What is wainscoting wall trim?
What is wainscoting and what is it used for?
How much does a wainscoting panel cost?
How high should wainscoting be?
What is the best material for wainscoting?
How much does it cost to install wainscoting?
Can you install wainscoting on the ceiling?
See 4 more
About this website

39 of the Best Wainscoting Ideas for Your Next Project
Wainscoting Installation. While you can install your own wainscoting during your home renovation if you know your way around with tools, it is always best to hire a contractor to do a perfectly neat wainscoting installation. To save time and money, you can buy pre-made wainscoting panels so that the only work will be installing them onto the wall.
Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster
What is a wainscoting?
What is Wainscoting? Wainscoting is a permanent type covering that you put on your wall – usually on the bottom part. This purpose of this covering is to protect your wall but it also looks really nice and is often a decor element in modern bathrooms.
What Material is Best for Wainscot?
If you want to put your wainscot to work for you – your choice of material will be important.
Can a wainscot be used as a backsplash?
If your wainscot is tile, then it can serve a dual purpose by working as the backsplash behind your sink.
Is wainscoting a bathroom?
Wainscoting in a bathroom is both functional and decorative.
Do you need a wainscot to go under a light switch?
Yes – you will want the wainscot to end underneath your lowest counter height wall outlet or light switch.
Is subway tile wainscoting good for a bathroom?
By Neena Nandagopal Last Updated May 6, 2021. Subway tile wainscoting is a great choice for a bathroom. It has a beautiful look and it also protects your walls. Here are some things to consider before you install yours.
What Is Wainscoting?
Now that we’ve established that you can’t win a gold medal in wainscoting — at least not in the Olympics — we can get more acquainted with the term. Wainscoting is essentially a dual-purpose system of molding and wood paneling. It is a feature that doubles as both a decorative and a functional item.
Where to Apply Wainscot Panels
Since wainscoting has shifted to a rather decorative feature, you can use it just about anywhere you deem fit. To make use of its protective function as well, places you can apply wainscot paneling include, but are not limited to:
Materials Used for wainscoting
Wainscoting materials essentially tend to be stain-resistant and easy to maintain. Traditionally, the go-to option was oakwood. Modern variations, however, can very well adapt to the aesthetic and technical demands of different rooms in your house.
Average wainscoting Prices
There are three main factors that determine the cost of wainscoting: materials used, surface area, and installation fees. A secondary factor would involve going for custom designs. For solid wood paneling, expect to pay anywhere from $17 per square foot for red oak to over $25 per square foot for walnut or maple wood.
Wainscot Panelling Installation
Installation depends on the time and skill required by the type of your wainscoting design (or its level of complexity). Solid wood paneling, for instance, is somewhat trickier to install than its plywood counterpart; you’ll even find out that installation prices vary according to your choice of material.
Wainscoting Ideas
One popular form of wainscoting is beadboard paneling. This design involves tongue and groove panels interlocked side by side. Many areas around the house can welcome a beadboard pattern. For instance, you can bathe in style in an elegantly wainscoted beadboard bathroom.
Tiling the lower half of a wall both protects the wall and offers an opportunity to add color and texture
In the 1950s, and even earlier, a tiled wainscoting was almost as commonplace as your toilet or vanity. And for good reason, because wainscoting can serve practical purposes as well as aesthetic ones.
Tiling Walls & Backsplashes
Sign up for eletters today and get the latest how-to from Fine Homebuilding, plus special offers.
What Is A Wainscoting Cap Or Molding?
Because the tile wainscoting comes only half way up the wall, if left unfinished, there would be a raw tile edge exposed along the top all the way around the room.
What is the least expensive wainscoting cap?
Metal edge trim pieces are one of the least expensive options for a wainscoting cap and are also relatively easy to install.
What to use to cap wainscoting?
Using a pencil trim to cap your tile wainscoting is a more simple look than chair rail but still a great way to dress it up and add a beautiful finishing touch.
What is bullnose tile?
Bullnose tile is a piece that will have a finished rounded or beveled edge on one side that can act as a cap for your wainscoting. If you’re interested in bullnose as your cap for your wainscoting, you’re going to want to select a tile that has a corresponding bullnose option within the family of tile. Finding a match is not too difficult ...
How does tile pencil trim get its name?
Tile pencil trim gets it’s name from the fact that it looks like a pencil. These pencil trim moldings almost exclusively come in 12” lengths and are sold per piece and not by the square foot, similar to the tile chair rail molding.
What is tile chair rail molding?
Tile chair rail molding mimics the looks and profiles of chair rail trim you would see in wood used throughout other areas of your home.
Is molding cap more expensive than tile?
They are less expensive than the above tile molding cap options, but each piece will be more expensive than a standard tile from the same family.
What is tile wainscoting?
You may also hear folks refer to “tile wainscoting.” As you’d expect, tile wainscoting is simply wainscoting created from tile. Again, it adds both style and protection for the walls, such as the custom tile wainscoting in this bathroom:
Does wainscoting protect walls?
Besides adding style to a space, wainscoting also provides protection to a wall. In high-traffic areas, such as hallways, mudrooms or stairways, wainscoting will protect the wall against dents and dings. Not only does the wainscoting hide these flaws better than a painted wall would, it also provides an easy-to-wash surface for removing these spots from your walls. The wainscoting shown this picture from Wainscoting America would be much easier to clean than a painted wall, and it adds tons of style to a simple stairway:
What is wainscoting in a room?
Wainscoting was designed hundreds of years ago in a marriage of form and function to enhance the look of a room while protecting the bottom half of the walls from dirt and damage. It has since evolved to suit different architectural styles and spaces. Today board and batten, beadboard and tile are the most prevalent types, ...
Why is wainscoting used in bathrooms?
Tile wainscoting is perfect for bathrooms because of the tight seam created.
What is the best way to complement tile lining in a shower?
Using tile wainscoting as opposed to beadboard in the bathroom is a great way to complement the tile lining the shower.
Is subway tile sanitary?
Tile wainscoting may also act as a backsplash or tub surround in these spaces. As history has proven, rectangular, tightly grouted tile walls are sanitary and durable. They're guaranteed to charm in both renovated spaces and new construction.
What is Wainscoting?
According to the dictionary, wainscoting is wooden paneling going around the walls of a room. That’s true enough. But, there are loads of different styles of wainscoting.
What is wainscoting in interior design?
Wainscoting refers to decorative wooden panels, moldings to simulate panels or beadboard, lining interior walls. Wainscoting has been used for centuries to add decorative touches, to help to protect the walls, and in the past to fight dampness. Nowadays wainscoting is used for decorative purposes.
What is the least expensive wainscoting?
Your materials depend on which style you choose to install. The least expensive wainscot detail is to use a chair rail molding and a picture molding (not to be confused with a picture-rail molding).
How far below the wainscoting should the windowsill be?
If you follow the rule-of-thumb, the windowsill will be one inch below the top of the wainscoting. This could look like a design error. When two important lines of moldings are close but don’t align, move them further apart.
What should the molding be on a wainscot?
The chair rail molding at the top of the wainscot should be less wide than the baseboard.
Why can't there be one all-encompassing wainscoting installation guide?
There can’t be one all-encompassing “wainscot installation guide” because there are some many variations of wainscoting. And each space is different.
How to make a wall with blue tape?
Stick a length of blue tape along the length of the wall you want to work on. Then stick a length of masking tape onto the blue tape along its length . Your pencil marks will show up very clearly on the masking tape. And you can add more layers of masking tape as you make adjustments to the layout.
What is wainscoting wall trim?
It’s a decorative wall trim that’s never really been seen as a home decor “don’t,” likely due to its versatility—there’s a type of panel that suits just about every design style.
What is wainscoting and what is it used for?
Wainscoting started out in the 18th century as a wall covering used to help insulate a room and provides a more durable surface than a painted Sheetrock wall.
How much does a wainscoting panel cost?
Hairston recommends manufactured wainscoting panels as the most cost-effective, ranging from $8 to $10 per panel . Hardwood panels are higher in price, with costs varying by wood species, but professionals estimate $12 to $20 per square foot for average quality.
How high should wainscoting be?
According to Barbara Mount of Barbara Mount Designs and Windermere Realty Group, in Lake Oswego, OR, wainscoting often goes up as high as 5 feet for more impact. It can also be taken up well beyond chair-rail height—most of the way up the wall for an extra layer of protection, leaving the top 2 feet for paint or accent wallpaper.
What is the best material for wainscoting?
Another choice in bathrooms and other areas prone to moisture is wainscoting made from ceramic tile , which appeals because it is nonporous and easy to clean.
How much does it cost to install wainscoting?
Labor costs for wainscoting vary based on local conditions, the scope of the project, and the materials, but she recommends a ballpark installation budget of about $2 to $4 per square foot for an average dining room.
Can you install wainscoting on the ceiling?
The one look to avoid? Installing wainscoting all the way up to the ceiling for a full wall of brown paneling, which is too reminiscent of the ’70s-era rec room, say experts. If you’re dying to install trim near the ceiling, consider crown molding.
