# Unique Chair Rail Obstacle



## mormegil (Nov 29, 2010)

Greetings everyone. I'm hoping to harness the power of the forum to get a unique solution for a chair rail installation quirk. 

I planned to install a chair rail at 36" up from the floor because that is the height of a waist high room divider (photo #1). However, I soon discovered that the 36" height conflicted with a wall vent (photo #2). At 36", the chair rail will run into the wall vent so that it is about half above the top of the vent and half below the top of the vent, which would require an odd break in the chair rail. 

I see a couple of solutions, each with a drawback: 

1) lower the chair rail so the top of the chair rail coincides with the top of the vent, allowing for a cleaner break in the chair rail. However, the chair rail will then not line up with the top of the room divider. Instead, it will sit a little below the top of the wall divider, and off center from the molding on the room divider. 

2) raise the chair rail so it goes directly above the vent. However, the chair rail would then also go over the room divider. 

FYI, I took off the vent, and it's not easy or practical to shift the vent down.

I'm leaning towards Option #1, but wanted to see if there were any other suggestions or potential solutions. 

Thanks in advance.


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Remove the vent---install the trim --lower the vent--???


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## Pistol Pete (Sep 23, 2010)

Can you whittle away the back of the chair rail so the vent will fit behind it? Maybe with a router, or by hand with a wood chisel?


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## Alix (Jun 1, 2011)

Pistol Pete said:


> Can you whittle away the back of the chair rail so the vent will fit behind it? Maybe with a router, or by hand with a wood chisel?


I second this solution. If you want the chair rail at that height, remove material from the back side of the chair rail so that you can go right over the edge of the vent.


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## loneframer (Mar 27, 2009)

It looks like you'll need to transition the chair rail to go up the stairs, so make your transition at the vent.

Here's a few examples of transitions.:thumbsup:


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