Do You Have Rounded Corners?
“Rounded corners.” If you found our page while looking for ways to deal with rounded corners (aka bullnose corners) when planking a wall with wood, then I hope I can save you a little drama and trauma in your project. I recently added a fake shiplap to my dining room wall you can see that post by CLICKING HERE. When I got the itch for shiplap I hadn’t fully thought through the rounded interior corners on the doorway in the wall. My original idea was to use trim pieces to hide the issue. But, that turned out not to be a great solution in this doorway.
Supplies needed for this project
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- Wood Filler/Spackle/ or Joint Compound
- Spatula
- Texture Spray
- Paint
- Random Orbital Sander, or another sander
Square Plank Rounded Corner
Planked wood is straight and flat, this can create a real problem when ending on a corner that is rounded. What I decided to do was cut my shiplap slats a little longer than the end of my rounded corner wall. I cut them just far enough out that they were level with the wall as you went through the doorway. This left an odd little gap where the wall began to turn into the rounded corner. 
Through the years as a homeowner I have learned how to patch holes in both drywall & wood pretty seamlessly.
Getting Experimental with my Rounded Corners
This part was experimental since I was just figuring it out as I went. Two different products were tried as a filler for this gap. Both Spackling (dry wall hole patch), and my usual wood filler were used in different areas to see what worked best.
I took the product on a metal spatula and forced it into this gapped area building it up between the shiplap and the wall on the other end of the rounded corner.
The filler was packed in and built up until it was slightly above the rounded corner.
Once dried I used my electric sander and sanded the area down to try to blend the seam while hiding the rounded corner.
After sanding I dusted the area and sprayed on an orange peel texture coat. I sprayed and sanded a few times to get the desired finish. This helps to hide the rounded corner and make the patch less obvious.
When textured and dry, we painted the entire transition.
Having tried two products in this process, drywall patch and wood filler, I did actually prefer the wood filler for building up the area of the rounded corner. The wood filler felt stronger and more substantial when sanding. I will be curious as time passes and our house continues to settle if we will see any cracking. If we have any issues I will keep this post updated & share my findings. I just set a reminder on my phone for 6 months and 1 year.
Here is a finished photo. See my crazy little dogs? They stay jailed in our main living area. Head over to see our post on how we did this Shiplap wall in a day and on the cheap! (Click Here)
If you were wrapping the shiplap around the corner, do you think you could have just mitered them on a 45 to hide the bullnose (rounded corner)? This would leave a litte void in the middle of the corner, but I “think” it would work? We are getting ready to wrap a fireplace wall with shiplap and the corners on either side are rounded.
Yes, although I would use a product a little thicker than the thin plywood I used to faux mine. They also make trim strips that you can put over the seam. Something like this.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/EverTrue-96-in-Solid-Wood-Corner-Guards/3041695
Hi there! How’s it held up for you? We have bullnose corners as well and I’m running into this same issue with the vertical shiplap I want to put up! I thought about ending the shiplap panel with a 1×4 and then filling the gap between the 1×4 and the round corner with joint compound or wood filler?
It has held up really well, with no issues at all.