How to glue hardboard to a wall for wainscoting?


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I am making and hanging wainscoting in my dining room, which requires me to glue hardboard to the wall. I have never worked with hardboard before, and now that I've bought 6 full sized sheets and transported them home, I can honestly say... hardboard is not really all that hard. It wobbles and bends like a cartoon hand saw. I am afraid that if I just tack it up with brad nails, it will "bubble out" slightly, and dent and give-in if you were to touch it. If I use wood glue to try to really laminate it to the wall flat and true, the glue will soak into the hardboard, and not only not work to glue it down properly, it might swell the hardboard and ruin it outright. There are no "to-the-wall" clamps out there, so how do people glue hardboard to a wall for wainscoting?

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Hardboard is actually pretty hard, it's just thin, so it's not very rigid. Construction or "No More Nails" adhesive will work well. Just apply it to the wall or the back of the hardboard & tack it in place with brads to hold it till the glue dries. Place the brads so they'll be hidden by trim later.

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Guys... what do you think? I have a lot of questions that are more DIY, home improvement, how-to's than they are woodworking. For example, I need to buy a caulk gun, and a YouTube video (my main source of information ) said to make sure to buy a top quality caulk gun so that you don't waste product with squeeze out, or have to rebuy a new one every project because it just fell apart. But, Home Depot sells caulk guns from $4 - $169... not even kidding. They also come in different sizes. Can you buy a heavy duty, big caulk gun, but use smaller caulk tubes, or does the gun have to match the caulk tube???

Anyway... my main question is... do you guys think it is lame for me to post these types of questions here, on a woodworking website? If so, do you have an alternative site that you go to for asking/answering DIY home improvement questions?

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if you have a big job i would go with the bigger caulk gun, more bang for the buck and not changing tubes so much. all i would go with a gun that has the ratchet mechamism (looks like a gear) as as opposed to the type that just pinch the feed rod they don't slip, no need to spend a ton of money for one.

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I caulked several things a day every work day for ten years. There are definitely junk guns. The bigger deal is the tube. Any tube that stretches and swells will relax over time with thick caulking. Caulk will squeeze out as that tube relaxes and the pressure built in the tube relaxes even after the release of the gun pressure. Always keep a rag or scrap handy. 

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Get the caulk gun with the release lever/button. It'll back off the pressure on the tube just enough to prevent squeezing out. I think i spent 7$ on one at Lowes the other day. 

 

Construction adhesive by far works great for hardboard/masonite. I used that and 18ga brad's in the corners to hold it in place on my wainscoting.

 

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I know you've already bought the hardboard, but I did something for a similar look awhile ago. I put up a chair rail and then from there down I used anaglypta wallpaper. It looked great and allowed me to remove it a few years later when we wanted a change. Being wallpaper, it was still a pain to get off but at least my wall was intact. With hardboard and liquid nails, I think you'll do some serious damage to the wall if you decide to remodel, especially if it's Sheetrock. 

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