The general rule of thumb is to install a chair rail approximately one-third of the way up the wall from the floor. Scale down to about 32 inches for rooms with 8-foot walls. But anything above the nine-foot mark is generally considered a high ceiling. This will help ensure the material lasts for many years. In other words, or rather in our words, that means your wainscoting should terminate at a height suitable for your room. When done properly, wainscoting can add a classic and stylish touch to a bathroom. Rules are made to be broken. Mike, Generally, the cap sits about one-third the way up the wall. It adds creditability to our craft and why good quality work is worth paying for. Many people will also chose 1/2 of the ceiling height to install wainscoting because it feels like a natural dividing line of the room. A good general rule for the height of a wainscot is that it be a third of the way up the wall. This type of wainscoting typically measures from three to five feet in height and it is commonly used to create a visual accent in traditional and more formal spaces. You may also want to consider where your windows or trim pieces are located in the room and use them to utilize the beadboard as accents. It probably would have saved me from a lot of head scratching. So, thank you. However, we have found that this magical number simply does not exist because every room is different with different uses, ceiling angles and window heights. A:Yes, thereis a general rule for how high up the wall to run your wainscotingbut you know what they say. When in doubt, buy some trim samples and try them out at home. Its more like an engaged pedestal. The traditional color of wainscoting is white. They usually come in the form of a partial wall that does not reach the ceiling, and can be made of wood, plaster, or drywall. Home Repair Here are some tips on how high should your low profile wainscot be: As you can see, installing low-profile wainscoting is fairly simple. 42 inches seems about right. And chair rail represents the molding that caps the top of the pedestal. Plastic: $5 to $10 per square foot. Or, you might find a home with a single room with a much higher ceiling than that. Copyright 2023 Acton Media Inc. All rights reserved. Garden Improvement The vertical part of the wall is 160 cm ( 5ft 3in). Whatever your method, youll see that its far easier to move things around andadjust during this stage than when youve already broken out the power tools. Indoor Gardening Ive been using that trick in other applications. in-wall safe Kevin Bazazzadeh, owner of Houston-based Brilliant Day Homes, agrees and says that high ceilings add value because they literally make a home larger: Keeping all other variables the same (location, finish level, and square footage), when comparing selling prices of houses with different ceiling heights, a house with a May 30, 2021. at most, be added to the dado. Wainscoting is typically installed on the lower portion of walls in order to break up the expanse of flat wall space. Sometimes theres an inch or more between the interior and exterior door heights! I havent seen very much written on how to handle tricky terminations and transitions like this. If you're dying to install trim near the . Wainscoting (also called dado wall paneling) is meant to replicate the pedestal on a classical columnalso called a dado. You say you have a craftsman-style home and that people have recommended 54. Scale down to about 32 inches for rooms with 8-foot walls. Painting the wainscot in the same color as the walls tones down its inherent traditional feel and makes it more contemporary. We have plans to paint the wainscoting a muted pink and leave the rest of the wall and ceiling white (check out our mood board here), so I wanted there to be more color than just 1/3 of the wall. I am not a pro, but I am very passionate about my home and adding custom details like coffered ceilings and wainscoting. The top and the bottom of the wainscoting are held in place by a cap rail and a baseboard nailed into the studs. ka. I think the one thing I took from the wainscoting video marathon is the leaving the one run short. After you have one comment approved, all of your subsequent comments will appear immediately. Minimum Size Dont install a box that is less than twelve inches wide. above the floor. But its a good thing to keep in mind. Scale down to about 32 inches for rooms with 8-foot walls. JLC magazine recently asked me to answer a readers question: Whats the right height for chair rail and wainscoting? Specifically, a lot of people struggle with how far up the wall the wainscoting should be hungan important detail that makes a huge difference in the look of the finished application. I have always heard that it should be just below the countertop height That way when it meets the top, it will fit under it nicely. The traditional rule of thumb is that wainscoting height should be a third of the wall's height, including the cap or any moldings. Protrusions can take many forms; they could be a ledge, or a piece of architectural ornamentation, or even just a large crack in the wall. High-End or Intricate Hardwood: Up to $40 per square foot. The window with the 6 high sill doesnt countthink of it as sidelight. However, there are ways to determine the most suitable height for your room. Beadboard does not necessarily have to go over drywall. Take your measurements, and use a pencil to mark the proposed wainscoting height around the room. So if you have 9-foot walls, then 3-foot (or 36-inch) wainscoting will look great. I would still prefer the wainscoting to blend right into the bottom of the window that have an awkward disconnect of 4 inches between the bottom of the window and the top of the molding. If you are hiring a local professional to install wainscoting, you'll spend about $2 to $4 per square foot or around $90 per hour for labor. I really prefer to see the chair rail at the sill height, but 24 in an 8 room is too low. Inside the wall cavity is the insulation, which helps to keep out heat or cold. Paint Colors The standard installation height for a room with a 9 foot ceiling is 42 from the top of the Chair Rail. one of the steps ends in the corner and there for the elevation is in the corner. Carole, Sorry for the late response, butthe height of wainscoting depends on a lot of details. Q: My husband and I are thinking about installing wainscoting ourselves in a few rooms of our house, but cant agree on the proper height for it. I think that termination is more than acceptable. Chair railboth the name of it and the elevation off the floor, is one of those somewhat fluid details. This method has had a good effect, and has been much approved by some skillful judges and persons of good taste (pg. However, the exact height of the wainscoting will depend on the design you are trying to achieve. Great photos. Once you select a file, it will be uploaded and attached to the end of your comment. Someone said 54 inches. Use the tape to create three boxes 24 inches wide and 18 inches high. And Ive worked in one colonial home in, of all places, Los Angeles, where the wainscoting was 23 in. The classic design feature is usually between 34 and 54" high, with 36" being the average height. For example, if your room is 9 feet tall, then your wainscoting should come up to 3 feet. Yes, I think you can have too much, particularly if the scale and overall style of the house is not fairly formal. Yes, a taller wainscoting is trending! How tall should wainscot be on a 9 foot wall? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Should wainscoting be higher than vanity? So if you have 9-foot walls, then 3-foot (or 36-inch) wainscoting will look great. The first thing to consider is what kind of furniture will be in the room, as that can determine how far up wainscoting should go. The panels should be the same width as the window for the best balance. I have this corner Im working on. false wall For example, the average wall is 96 inches. Installing wainscot too high diminishes the appearance of a room, making it feel squat and out of proportion. If not a chair rail, what is the best way to prevent this type of damage? The height you choose for your wainscoting is ultimately up to your personal preference. Where we ended up is somewhere between 1/3 (36in) and 1/2 (54in) of our 9 foot ceiling at around 45 inches. For example, if your walls are 8 feet tall, your wainscoting should be about 2 feet tall. When was the last time you ate a meal so good you stood up and kicked you chair back in celebration and it damaged the wall? Like all the moldings we install in our homes, their origins can normally be traced back to the classical orders. But the truly wonderful thing about the pragmatic Mr. Swan is his recognition that dado height also determines the height of window sillsor vice versa! When installing wainscoting on walls with an 8-foot ceiling, the height of the wainscoting should generally be about 1/4 of the way up the wall, or about 30 to 36 inches tall. Why do old houses have 10 foot ceilings? How high should wainscoting be with 9 foot ceilings? This is the approach we took and we could not be happier with our choice. Want to shake things up with a much taller wainscot? How high should my wainscoting be in my back entrance. Is there a good rule of thumb? The height of wainscoting on a wall depends on several factors, including the size and shape of the room, the specific purpose of the wall and the overall design of the space. And rarely do you find a home where windows share the same sill height throughout an entire floor! 42 inches seems about right. On top of taking into account ceiling height, it is also important to consider how tall a persons average ceiling height would be. But if the wainscoating height is lower than the start of the slope the wall will look broken and disproportional. Beadboard, a wallcovering material with grooves built in, is used for both decorative and practical purposes, as it protects the lower portions of walls from dents and dings or . However, it is important to note that you should use a sealant or varnish on the surface if you will be frequently exposed to high levels of moisture. 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