Wainscoting and Chair Rail are Back in Style

Although many features of traditional house design seem decorative,upon closer inspection, reveal a practical side.Wood wainscoting and chair rails which add such charm and beauty to the heavily used rooms in houses from the Colonial period through the Victorian Age and beyond,were intended to protect from the inevitable bumps and bruises of chairs and tables.

Changes in architecture and taste,and in the economics of construction,these features had almost completely disappeared.Lower level walls appear somewhat bland and empty,and are unprotected.Applying wainscoting and chair rails to the lower walls can dress up a room with a variety of textures,lines,and colors,while protecting the walls as well.

Wainscoting and chair rails has again,become popular in todays modern day decor.

The height of the wainscoting,capped by a chair rail can be anywhere from 30″ to 36″above the floor,where you establish this line depends on room demensions,the heights of the ceiling and window sills.

There are two choices for wainscoting materials:individual,solid-wood boards,or laminated-wood sheet product.

1″by 4″ tongue-and-groove,bead boards-provide an informal, country look,common in the late 19th-and early 20th-century farmhouses.The right way to install it involves a good deal of work,but the end result is a built-in,great look of the finished product.

You will have to cut and remove the wallboard in the area to be covered,let in 1″by4″ nailers across the studs,install the vertical wainscoting,and cap it with the chair rail.Remove Door and window caseings,baseboards,as well as anything else that may interfere with the removal of the wallboard.

Establishing a level line for the chair rail is important,and if you intend to install in more than one room,measure from the ceiling,as floor levels may vary depending on floor coverings and sub-flooring.

Once the wall-board is removed,snap lines on the exposed studs and cut notches 3/4″deep for the 2″by4″nailers top and middle.The sole plate will serve as bottom nailer.

The sheet products can be installed in a quicker,more economical,and much less messy way by simply glueing and tacking over the wallboard,useing construction adhesive and 1 1/2″ finish nails.

Wainscoting and chair rail ,is both attractive and functional.It not only adds interest to a room but helps protect the walls as well.Of course the wall-removal type of installation is more labor-intense and will produce more mess than the tack-and-glue method,but in either case the room can still be used during the course of the project.

For a reasonable cost and only minor inconvenience,you can completely change the look of any room in which wainscoting and chair rasil are appropriate.

About the Author

Paul Beaudette is a handyman and you can get more information by visiting his Website at..http://home-improvement-hardware.com