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Project Facts
-
Cost
$30 per linear foot of wall -
Time
3 or 4 days for an average room -
Skills
Intermediate carpentry, simple electrical -
Special Tools
A miter box, finish nail gun and table saw
Wood wainscoting is the perfect project to transform a plain room into a warm and inviting space to read, study or just hang out in. Historically, wood wainscoting runs the gamut from simple vertical boards to elaborate frame-and-panels. Traditional beaded tongue-and-groove boards like the ones shown have always been a popular choice. That’s not just because they look good. Tongue-and-groove boards make great wainscoting because they’re easy to install with just a few basic carpentry tools. We show you how to install this wainscot directly over your existing drywall or plaster so you don’t have to cut into the walls, and we include details for making custom brackets and mounting the shelf.
You’ll need basic hand tools, a circular saw, a jigsaw and a rented pneumatic finish nail gun ($50 per day for compressor and gun) to complete this project. Long cuts on a few of the moldings require a table saw. If you don’t own one, get help cutting these. A power miter box simplifies cutting the tongue-and-groove boards to length and mitering the moldings and shelves.
We used 9/16-in. thick “beaded” tongue-and-groove clear Douglas fir for the body of the wainscot. Each board is 3 in. wide, not including the tongue. Then we special-ordered clear Douglas fir for the baseboard, cap, shelf and window and door trim. Knotty grades are about half the price of clear and may work fine for you, depending on the look you’re after. Beaded paneling is readily available in oak and knotty pine. Check your local lumberyard, or you can order other species from specialty millwork suppliers. The total cost of our materials was about $30 per linear foot of wall.
Order Your Wood Early and Allow It to Acclimate
Prepare the room for wainscoting by prying off the window and door trim and baseboard. Then turn off the electrical circuits that serve the room at the main service box. Unscrew the receptacles and switches and pull them out a few inches from the wall (test the outlets with a voltage tester, $3, to make sure they’re off). As an extra precaution in case the electricity is accidentally turned back on while you’re working in the room, cover the screw terminals on each switch and receptacle with a wrap of electrical tape. Protect tile, wood and vinyl floors with two layers of heavy paper or cardboard taped down. Cover carpeted floors with canvas dropcloths.
Stack the wood in your room about a week before you start installing it so it has time to adjust to the humidity level in your home.
Replace Your Door and Window Trim for the Most Professional-Looking JobStart your wainscoting project by replacing your door and window trim with the same species of wood as your tongue-and-groove boards. If you’ll be matching the finish color of the wainscot to the existing trim, you may get by with just adding the outside corner piece. The extra thickness of the outside corner piece allows the base and paneling boards to butt to the windows and doors without protruding.
Begin the new trim installation by nailing the 1x4s across the top of the openings, allowing enough length to butt the side pieces up to them. For windows requiring stools, fit the stool next. Then measure and cut the 1x4s for the sides. Spread wood glue on the joints and nail them up. Then sand them with an orbital sander and 120-grit paper before you miter and nail on the outside corner pieces. We couldn’t find fir outside corners, so we used a table saw to make them from 1-1/8 in. thick fir boards, and then eased the edges with a 1/8-in. radius router bit. This “little” detail added a half day to our project!
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