Mortar and Murder
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5. Apply paint to the stencil openings (islands) using an up-and-down dabbing motion. If you use a back-and-forth brushing motion, the brush will push paint under the stencil and cause smearing.
6. Begin with the part of the stencil that is farthest away from you to avoid accidental smudging, and start at the edges of each island/opening and work your way toward the center.
7. Allow paint to dry thoroughly before applying additional coats of paint for a deeper color or shading.
8. When you are satisfied with the color(s) and the paint is completely dry, remove the low-tack tape and carefully lift the stencil.
9. Do any touching up that needs to be done.
- Helpful Hints -
Resist the temptation to load up the brush with paint so that you don’t have to do a second coat. More color is achieved by repeated coverage, not by using more paint.
A brush that is on the dry side will keep paint from seeping under the stencil and smearing or running. If paint is seeping under the stencil or you are not getting clean edges, you are using too much paint.
When your brush is properly loaded, an even powdering of paint is left when blotted on a paper towel.
Making Your Own Stencils
TOOL AND MATERIALS
• Tracing paper/drawing paper
• Clear plastic
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Sharp razor blade
DIRECTIONS
1. Choose an image you’d like to use for a stencil or draw your own. Keep in mind that simpler is better. The best images have high contrast with few variations. Wall-papers and fabric patterns are some good places to look for patterns.
2. Draw or copy your image onto tracing paper or clear, fairly thick plastic. If the image you’re tracing doesn’t have disconnected parts, you’ll have to draw those in yourself.
3. Different areas of the stencil should have clear boundaries that allow bridges to appear around the islands (openings) where paint is to be applied. Make sure the bridges are wide enough to keep paint from seeping under and smudging your image.
4. Consider making your stencil out of clear, fairly thick plastic; some people say presentation covers work well. That way, you can use your stencil more than just once or twice.
5. If you prefer working with paper, there are ways you can protect your paper stencil for future use:
- If you can get your hands on some clear contact paper, you can cut a piece the size of your stencil, remove the backing, stick it to the paper stencil, and cut out the islands.
- Packing tape works, as well. Place your stencil on a flat surface with the front facing up. Run strips of packing tape over the stencil while making sure to overlap the edges so that the entire surface is covered. Run the tape past the edges and trim the excess with a pair of scissors. Cut out the islands.
- It helps to put the protective surface on the front of the stencil, because having a slick surface on the back increases the chance for paint smearing underneath.
Installing Fake Paneling
Authentic Colonial homes often had beautifully paneled rooms, and if you want to replicate tongue-in-groove Colonial-style paneling, you can certainly do that. Be sure to use knot-free, select-grade pine, and start by measuring the wall you’re paneling and drawing a detailed schematic replica of what you want it to look like.
Colonial paneling consisted of three sections of wood: stiles—medium-thin vertical pieces; rails—medium-thin horizontal pieces; and panels—bigger square or rectangular pieces to go between the rails and stiles. You make panels by gluing and clamping boards together.
Rails and stiles have grooves cut into their sides, while panels have tongues, making for a tight fit. You start by cutting all the stiles, then all the rails, then the panels, since they take different saw attachments.
Dry-fit them together first to make sure they go together perfectly before hanging them with eight penny-finish nails. Or, if this sounds like too much work, you can buy kits of precut Colonial paneling from lumber yards or online providers, if you don’t feel like doing so much cutting yourself.
However, if you want the look of fancy paneling but you don’t have the time, money, or patience to put together the real thing, there are easy ways you can make your walls look paneled for a lot less money and with a lot less effort. This works especially well for doing sections of walls—say, to install wainscoting below a chair rail in a dining room—but you can do whole walls this way as well, by continuing the same process all the way up to the ceiling. All you’ll be doing is nailing a grid of trim pieces to the wall in a pattern, and then painting it to look like expensive paneling.
TOOLS AND MATERIALS
• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Level
• Wooden wainscoting panels of desired width
• Table saw
• Nails and hammer
• Construction adhesive
• Top cap
• Baseboard
• Crown molding (if doing a whole wall)
• Caulk
• Primer and paint
• Paintbrushes or paint roller
DIRECTIONS
1. Roughly lay out where the panels will be on the wall and locate any fixtures, such as light switches, plugs, receptacles, vents, etc. You’ll have to cut holes for these, or avoid them.
2. Determine how much material you’ll need. As a general rule, the bottom rail is wider than the top rail, and the stiles are narrower than both. Quantity will depend on how close together you put the stiles, i.e., how big the panels are. As a general rule, narrow panels make the ceiling look higher while wide panels make the wall look longer and the room bigger.
3. Measure the desired height of the wainscot and draw a level line the whole way around the room to mark the reference point for installation. If you’re doing a whole wall, or the whole room, repeat the process all the way up the wall to the ceiling.
4. Carefully lay out and mark on your walls where all the pieces that will form the wainscot (horizontal rails and vertical stiles) will go.
5. Use the table saw to rip all your stock ahead of time to the size you’ve determined you need. You’re essentially building a grid, so make sure the stiles fit snugly between the rails.
6. Use nails and construction adhesive to secure the top (horizontal) rail along the level line.
7. Secure all of the vertical stiles in place. Use the level to make sure that the corners are square.
8. Secure the bottom rail below the stiles.
9. Secure the top cap—the decorative piece that finishes off the wainscot. If you’re planning to panel the whole wall, skip this step and add more stiles on top of the top rail for the next section of your paneled wall.
10. Cut and secure the baseboard.
11. If you’re going all the way up the wall, cut and secure the crown molding to finish the wall.
12. Sand any saw marks and sharp edges.
13. Caulk joints.
14. Prime and paint.
- Helpful Hints -
If you’re limiting yourself to doing a wainscot, a fancy crown molding adds balance under the ceiling. You can spend money and effort on putting together a multi-tiered crown molding, or you can fake it: By adding a decorative trim piece or two to the bottom of the existing crown molding, if needed, and by adding a piece or two of decorative trim a couple of inches farther down the wall, and then painting the trim pieces and the wall between them the same color, you give the impression that the whole area is crown molding. Works like a charm!
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Jennie Bentley
FATAL FIXER-UPPER
SPACKLED AND SPOOKED
PLASTER AND POISON
MORTAR AND MURDER
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