Building and Installing Wainscot

Listing #4492 Listed on: 11/21/2014 Company Name: Hudson Cabinetmaking, Inc.
Name: Russell Hudson Member
Website:   www.hudsoncabinetmaking.com/

Creating Wainscot

The house was over a hundred years old and they were situated in a very up-scale neighborhood. Their dining room, foyer, staircase and hallway are the first places that are the seen when you enter their home. They wanted wainscot built to adorn all of these walls. This was a more formal, frame and raised panel wainscot, not simply the bead board covering with cap seen in many turn of the century country homes.

When we create wainscot of frame and FLAT panel, we can decide final panel widths on location as the panels are created simply from deciding where the stiles are placed. Since these panels were to be raised, they had to be made, ahead of time, in the shop…so we carefully measured all the walls, determined each of the panel sizes. We created a sample of the wainscot but only 4" wide x 34" high…based on their approval of this profile drawing of the cap and base sections.

10 Photos
VIDEO HERE Final Project

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Hudson Cabinetmaking, Inc.
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Viewer Comments:
Posted By:Jim Carper
You did a very nice job with this project, but Behr latex for millwork? What did you make the panels out of? The sample looks like plywood. Although I realize every client has a budget I refuse to ever do site built paneling like this nailed to the wall. I only build these with pocket screws and belt sand prior to installation, as the joints show greatly in this style installation. And they will forever move even if you do sand them well, at a later date. The radiator covers are very classy though, they neaten up the space a lot.
Posted By:Russell Hudson
biscuit joints / they stay closed now / a number of years ago I used to just laminate to a substrate / seams stay much tighter now even with the moisture shift to a client's home
Posted By:robert
Latex gets a bad rap at times. Nice work Russell, especially the radiator covers!
I painted my own kitchen cabinets with a few different colors and it was a Latex. Still looks wonderful 15 years later.We chose a Latex because of the infinite array of colors that were/are available.I'm a retired Finisher with 30 years of knowledge and many jobs were completed using a quality Latex.
Posted By:Jim Carper
No problem with latex, it's a great alternative to oil based, but Behr is awful, like most big store paints. There was one time when I accepted a job matching existing paint with Behr and it was the last! However I would not use it on kitchen cabinets as it isn't durable enough for daily handling and W&T.
Posted By:David R Sochar
I have made stile and rail panels in the shop for 45 years, and we always have used mortise and tenon joinery. Even the popular pocket screws will not hold flat over the long term. These are all butt joints or a sort, and only a decent M&T will hold them without cracking, or moving around. It's not me, only a fact.

I just saw a paneled wall job I did in 1982 removed in a remodel and reused as "an example of the fine craftsmanship done many years ago.." The joints were all perfect, even after being removed from the walls. Since they stayed tight and solid, the cap molding miters all stayed tight. Those joints were assembled off the stile and rail, glued, clamped, and cross screwed before going into the frame.
Posted By:Russell Hudson
we're painting our own work now / we use BM only / noticeable difference, btw
There is no need for mortice & tenon joinery for wainscot / biscuits work perfectly for a joint laid flat against the wall that has no real need for extra structural strength / it's not a chair / it's a wall covering / if anyone considers this cutting corners, you'd be wrong / I get a pretty good buck for my work now so I won't charge my clients yet more for anything they don't need
... just sayin'
Posted By:John Barfield
Are you making the frames and panels from MDF? Wood movement would not be an issue, but how would these hold up in the long term?
Posted By:russell hudson
it was a decision made with the architect. the material stays true / it was used for the frame & panels, the cap, base & moldings WERE of wood / perfect application for this material (which I seldom use, btw) / house was old, wasn't going anywhere, any longer (movement)

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