# wainscoting help for a new guy



## 72 pet chicken (Nov 13, 2012)

hey everyone. im new to wood working and all things related. my wife and i bought a house a few years ago and have been fixing it up little buy little. so far we have installed a floating wood floor, redid all the baseboards and installed crown moulding in some of the rooms. 

we are getting some dark carpet installed next week and thought doing one of the bedroom walls in wainscoting would contrast nicely. it seems pretty straight forward but one part of the design is throwing me off and i cant quite figure it out. 

from what ive read, i could use quarter inch play or flat paneling for the base, and place the stiles and rails over the top to give it the dimension and look i want. i would then cap it off with a ledge/chair rail. but the part i cant figure out is how to integrate it into the window molding. since everything else would sit on top of the ply, where it butts up to the window molding would be uneven. am i over thinking things??? 

here is what i was thinking, and a similar look im going for.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

You could trim around the windows two different ways. One would be to make the casing around the doors and windows thicker than the wainscot. Another way would be to make the casing part of the wainscot and just return the topcap trim on the face of the stile at the window casing.


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## 72 pet chicken (Nov 13, 2012)

thanks for the reply. i had thought about making the window casing thicker, just didnt know if that was the right way to do it or not. 

i was planning on using 344 poplar for the rails and stiles on top of the ply paneling. im guessing would i have to use a thicker stock for the window casing? or is there another way to build that up to the width i want?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you don't have thicker wood available you might stack thinner pieces of wood perhaps one 1" smaller in width than the one behind with 1/2" reveal on both sides.


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## 72 pet chicken (Nov 13, 2012)

i was thinking that too. if i use 1/4 inch ply with the 3/4 inch thick poplar for the walls, i could use 3/4 inch poplar and a 1/4 inch think molding on top for the window moldings to make everything flush. 

thanks for your help! i think im on the right track now. ill post pics of my handy work, or lack thereof, when i get it all together :thumbsup:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If you are going that route, you might just rip some 1/4" strips of solid wood and glue and nail them to the back side of the casing to build it out to an inch thick. Once dry it can be sanded and when finished would look like a single piece of wood.


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## 72 pet chicken (Nov 13, 2012)

here is the finished poject. it turned out well enough for my wife to suggest doing another wall downstairs. :thumbsup:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Looks good to me. The problem with doing a second wall is it won't stop until you do the whole house.


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## rayking49 (Nov 6, 2011)

Looks good man!! And now that she's seen you do that, hold on. The projects never end.


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## Develin (Oct 1, 2012)

In England nobody does stuff like this! I love it - maybe I should move to America LOL


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