What is matchboarding?

Matchboarding is made up of thin timber boards intended for cladding walls and ceilings. In Dutch a single board is called a schroot, and the boards are usually referred to in the plural diminutive: schrootjes. Most boards have a tongue along one long edge and a groove along the other, so that you slide them neatly into each other and get a tight, closed surface. Thicker boards without a profile that serve as flooring are called floorboards; exterior cladding with overlapping boards is called weatherboarding (Dutch: rabat).

Note for readers of Dutch: het schroot (neuter) means something else, namely scrap metal. In construction, de schroot always means the board.

Common profiles:

• Flat matchboarding with tongue and groove: gives a smooth surface with a thin joint.
• V-jointed matchboarding (Dutch: puntschroot or vellingschroot): chamfered edges on the visible face, creating a V-shaped joint.
• Beaded matchboarding (Dutch: kraalschroot): a semicircular bead profile along the joint, a classic on wall panelling and ceilings.
• Rebated boards (Dutch: sponningschroot): boards with a rebate so that they overlap each other.

Good-quality boards often have one or more milled grooves on the back. These relieve stresses in the timber and reduce the chance of a board cupping or bowing.

Application

Matchboarding is used for ceilings, wall panelling, knee walls, walls in utility rooms, lofts and garden sheds, and to conceal pipes or an uneven substrate.

Installation tips:

• Let the timber acclimatise: leave the packs for a few days in the room where they will be fitted, so that their moisture content can adjust.
• Fix to battens running at right angles to the direction of the boards. Keep to the batten spacing specified by the manufacturer and level the battens with wedges or packers.
• Fix invisibly: with clips (matchboard clips) in the groove, or by nailing or stapling at an angle through the tongue. This allows the timber to keep moving.
• Groove towards you: slide the tongue into the groove of the previous board and always work in the same direction.
• Leave space along the edges: keep a small expansion gap along walls and ceiling and finish it with a skirting or moulding.
• Treat the back and end grain when working in a damp room, and choose a timber species or product suitable for that environment.

Common mistakes: clamping boards tightly against each other (they will bow in summer), finishing only the visible face and not levelling the battens.

Related Terms

• Beaded matchboarding
• V-jointed matchboarding
• Tongue and groove
• Battens
• Wall panelling
• Weatherboarding

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