I am about to gut my kitchen and have had a hard time figuring out backsplashes. I saw a blog that used hardie planks butted up against each other with small gaps (3/16 or so) in between them to mimic shiplap. The hardie board being water/fire resistant would work better in the kitchen than traditional shiplap. I would have the planks spray painted after installation.

Has anyone ever tried this before? I would run the planks floor to ceiling and assume that I would install them prior to installing the cabinetry rather than try and cut around the cabinets. Has anyone ever just done shiplap in kitchens and I am overthinking it with the hardie planks? I see a lot of kitchens with wood shiplap but don't know how it would wear.

I have a nailgun and assume that I would nail them up but am not sure what size nail would be appropriate. I assume I have to go larger than pin nails due to the weight of the hardie.

Any helpful hints would be appreciated.

 

This might be a case of "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".

You won't have anything to nail to between studs. I can't say anything else.

 

So you don't like it because of the nailing? I assume I would nail into the studs anyway so I don't see that as an issue necessarily.

 

Which style of hardie are you looking at? It usually needs a nail with a broad head on it and the overlap hides the nails as you work your way up. I think I viewed the blog post you referenced and they used wood, brads and were able to putty the nail holes and sand smooth before painting. Not possible with a cement based product. Brads would most likely not hold. Also looked like they installed it directly over drywall, which is good, you will need the backer to support the hardie anyway.

 

That has to be a pain to install cabinets!!