# WAINSCOTTING With BEAD BOARD



## Teetorbilt (Feb 7, 2004)

IMHO Nothing beats the real thing for appearance, it is also the most expensive and time consuming. The box stores sell packages of 3/8" T&G that looks like two boards put together, this is twice as fast to install and less expensive. I have yet to see plywood that looks like anything other than plywood, some of the worst just has grooves cut into it and no contour at all. All of the plywood that I have seen is also thin and contours the wall which is usually not flat and is a dead giveaway plus trying to hide the joints is nearly impossible. I replace a lot of ply.


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## hatchet (Dec 13, 2003)

haha.. I've seen some stuff awhile back that was ply with a pine veneer. They put the veneer on and then route the grooves. Boy did that stuff look cheap. I agree with Teetor - buy the strip. It does take a little more time and a bit more costly - but it's still pretty easy to put up. Get a chair rail with a dado in the backside and it's very simple to cut in.


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## boardslinger (Apr 11, 2004)

I'm a little confused as to what you are calling bead board. Are you talking about F.R.P. If you don't know what that is it is Fire Retardant Paneling, it is what you see in public restrooms, the textured plastic paneling. I'd throw my 2 cents in but I want to make sure I know what you are talking about first.


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## hatchet (Dec 13, 2003)

Bead board is typically 3/8" plywood with a linear pattern "routed" into it at 2" or similar spacing. The routed portion is typically shaped like a bead or half round.


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## boardslinger (Apr 11, 2004)

Thanks hatchet. I get confused sometimes. I still use terminalogy from the mid-west and I tend to get looked at funny here in the south west. Just wanted to make sure that I was on the same page.

Since I am on the same page, I would have to agree with Teetor on this. Wow that must have been the shortest 2 cents I ever put in.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 7, 2004)

The old bead board aka board and bead was solid wood, this was way before plywood. Most of it was made prior to lumber standardization so it comes in all thicknesses and widths. The most common thicknesses run from 3/4 - 12" and everything in between. I almost always have to have repair pieces custom milled. In my experience, it runs about 50/50 between T&G and just being nailed edge to edge.
It was popular for wainscotting for centuries up north and is now making a resurgence. Here, in FL, it was commonly used for interior and porch ceilings and soffit.
Just a little history.


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## Guest (Jul 3, 2004)

hatchet said:


> haha.. I've seen some stuff awhile back that was ply with a pine veneer. They put the veneer on and then route the grooves. Boy did that stuff look cheap. I agree with Teetor - buy the strip. It does take a little more time and a bit more costly - but it's still pretty easy to put up. Get a chair rail with a dado in the backside and it's very simple to cut in.


how do u put up a dado so it goes round a corner? and so it looks good.


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## 4powells (Feb 9, 2005)

*Plywood*

I did a room in my last house with the 11/32" 48x96" plywood sheets. It took a hell of a lot of prep work and sanding but once I did it and painted it, it looked very good. The plywood sheets are especially good if you have requirements for something other than the height offered by the precut panels.

One thing about the plywood though, I ended up having to resaw and put a rabbet in some edges of the panels that were damaged during transportation back and forth. The "tongue and groove" edges they put on them at the mill are somewhat fragile.

I think it also depends on how you plan to finish the wainscot. I my case, I was going to paint it blue in keeping with the room's decor, so I didn't need top grade materials.


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## hatchet (Dec 13, 2003)

joey_182 said:


> how do u put up a dado so it goes round a corner? and so it looks good.


Missed this one.. the dado is in the backside of the chairrail so you never see it. It's only function is to hide the top of the wainscot.


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## meiersenterprises (Jun 17, 2005)

Do you use construction adhesive as well as nails when installing?


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## CarpenterDon (Jun 28, 2005)

It's a rabbet, not a dado that is cut into the back, bottom-edge of the chair rail. The rabbet fits over the top edge of the wainscotting.

F.R.P. = Fiber Reinforced Panel not Fire Retardant Panel.

Just a little FYI! 

You can use construction adhesive, if your planning on never removing the wainscotting. Personally, I use silicone and finish nails. I nail the boards to the joists (every 16".) I locate the studs first and make a mark on the wall just above where the wainscotting goes. These marks will be covered by the cap or chair rail, so it no worry to make the marks.

There are 2 different types of wainscotting. There is T-n-G (Tongue & Groove) and shiplap (the edges half-lap over each other.) Either will work just fine. With the shiplap I run a small bead of silicone & nail at the lap joints as well.

The reason I use silicone, is that if the homeowner ever wants to remove the wainscotting, it won't tear the face paper off the drywall, like construction adhesive does. It prevents a future mess. And the silicone and nails hold really well.

I put a quarter-sized dot of silicone about every 6" down the length of the board, spaced every 8" across the width, and press it in place and nail it off!


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## hardhattg (Jul 5, 2007)

*another bead board question , please*

newbie here guys and any help offered will be grealty appreciated .

i am redoing our master bath and have completely stripped eveything down to the studs . i have installed sheetrock and plaster on the upper vertical walls ( 48") up from the floor , and the ceiling . The sheetrock was the standard 1/2" green board and the thickness of the plaster . how shall i install wainsscotting ( bead board ) on the bottom ? did i screw up by not installing the sheetrock on the entire wall ? worried about how the thickness of the bead baord and the thickness of the sheet rock will match up ?

thanks guys 

hardhattg


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

hardhattg said:


> newbie here guys and any help offered will be grealty appreciated .
> 
> i am redoing our master bath and have completely stripped eveything down to the studs . i have installed sheetrock and plaster on the upper vertical walls ( 48") up from the floor , and the ceiling . The sheetrock was the standard 1/2" green board and the thickness of the plaster . how shall i install wainsscotting ( bead board ) on the bottom ? did i screw up by not installing the sheetrock on the entire wall ? worried about how the thickness of the bead baord and the thickness of the sheet rock will match up ?
> 
> ...


Ok, first off, there is the concern of the type of beadboard panels that you plan on using. There is 1/2" and 1/4". The 1/2" is designed to be installed - butted up agains 1/2" sheet rock, with a chair-cap-rail molding installed to cover over the transition. 

In the pic below, we installed 1/2" bead board prior to sheetrock. 1/2" S/R was installed on top. The result looks like this ("flush" backside chair rail molding):











Now, in your situation... you should use the 1/4" thick bead-board panels. 

(BTW-The key is to snap a LEVEL chalk line at the 4' point, and match the top of your bead board panel to that line. The bottom has alot of forgiveness in it since it is covered by baseboard).

In the case of Plaster being on the top area of the walls vs. 1/2" sheetrock on the lower wall areas: Generally, with modern plaster - You have 1/2" Blue-board sheetrock (for plaster) with a 1/8" thick plaster veneer. (older plaster varies in it's average thickenss to as much as 3/4" or more).
Assuming that you have ''modern'' plaster on the upper wall areas, you will likely end up with an overall thickness difference (new sheetrock vs. existing plaster sections) of about 1/8". 
You may have an issue there with 1/8" difference, which may cause the chair-cap molding to sit "off-flush" on the bead-board's top edge. (The solution would have been to use 5/8" S/R on the lower areas).

The other solution now, since the sheetrock is installed, would be to adjust your chair-rail cap molding choices (styles). Basically, go to the mill dept. of your preferred lumber supplier or other place, and purchase sample lengths (12") of various molding stock that could be used as chair-cap rail stock.
Then, break out your table saw, set the depth appropriately for the difference of thickness in the sheetrock (1/2") + bead-board panel (1/4") vs. the assumed 5/8" Plaster. If that is the case, then you would take what is called a "kerf" off the lower end (and back side) of the molding stock to accomodate the 1/8" difference. That 1/8" kerf, would sit over the top edge of the bead board.

Now, if you end up with 3/4" thickness on the new S/R lower wall areas (with the added bead-board), and 3/4" thickness on the top plaster wall areas (older plaster)...then you are allset to use "flush" chair rail stock.

The result should, essentially, still look like the above pic.


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## hardhattg (Jul 5, 2007)

Atlantic WB 


thank you very much for that response but still just a little confused . right now i have nothing on the bottom 48" of the vertical wall . You are suggesting that i install 1/2 " sheetrock and then install 1/4" beadboard ? I understand how you want me to adjust the cap rail but unsure about installing the sheetrock . why not install the 1/2 bead board and modify the cap rail , leave the 1/2 sheet rock off the bottom ?

thanks again greatly appreciated 

hardhattg


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

hardhattg said:


> .....why not install the 1/2 bead board and modify the cap rail , leave the 1/2 sheet rock off the bottom ?


Sure, you can do that. I would suggest that before you go and pick up a large load of all the materials, that you do a "Test run install" on a small area to see how it all lines up and how it looks. 
If everything checks out, then pick up the rest of the materials for the job (or get it delivered)....


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## hardhattg (Jul 5, 2007)

will do , good advice 

thanks again 


hardhattg


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## RAG (Sep 11, 2007)

*Finish Trim*

This thread is very helpful and I am just about ready to start my project. I have a question someone might be able to help with.

I am instailling bead board (strips) wainscotting on a finished wall. I measured the bead board strips at the lumber yard today and they look like they are 5/8" thick. The existing baseboard and window casing is 3/4" thick.

What should I use to trim out the base of the bead board (on top of the baseboard) and around the windows?

I'm soooo confused. Thanks!


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## KCdiy-er (Sep 11, 2007)

To trim out the bottom just use any base like you would on any other wall on top of the coating. Or maybe a 1x6 w/a type of base cap pinned on top of the 1x for detail. 
But if you really wanted to be cool you could run your base first with a wider 3/4 thin top lip on top to start yout wayne's boards from.

I.E.-use plain 1x6 base on bottom with a 1x2 top lip (layed flat on top of the 1x6 base to define the end of the base board and the start of the coating w/a diff in depth), make shure to chalk a good line on the wall to make shure the base is straight to get a good starting point, then butt the coatig to the 1x2 lip. 

Now, as far as the top and getting it around the window. 
Take what ever style you choose to "cap off" the top of the coating and just litterally take it down the window, accross the bottom and up the other side of the window making a "U" shape to get past the window. And take your time. hehe. 

Also, if the wayne's boards are not EXACTLY!!!! all the same hieght at the top, dont beat yourself up cause the top cap of the coating will cover it all up.  

Hope this helps and best of luck.


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## RAG (Sep 11, 2007)

So just "butting" the bead boards on top of the 1x6 baseboard will be clean enough to not need any trim over the bottoms of the bead boards?

As for the window, I don't think I understand your suggestion. Are you saying to run the cap molding around the window? The window casing is 3/4" thick and the bead board is 5/8" thick which only leaves 1/8" or so to work with. 

Thanks.


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## KCdiy-er (Sep 11, 2007)

RAG said:


> So just "butting" the bead boards on top of the 1x6 baseboard will be clean enough to not need any trim over the bottoms of the bead boards?
> 
> As for the window, I don't think I understand your suggestion. Are you saying to run the cap molding around the window? The window casing is 3/4" thick and the bead board is 5/8" thick which only leaves 1/8" or so to work with.
> 
> Thanks.


 
Ya i think it would be tight enough, as long as unless your boards are NOT widder than 1x6's. You still would want to use glue to assure things stayed tight too. But i would only butt them if you ussed the 1x2 lip on top of the base boards though. ITs was just a sugestion. Laying base directly over the coating works fine, sont get me wrong, i just dont like seeing all the spaces between the coating grove's and the base IMO. And if its the thick style BB i think it ussually has some pretty deep groves to it.

As far as the window goes, yep thats exactly what i mean. Run it right around the bottom half of the window. Its kinda a pain but with the thickness of your beadboard theres not a ton of options to work with. 
Im not shure what exactly your plans are but if your gonna putt some kinda top trim on the beadboard that is gonna put your thickness past the window trim anyway. If not, by all means, just die it right to the window casing if your lucky enough to get away with it. :thumbup:


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## Dusty (Aug 9, 2006)

I'm just taking a project like this on too and have a question. I have lath and plaster in my bathroom and want to put some TNG, board and bead, whatever people call it, on the walls. I've been pondering how it gets attached since the strips are of course too narrow to all go on studs.

Last time I had this done I don't recall the carpenter doing anything but gluing and nailing but then I can say I was paying really close attention either. One place I looked said to run wood strips horizontally on the walls, nailed to the studs and then nail the TNG to that. After reading here about the trims, it now occurs to me that strips would mean I have a gap when it comes to the chair rail (which fits perfectly over the TNG as it is).

Can I just use the silicone and nails right into the plaster to hold it instead of the horizontal strips?


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## AtlanticWBConst. (May 12, 2006)

Dusty said:


> I'm just taking a project like this on too and have a question. I have lath and plaster in my bathroom and want to put some TNG, board and bead, whatever people call it, on the walls. I've been pondering how it gets attached since the strips are of course too narrow to all go on studs.
> 
> Last time I had this done I don't recall the carpenter doing anything but gluing and nailing but then I can say I was paying really close attention either. One place I looked said to run wood strips horizontally on the walls, nailed to the studs and then nail the TNG to that. After reading here about the trims, it now occurs to me that strips would mean I have a gap when it comes to the chair rail (which fits perfectly over the TNG as it is).
> 
> Can I just use the silicone and nails right into the plaster to hold it instead of the horizontal strips?


This may help you:

http://www.homebuyerfunds.com/improvement/how-to-install-beaded-board-wainscoting.htm


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## Dusty (Aug 9, 2006)

Thanks those are nice and clear instructions.


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## rxgirl (Sep 25, 2008)

Hi Hardhattg-- Have you thought of using the wallcovering that looks like beadboard and is also paintable. We used it in our kitchen and it came out pretty good.!!!!!


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## rxgirl (Sep 25, 2008)

*wallcovering that looks like beadboard*

Hi Hardhattg-- Have you thought of using the wallcovering that looks like beadboard. You can also paint this wallcovering. My husband & I used it in our kitchen and people cannot tell the difference.!!!! It was alot cheaper than regular beadboard.


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## bofusmosby (Apr 30, 2007)

Speaking of bead-board, I will be replacing the bead-board ceiling of my 2-story front porch soon. Its about 34' wide, and (by counting) 38 boards deep. These are the old 1"X4" T&G bead-boards. Half of the boards are in bad shape, and about a third of them were replaced years ago with regular boards (not bead-board). I'd like to keep as much of the originals as possible, but I would have to have every piece of wood milled special to match, which is the reason why I will be replacing all the ceiling. 

Since the porch is 34' wide, is is critical for the ceiling to be perfectly level? The house has settled a bit over the years, along with the porch. There may be some areas that just don't line up with the rest of the ceiling. Any suggestions?

Bofus


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## Termite (Apr 13, 2008)

You guys are resurrecting an old thread...A year old! 

Bofusmosby, I'd suggest that you post a new thread with your question about your porch. It'll get more looks and responses than a 3 year old thread will. To answer your question though, short of leveling the ceiling, you don't have any other option than to follow the contours with the T&G beaded boards. They'll easily conform to the wavyness of the ceiling framing.


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## bofusmosby (Apr 30, 2007)

Thank you for your response. You know, I thought about the "old" thread when I was typing it, but figured,, I was too lazy to retype everything! :laughing::laughing: Your suggestion is kinda what I figured. Since its up about 20', it'l be hard to tell any un-evenness.

Bofus


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## dkkemp (Feb 24, 2013)

*Veneer beaded board*



hatchet said:


> haha.. I've seen some stuff awhile back that was ply with a pine veneer. They put the veneer on and then route the grooves. Boy did that stuff look cheap. I agree with Teetor - buy the strip. It does take a little more time and a bit more costly - but it's still pretty easy to put up. Get a chair rail with a dado in the backside and it's very simple to cut in.


 I do have this in my bath. Can it be painted, as it has gotten yellowish over time?


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