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Home Improvement > Moldings & Wood Trim > How to Install Wainscoting and Chair Rail

How to Install Wainscoting and Chair Rail

Learn how to cut miter and scarf joints to install wainscoting, chair rails, baseboards, and quarter round molding.

Step 1

Introduction - In bygone days, a wain was a large open wagon. Today, the term "wainscoting" describes decorative wooden wall paneling that is suggestive of the wide boards that covered the sides of the w...

Step 2

Select the Wainscoting Style, Purchase Materials, and Ready the Room - Plan the style and height of your wainscoting and then purchase the required planking and chair rail materials. Assemble your tools and safety equipment, since you will be using power tools. We will ...

Step 3

Position a Chair to Gauge Chair Rail Height - Position one of the chairs that will occupy the room against the wall. Wainscoting is often use in a dining room, so the chair is ordinarily a wooden chair rather than something like a, upholstered w...

Step 4

Position and Level a Piece of Chair Rai - Hold a piece of the selected chair rail level behind the chair to determine the best elevation for its installation. Many people view chair rail only as a decoration, but its original function was to...

Step 5

Mark the Elevation at Both Ends of the Walls - Measure and mark at both ends of the walls, the distance from the floor to the chair rail at the position that seems optimal to you. We measure 34 inches for this home and use a level to ensure a hor...

Step 6

Snap a Chalk Line - Snap a chalk line between the two marks on each wall to indicate the top boundary for the ends of the paneling/planks....

Step 7

Locate and Mark the Wall Studs - Use an electronic stud finder to locate and mark all the wall studs on each wall where you will install wainscoting. Know the stud location will help when you drive nails to fasten the chair rail....

Step 8

Make a Template for the Wainscoting Planks - ...

Step 9

Use the Template to Mark the Milled Stock - Lay the template on top of the milled stock and mark the end with a pencil for each repetitive cut. ...

Step 10

Work with Another Person in an Assembly Line Fashion - Set up an assembly line, if possible, having one person mark the cuts and a second person cutting them to length. ...

Step 11

Clamp a Stop Block on the Workbench to brace the Wainscoting Stock While You Measure - Clamp a stop block to the end of your worktable to brace the end of the milled stock and the template while you measure. We will be cutting more than 100 boards, so little tricks like this will add u...

Step 12

Cut 34-Inch Lengths of Wainscoting Planks - Make a strait cut with a compound power miter saw to cut each 34-inch length of milled stock/paneling. Other saws can make a straight cut, but we require the compound power miter saw later to produce...

Step 13

Use a Short Piece of Chair Rail to Mark the Area Hidden by the Rabbet - Hold a short piece of the chair rail so that the rabbet on the bottom rests squarely on the end of each cut plank of paneling stock. Use a pencil to mark the bottom edge against the plank. The 1/2 -...

Step 14

Secure the Planks with a Pneumatic Nail Gun - Use a pneumatic nail gun to secure the first plank to the wall within the 1/2-inch "invisible" margin, after butting the plank against the trim at one edge of the wall and aligning it...

Step 15

Drive Nails Through the Plank into the Wall Framing - Drive nails into the lower end of the plank in the wooden base plate of the wall framing. You will have more leeway in positioning these nails, because the baseboard that will cover them is wider tha...

Step 16

Install the Remaining Planks and Join the Tongues and Grooves - Butt the next plank against the first, meshing the tongue and groove edges and aligning the top with the 34-inch chalk line. Secure it by nailing in the "invisible" margin at the top and u...

Step 17

Switch Off Power to the Electrical Outlets at the Circuit Breaker - Locate the circuit (at the breaker box) that controls the outlet and turn off the power as a safety measure....

Step 18

Ease the Receptacle Away from the Wall to Measure - Pull the receptacle away from the wall far enough to let you accurately measure the hole against the next length of planking that you will install....

Step 19

Outline the Cutout to Accommodate the Outlet - Use a combination square to mark the outline where you will cut the plank to accommodate the outlet....

Step 20

Use a Jigsaw to Excise the Cutout - Use a jigsaw to make straight cuts along the rectilinear outline....

Step 21

Notch Semicircles for the Outlet Mounting Screws - Notch semicircles at either end of the rectilinear cutout to make room for the mounting screws....

Step 22

Secure the Plank Over the Outlet - Position the plank over the outlet opening and secure it with nails. Continue adding planks until you reach the next wall obstacle. In this project, it is the corner of the room....

Step 23

Tape the Next-to-the-last Plank to the Wall Temporariy - Stop at the last two boards before the corner--the final plank probably needs to be cut to fit. Start by adding double-faced tape (or a loop of tape turned sticky side outward) on the back of one bo...

Step 24

Trace the Edge of the Last Plank at the Corner onto the Taped Plank - Butt another board into the corner against the wall, tracing its edge where it overlaps the board that is temporary taped to the wall. You will want to cut this plank so that the raw edge will butt a...

Step 25

Cut Along the Traced Line to Make the Plank Fit - Cut along the traced line to make the last board narrow enough to fit in the gap at the corner. ...

Step 26

Secure the Last Plank to the Corner with the Nail Gun - Secure the whole plank with the nail gun and then secure the cut plank with the raw edge in the corner. Finish the walls in this manner, accommodating electrical outlets, corners, and other obstacles...

Step 27

Cut a Bevel on the First Piece of Baseboard - Cut a partial bevel on one end of the first piece of baseboard to fit against the door casing in the correct orientation. Start by ensuring that the compound miter saw blade is at center position an...

Step 28

Cut the Ends of Adjacent Boards for a Corner Miter - Cut opposing 45-degree miters on the ends of adjacent baseboards that will join at a mitered corner, after measuring carefully for required lengths. Remember that miters on outside corners require ex...

Step 29

Use Scarf Joints to Add Additional Baseboards for Length - Use scarf joints to join two baseboards into a single length when one baseboard is too short to reach the corner. You can cut them in the same way as miters, in terms of wood orientation to saw blad...

Step 30

Butt the Beveled Baseboard Against the Door Casing - Attach the baseboard with the partially beveled end now that you have prepared the other end for an appropriate joint. Start by butting the straight cut edge of the baseboard squarely against the doo...

Step 31

Add Quarter-round Molding - Add quarter-round molding where the baseboard meets the floor, either mitering it or using scarf joints as appropriate--just as you did for the baseboard. ...

Step 32

Cut Chair Rail Lengths with Scarf or Miter Joints - Cut lengths of chair rail using the same scarf or miter joint techniques anywhere you must join individual pieces of chair rail....

Step 33

Position Chair Rail Rabbets Along the Top Edge of the Wainscoting - Position the chair rail along the top of the wainscoting planks, setting the edge of the rabbet along the cut edges. The chair rail will hide the nails in the wainscoting underneath and trap the plan...

Step 34

Secure the Chair Rail with the Pneumatic Nail Gun - Use the nail gun to drive nails through the chair rail and into the wall studs marked earlier. Fill the nail holes and finish according to taste....

Introduction

Step

In bygone days, a wain was a large open wagon. Today, the term "wainscoting" describes decorative wooden wall paneling that is suggestive of the wide boards that covered the sides of the wagon. Typically, wainscoting covers only the lower portion of the wall and may be capped with a chair rail or a picture rail in the case of high wainscoting. It takes its character from the type of wood and construction used--salvaged planks from a barn make a rustic look, ready-made paneling cut to height looks more functional, and individual milled boards can add refinement to your room. This dining room project uses 1/4-inch thick milled tongue and groove planks with decorative routing and then caps the wainscoting with chair rail.

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