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Adding chair rail

post #1 of 7
5/28/10 at 12:38pm
Thread Starter 
There are several rooms in our house where we would like to add chair rail (painted white). How difficult is adding chair rail? Does anybody have an estimate based on cost per foot? Thanks, H_S.
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post #2 of 7
5/28/10 at 2:33pm
I don't have an estimate based on cost per foot, but it is not very expensive if you are willing to do the work yourself (it's not very hard) and have the right tools (in particular, a miter saw). We installed chair rail in our daughter's nursery before she was born. It took two days, a little help from the father-in-law, some trim purchased from Home Depot, a little time with a stud finder, finish nails, a paintbrush, and some elbow grease, but it was relatively painless. And this is coming from a guy who is extremely un-handy.
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post #3 of 7
5/28/10 at 2:36pm
Also be sure to get a good level. Well, you probably could do without one, but I find it comforting to have. And yeah - it's not hard.
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post #4 of 7
5/28/10 at 2:56pm
I've installed wainscoting in two rooms of my house and it wasn't terribly difficult, although it was a bit time consuming.

Measure twice, cut once and all that.
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post #5 of 7
5/28/10 at 3:57pm
It's extremely easy - especially if the room doesn't have many corners - but you will need some tools (i.e. miter saw and finishing nailer), which you can rent at HD if you don't have them.

A 8' length of chair rail moulding in primed MDF should cost < $10 + the paint so the cost is very low, probably ~ $1-$1.50 per LFT at most.
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post #6 of 7
5/29/10 at 1:38am
Just another vote for it being extremely easy and not very expensive. My wife and I did stain-grade chair rail in our bedroom and it wasn't that hard at all, despite the walls being typically wavy 90+ year old plaster and two of the walls being plaster on masonry (no studs to nail into). We decided to cope all of the interior corners instead of cutting miters, but even that didn't slow things down very much. It's definitely worth trying!
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post #7 of 7
6/7/10 at 9:17am
It is very easy. No need to even look for studs. Put some construction adhesive on the back and put the nails in so that it sits flush with the walls. Walls are not true so there will be small gaps. Then go over the whole thing and silicone the top of it. Then go over with wood filler and fill in any nail holes or imperfections. and then VOILA! Chair rails or wainscoting.
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