Wainscoting isn't just for formal rooms. It can also help protect garage walls from the nicks and scratches of everyday use. Here's how to install it.
Remove Trim and Molding
- Using a pry bar and hammer, we eased the baseboards from the walls. We used leverage instead of force to remove the molding so we wouldn't damage the walls. You can also remove the baseboards by punching the finish nails through with a nail set.
- Once we determined the height for our wainscoting (39 inches--although your installation may be different), we measured up from the floor and made marks around the room at 39 inches. With a long level, we drew a level line along these marks to serve as a guide for our top nailer strip (figure A).
- Once the line was drawn, we went around the room again with a stud finder and marked the location of all of the wall studs.
- Starting at a corner, we used our cordless drill to attach the 1x2 furring strips around the top of the wall at the marked locations.
- We drilled pilot holes and used 2-1/2"screws to secure the furring strips to the wall. Underneath the window stool (sometimes referred to as a sill) we attached an extra nailer to support the wainscoting.
- Next, we attached the 1x4 nailer strips around the lower part of the wall. We used spacers to help keep these boards just off of the floor.
- Finally, we located the center between our top and bottom nailers and attached another length of furring strips along this line (figure B). This will give extra support for the wainscoting.
- We sealed all the wood surfaces with a tinted primer, which will prevent discolorations from bleeding through the final coat and provide a solid base to help the paint stick better.
- We began painting the planks using a 3" brush, cutting in around the edges. Keeping an eye on the paint edge, we painted in long, slow strokes, starting in dry areas and moving back into the wet paint to avoid lap marks. We smoothed out the paint with back-and-forth strokes across the sections.
- We also painted the other wainscoting components, namely the cap rail and baseboard.
Attach Panels
- We worked our way down the wall attaching the planks (figure C) until we reached the end of the wall. Here we had several outside corners to contend with. We started on the outside corners and worked our way back to the inside corners to ensure that we wouldn't end up with narrow pieces at the outside corners--where they would be more obvious.
- When we reached the door casings, we took measurements for the width of the plank nearest the casing.
- We used our table saw to rip this piece to width and attached it to the furring strips.
Electrical Outlets
- Before starting on our electrical outlets, we turned off the power to the garage.
- When our wainscoting installation reached the area of an electrical outlet, we added a couple of extra furring strips around the top and bottom of the outlet opening.
- Once we determined where we needed to make the cuts for the outlet, we used our jigsaw to notch out the panels and attached the wainscoting panel to the furring strips using our clips.
- We moved the receptacle box out, then remounted the receptacle and reattached the cover plate.
Attach Top Rails
- We used a miter saw to cut 1x2s to length for our top rail.
- Using a stud finder, we located and marked the studs for the top rail.
- We then slid the top rail over the panels and secured it using a pneumatic nailer and finishing nails (figure D).
- Next, we cut and mitered the rail pieces to fit into the corners. The inside and outside corners were butted together where the rail and molding met along the walls.
- To cover the front of the top rail, we nailed trim molding to the front edge of the 1x2. Try to drive the nails at an angle into a crevice in the profile of the molding; this will help hide the nail heads.
Install Baseboard
* Base molding conceals the expansion gap left at all the walls and if there are any gaps between the baseboard and the floor.
- We took measurements and then used a miter saw to cut and miter our baseboards for installation. We made square cuts on the edges where the baseboards butted against door trim.
- Starting at a corner, we attached the baseboards with 2" finishing nails (figure E).
* Your nails should be long enough to drive through the wainscoting and into the furring strips and studs. Be sure not to press the base molding too hard against the floor.
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