Board and Batten Wall Installation in Big Lake, MN
A blank wall in a Big Lake family room or a lake-house entry that should look finished, with battens spaced evenly from corner to corner.
Reply within one business day. Or call / text 763-204-2099.
A board and batten wall in Big Lake MN is the quickest way to give a plain drywall room some character, and in a lake home it can tie together rooms that were updated at different times. JMB Builders, ten minutes away in Zimmerman, lays out the battens on your wall before cutting, works around outlets and windows, and leaves it caulked and primed. Priced per wall.
- Priced per wall
- Layout marked on the wall first
- Caulked, filled and primed
In the 1990s and 2000s neighborhoods near the Northstar line, most rooms were finished in flat drywall with thin base and no casing on the windows. A board and batten wall behind the bed, a two-thirds wall in the dining area with a cap rail, or wainscoting up the hallway is what owners ask for most. It goes up in a day or two and does not touch the floor or the ceiling.
Big Lake's lake homes are a different job. Rooms added in different decades often carry different trim, and an entry that sees wet towels and sandy feet all summer needs material that can take it. We use PVC battens and cap where the wall gets splashed and primed MDF or pine in dry rooms, and we carry the same cap height and batten spacing from room to room so an open floor plan reads as one house.
Get a written quote for this job
Three photos and a sentence is enough: a reply within one business day, or ask for a free in-home estimate. Or text the photos to 763-204-2099.
What you supply
- A straight-on photo of each wall, its length and the ceiling height
- The look you want: full height, two-thirds with a cap, or wainscoting panels
- Hooks or a ledge you want on the cap rail, if you have picked them out
- Paint color if we are painting, or leave it primed and paint it yourself
What JMB supplies
- Battens, top rail, cap and base in primed MDF, pine, or PVC for wet entries
- A layout taped or penciled on the wall before anything is cut
- Outlet box extenders so cover plates sit flush
- Casing in the same material where battens meet a window or door
- Filler, paintable caulk and primer on every seam and nail hole
- Cleanup and haul-away of cutoffs
- Painting when you want it done, quoted as its own line
How it is priced: per wall
Quoted in writing from your photos, with a reply within one business day. What moves the number:
- Wall length and height, and full height vs. two-thirds with a cap
- How tight the batten spacing is
- PVC for a damp lake entry vs. MDF or pine in a dry room
- Textured drywall that needs backing panels or a skim coat between battens
- Windows, doors, outlets and vents on the wall
- Matching cap height and spacing across several connected rooms
Send a photo of each wall straight on, a close-up of the wall texture, the wall length and ceiling height. Point out outlets hidden behind furniture.
How long it takes
One feature wall: usually a day. A lake-house entry with cap rail and hooks: one to two days. A wall that needs backing panels adds a day.
How your project works
- 1
Send photos, get a written quote
Send three photos of the space and a sentence about what you want. You get a clear, itemized reply within one business day. Prefer a look in person? A free in-home estimate is always an option.
- 2
Pick materials, or bring your own
We help you choose profiles and materials that fit the house and the budget, or match your existing millwork exactly — or you buy the door or trim yourself and we install it. Everything is confirmed before the crew is scheduled.
- 3
Clean, precise installation
The crew shows up on time, protects floors and furniture, and installs with tight joints and consistent reveals. Photos of the finished work go in your job folder.
- 4
Walkthrough and invoice
We walk the finished work with you. If anything is not right, we fix it before we call the job done. Then one invoice, paid by check or direct deposit — no card fees, no payment links.
Situations and options
Feature wall, full height
Battens from the baseboard to the ceiling on one wall, usually behind a bed or a sofa. In a subdivision home with flat walls this is the most common single-wall job.
Two-thirds wall with a cap rail
Battens to about two-thirds of the wall with a cap on top, for dining areas and hallways. Leaves room for a second color above.
Wet entry in PVC
PVC battens, cap and base where swimsuits, towels and boots come in from the lake. Takes splashing without swelling the way MDF can.
Board and Batten Wall Installation in Big Lake, MN: questions, answered
Can board and batten go in a lake house entry that gets wet?
Yes. For an entry or mudroom that sees wet towels and boots, we use PVC battens, cap and base, which do not swell when they get splashed. It paints like wood. Primed MDF stays for the dry rooms.
My Big Lake lake home has different trim in every room. Can wall paneling help?
It can. Carrying the same cap height and batten spacing through connected rooms makes them read as one house, and we can bring the casing and baseboard in those rooms into one style at the same time. The trim is a separate line on the quote.
How much does a board and batten wall cost in Big Lake?
It is priced per wall, set by the wall size, the batten spacing, the material and how many outlets and windows are on it. There are no prices on this site. Send photos and the wall length and we reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.
Board and batten or wainscoting, which should I pick?
Board and batten is flat battens on the wall, simple and suited to farmhouse and modern rooms. Wainscoting usually means raised or picture-frame panels below a chair rail, which looks more formal. Both are priced per wall, and we can lay out either on your wall so you can see the spacing before we cut.
Do you need a permit for board and batten in Big Lake?
Adding trim to a wall is finish carpentry and usually needs no permit. If you want an outlet moved or a light added on that wall, a licensed electrician does it, and we check with the City of Big Lake building department whether that part needs a permit.
Do you install board and batten walls in Zimmerman and Monticello too?
Yes. We are based in Zimmerman and install board and batten and wainscoting in Monticello, Elk River, Becker and across the north metro. Send photos for a reply within one business day, or book a free in-home estimate.
Recent JMB work, from our job log
59 installs recorded across 30 Twin Cities communities since Dec 2025. Window and door installs for homeowners and the builders we work with. Counts come straight from our job log; no customer names.
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Read morePage reviewed October 9, 2026 · JMB Builders LLC, MN license BC809005 · All carpentry by city pages
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