How To Remove a Shiplap Wall {And Repair the Damage!}
January 31, 2026
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Removing a shiplap wall (and repairing ALL of the damage).
Cleaning up the drywall after removing this simple wall treatment took SO much longer than I thought! Thankfully it was worth all of the work in the end.
I have a knack for thinking two thoughts (that come back to bite me) when I start a DIY project. The first is "This isn't going to take long," and the second..."This one is going to be easy."
Usually I'm very wrong -- you'd think I would learn. I have learned not to say "This is going really well." 😂
Those first two thoughts were in my head more than a week ago when I started removing the shiplap from our laundry/mud room accent wall:
The horizontal lines were too busy in this room and I knew they needed to go.
I figured there would be some damage to the wall when I got it all down, but it was way worse than I thought.
Removing the actual trim was easy. First, I scored along any caulk with a razor blade -- along the walls or any trim:
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If you don't do this, it may pull up paint on adjoining surfaces as you pull the trim away.
To make sure I didn't damage the wall more, I was careful when removing each piece of shiplap. I used my flat painter's tool and tapped it behind the trim, then gently rocked it against the wall to pull it away:
Thankfully I used thin luan sheets cut down for my shiplap, so they were easy to remove.
Most of the nails came out with the luan, but there were plenty still stuck in the studs -- it was easier to hammer them back in, then use a nail set to put the nail back into the drywall:
Doing that 800 times was super fun! That's probably an exaggeration, but it felt like it. It took forever to find them all -- I would wipe my hand over the wall to find nails that were still poking out.
Next, I had to address the lines of paint that were dried up on the wall:
I couldn't figure out why these were only above me on the wall, and then I remembered that I touched up the bottom edge of every piece with paint after I installed the shiplap.
Sooooo I had numerous lines with raised, dried paint that I had to address. I used the same flat painter's tool and scraped it across those areas to remove it:
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| Some of these holes were from hanging items well before the shiplap. |
Which created a bit more drywall damage, but I would rather have that than the obvious lines. This was only on the top half of the wall.
This is why I never use glue on my wall molding projects! The drywall damage would have been so much worse.
Finally it was time to start repairing the wall! I grabbed this pink drywall spackle that turns white when it dries:
Thankfully this was the easiest part. For the majority of the holes, just a quick swipe was needed.
For areas that had deeper damage where the top layer of drywall was removed, I used the flat metal tool to spread it evenly across. Once dry, I used a wet sanding block to knock down the bigger spots (sanding while damp helps to cut down on drywall dust).
For the nail holes I just used a wet rag to wipe away any excess:
I wiped down the whole wall and then...finally!...it was time to paint!
The blue paint color (called Whitestone) on the shiplap and other walls had a purple cast in this room most of the day. When I held it up to the wallpaper, it looked like a great match, but the low natural light in this room changed the color on that wall.
I started looking into warmer paint colors, and then realized I had plenty of the Pachyderm paint from our dining room leftover:
I LOVE this color -- it's such a lovely, warm neutral.
It went so beautifully with the creamy tones in the pretty botanical wallpaper I installed in this room:
So I went for it! I wasn't so sure before it dried, but later that night I absolutely loved it!:
I really love the contrast with all of the new white trim in here! I shared the DIY Craftsman window trim tutorial earlier this week, and I also decided to replace all of the baseboards as well.
Usually removing baseboards doesn't take too long -- unless the base is installed before your tile. (And the tile is laid right up against it.):
It took absolutely forever to remove all of the base...I was definitely questioning my decisions at this point.
Installing baseboards aren't difficult, but the finishing process of filling holes, caulking and painting takes forever. It's easy work, but time consuming for sure.
Every time I update our baseboards to this taller (1x6 trim with simple shoe molding) version, I say I'm never doing it again. But then I love it so much I can't wait to start the next room!:
Taller baseboards aren't always a super obvious change, but they make a room feel higher end overall.
Here's my progress so far, with the shiplap lines gone, new tall baseboards and all of the walls painted in the warm Pachyderm paint color:
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| Check out the cat closet here. |
These DIY projects took me a total of eight days, but they were well worth it. (I can say that now.)
I have a few more updates I'm working on, but so far so good!:
Now the wallpaper wall is the star, and the rest of the room is much calmer and soothing. I love how the trim pops now!
I didn't expect these projects to take so long, but the rest of the updates should be easier. (I probably shouldn't have said that.)
Have you ever removed trim and repaired drywall after a wall treatment like this?
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