How to install VJ panelling when walls arent straight?

[Haley1]

I want to put VJ panelling in my bedrooms and my house is older and walls aren’t straight, how do I make sure the lines are straight without the straight lines of the panelling tapering off? New to this hope that’s understandable 😊

[EricL]

Hello @Haley1 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about installing EasyVJ panels on your wall.

The most common method of straightening a plasterboard wall is by packing it with timber moulding strips. I recommend using a builder's line and running it from left to right over its entire length and you will see exactly where the dips and bows are on your wall. 

When you see where it is low, I suggest using timber moulding of the appropriate thickness then glueing and screwing it to the surface. Where it is too tall use screws to clamp it back down onto the wall frame. This would be the quick way to level the surface.

The ideal way would be to remove the plasterboard and examining the stud frame. The stud wall can then be adjusted by re-aligning the timber pieces and once that is done you can now cover the wall with the EasyVJ panel.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Jewelleryrescue for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Dave-1]

Good Evening @Haley1 

Nice question straight out of the blocks First Up welcome to the Bunnings community page Its a great place to find this sort of information out. And also get inspired by what other people have done!

So a question or two first.

Any chance of a photo of the walls you are going to be putting the VJ paneling on? 

Do you have a level or a laser lever available to use?

How high is it from floor to ceiling?

Would you consider using a piece of trim in the corner to cover up any misalignment? (20mm by 20mm square trim)

Most house walls I know of are not straight as in vertically ... Yep, I was surprised as well. I have an older style of VJ paneling in one of my rooms. It "looks straight" but I suspect the walls will not be perfect. I think the way they have managed this is to have a "wider" section of the VJ section near the edge of the corner. That way your walls will look straight. If you go for a narrower section then there is a chance of that tapering off you are thinking of.

If you look at the picture as is (VJ paneling) is an example of what I mean. On the right of the pic the spaces are wide, and on the left the spaces are narrower. When cutting the paneling try and space the sheets so you dont end up with a narrow corner. (The whole panel is spaced the same, I was just using the pic to describe)  I just went and measured my paneling Nifty the way they have done it. The left side aligns perfectly with the corner, by the time the paneling is across the other side of the room its out by 7mm. Its hidden by my built in wardrobe so cant see into the corner at the actual corner 😕 I also only have a feature wall of VJ paneling to worry about.

Looking at the paneling page there are a whole bunch of different sizes between the vertical lines, have you decided on what style you want?

I would start with drawing a straight line across the bottom of the wall with pencil, (depending on your height of the room you may need to trim the boards to suit) You could use a long level and pencil mark the line or a laser red line level. I would go old school with a level as its what I have. You can always measure from top left to bottom right and then from top right to bottom left. If they are the same then the walls are straight

Consider removing your skirting board so the top of the boards line up with your cornice that way the base cane be covered when you put the skirting boards back over them. 

Dave