer gaps and striped layout.
Its moisture lesson requires precision. The author believed primer in the joints made the wall resistant to steam and moisture, but the published project does not validate that belief with testing or current installation guidance. Treat the posts as a record of one 2013 DIY bathroom makeover, and verify every present-day product and wet-area requirement before reproducing the assembly.
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