How to Install Raised Panels on the Walls

Install baseboard molding designed to be used with raised panels along the floor. Measure each wall's length and transfer these measurements to the molding. Cut the molding's ends at a 45-degree angle with a miter saw so that each piece comes together to form a 90-degree angle around the corner. Position the baseboard molding pieces against the wall and floor and nail into place.

Lay a 4-foot level on the floor near each wall to locate the highest corner. This is where you will begin installation of the panels. Work your way around the entire room with a stud finder and locate each of the wall studs. Use a flat-head screwdriver to remove the screws holding all the electrical outlet covers to the wall.

Measure a raised panel's height. Start in the highest corner of the room and draw a level line around the entire room at the panel height, using a 4-foot level as a straight edge.

Insert a tube of construction adhesive into a caulk gun. Apply a wiggly bead of adhesive along the back of a raised panel. Set the panel's bottom edge behind the gap in the baseboard molding. Line up its upper edge with the level line. Drive three to four finishing nails through the panel and into the wall stud it covers using a pneumatic nail gun.

Apply construction adhesive to the back of a second panel. Insert this panel's tongue into the first panel's groove (or vice versa if you are working in the opposite direction). Drive three to four finishing nails through the second panel and into the wall stud it covers.

Continue to install panels next to each other all the way along the wall. When you reach an outlet, measure the distance from the floor to the outlet's bottom edge and from the last installed panel to the outlet's side. Transfer these measurements to a new panel and use them to draw the outlet's outline onto the panel. Cut out the outlet outline with a jigsaw and install the panel.

Cut a panel to fit in the gap between the last full panel you installed and the opposite corner. Measure from the last panel to the corner and subtract 1/8 inch. Transfer this measurement twice to a new panel, once near the top and once near the bottom. Use a level as a straight edge to draw a line along the two marks. Cut the panel along the line with a jigsaw and install it. Install the raised panels all the way around the room.

Set the rail over the raised panels' upper edges. Secure it to the wall studs with finishing nails.