Journals Projects Workshops Reviews

Wainscotting - How to figure out the spacing

825 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by wildwoodbybrianjohns, Sep 28, 2019

FireFitz

Discussion Starter · Sep 27, 2019 (Edited by Moderator)

Hi there,

General handyman here, where I tackle most jobs in the house.
My wife would like some wainscotting on the main floor, which will consist of 3 main walls.
We're not doing anything too fancy, just a 4" top rail, 6" bottom rain and then 4" verticals.

I have 2 questions.

1. Our walls are 8 feet high, how tall should the waintscotting be? 1/3 the wall height?

2. As mentioned, we have three main walls: a 200" wall, a 68" wall and a 121" wall.
What should my spacing be on the boxes if I'm trying to make it all look uniform!?

Your help and expertise is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Save

1 - 5 of 5 Posts

EugdOT

· #2 · Sep 27, 2019 (Edited by Moderator)

I did my whole house using this calendar to help work out the spacing

https://www.inchcalculator.com/wainscoting-layout-calculator/

Do you want to do flat or raised panel's?
Usually odd numbers look better. Also there is YouTuber finished carpentry tv is his channel that helped give me some ideas.
Hope it helps

Save

FireFitz

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 27, 2019

I did my whole house using this calendar to help work out the spacing

https://www.inchcalculator.com/wainscoting-layout-calculator/

Do you want to do flat or raised panel's?

- EugdOT

Wow, that website just blew my mind, thanks so much for that resource…

Now, how do I tackle the 3 different wall lengths to make them all look somewhat similar, or at least similar enough to the naked eye?

I will be doing raised panels.

Save

EugdOT

· #4 · Sep 27, 2019

I did my panels and frames with mdf And used hardwood moldings and trim. make sure you get yourself the lighter one it easier to route Without a high powered router and much easier to carry. A good respirator is a must. If you go with the raised panels make sure you source the panel molding/bolection molding because you can't buy that in a big box store. Also if you go with mdf make sure you prim it with a shellac primer especially on the rough exposed mdf or it's just going to drink up paint.

Save

wildwoodbybrianjohns

· #5 · Sep 28, 2019

If you google- wainscotting, how to, youtube- you will get lots of hits and can watch other guys doing it.

Save

1 - 5 of 5 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month