Step 1: Remove Existing Quarter Round and Baseboard

If your room has quarter round trim around the perimeter of the floor, use your hammer to gently tap your prybar so the thin tip slips behind the quarter round where it meets the baseboard (ideally at nail locations if you can see them). Carefully lever the baseboard away from the wall a little bit at a time, moving along the length of the quarter round until it's free. Take a look at the video below for a close-up view of the kind of prybar that does a great job.

Will you be re-using the quarter round somewhere else? If you are, and the nails stayed behind in the baseboard as it came off, pull them out with pliers. If the nails came off with the baseboard, pull them right through the trim from the back face, also using pliers. This way the nail heads won't splinter the visible face of the quarter round as they would if you tapped them out backwards.

Tap the pry bar behind the baseboard, but before levering it off, place the blade of a putty knife behind the pry bar to protect the wall surface from getting damaged.

Step 2: Add the 8 1/2" (21.5 cm) Base Rail

This is the first part of the kit you'll be working with, and it goes on just like baseboard. Place as many pieces of base rail in position as needed to cover your wall. Cut the last one to length as needed to fill any remaining space that's less than the 8-feet (240 cm)

The base rails get fastened to the wall with 2 1/2" (63 mm) finishing nails, but before you start hammering you'll need to find the location of wall studs behind the drywall using a stud finder. Take a look at this video for tips on using one.

When you think you've found a stud, drive a finishing nail part way into the wall, about 6" (15 cm) off the floor (that's slightly lower than the height of the base rail). If you're in the right spot, the nail will hit solid wood underneath the drywall. If you miss, there's no problem. When the base rail's installed it will cover the test hole. When you've found one stud, measure to the left and the right in 16" (40.5 cm) increments to find neighbouring wall studs.

With all the wall studs positively located, mark their locations on the wall in pencil, slightly above the level where the top edge of the base rail will be. In this case that's 8 1/2" (21.5 cm) above the floor. By raising the marks like this you'll be able to see them when the base rail's in final position. Anchor the base rail using two 2 1/2" finishing nails per stud – one nail 1" (2.5 cm) down from the top edge and another nail 1" (2.5 cm) up from the floor. Use a nail set and hammer to propel the nails about 1/16" (a couple of millimeters) below the surface of the wood.

Repeat the process to install the 1 5/8"-wide (41 mm) shoe moulding now from the kit (if you're using it), or wait until any floor renovations are completed, then add it.

Step 3: Calculate Stile Spacing

Since your wall itself forms the panel surface with this particular wainscoting kit, you've got the option of putting the vertical stiles anywhere you want. But before you determine stile locations and mark their positions on the base rails, give some thought to the corners. If your wainscoting installation has inside corners, like this one does, then the adjoining corner stiles are best completed with butt joints. Both inside corner stiles touch each other and meet with square edges. The stiles will need some trimming in order to fit together, as you can see in the video segment below.

Stiles can be spaced evenly across the wall, or spaced in a pattern of closer and wider spacings. I recommend an 18" to 24" (45 cm to 60 cm) stile spacing, though there's something else you need to consider. It's far easier and better looking to position stiles so they don't land on electrical outlets and phone jacks. Don't be afraid to shift the whole assembly one way or the other to avoid obstructions. Also, as you're deciding on a stile spacing pattern, lean the stiles against the wall and step back to get a sense of what they all look like together, as shown in the video below.

You can use the same butt joined arrangement for outside corner stiles, too, though you might want to try something fancier. If you've got a tablesaw, and the skill to use it, consider sawing the mating edges of the stiles on a 45º angle, then pre-assemble them with glue before application to the wall. This takes more skill, but it can create a smoother, better looking joint if you do it right. See how it's done in the video below.

Step 4: Install Stiles

Each stile needs to be fastened to both the base rail and the wall, and oriented so they're perfectly upright (called "plumb"). Before applying carpenter's glue to the stile, position the first one against the wall, use your 24" (60 cm) level to orient it plumb, then use a pencil to trace the edges of the stile on the drywall. Remove the stile from the wall, apply wood glue to the bottom end, then place two more thin beads of glue on the back face of the stile, to secure it to the wall. Replace the stile against the wall, positioned between the pencil marks you drew earlier.

The glue might be sticky enough to hold the stile in place on its own, but don't risk it. Instead, predrill holes for 1 1/2" finishing nails through the stile only (not the drywall) a couple of inches below the top end. You probably won't hit a wall stud when you drive this nail, but that's okay. Even in drywall alone, the nail will keep the stile steady until the glue hardens. That's all you need. Repeat the process for all other stiles, as shown in the video below.

Handy Tip: The perfect drill bit to bore holes for finishing nails is a finishing nail itself. Nip the head off, chuck it into your electric drill, point side out, then put it on the wood and pull the trigger. Excellent holes with no risk of breaking tiny, brittle drill bits.

Got windows or doors to work around? Take a look at this video for tips and tricks on making it happen.

Step 5: Install Top Rail and Cap

The top rails sit on top of the stiles, and now's the time to bring these parts together. But before you do, grab your pencil.

Remember those pencil marks you made on the wall, the ones just above the base rail to show stud locations? You need to make another set of marks like these just above the top edge of the top rail, so you'll know where to drive the 2 1/2" finishing nails securing these parts. Use a carpenter's level to guide the placement of these lines as you extend them upwards. You don't need to draw them all the way up the wall, just far enough so they'll be visible slightly above the top rail. Drive some test nails into the drywall to make sure you've marked stud locations accurately. Don't worry if you miss, since the top rail will hide any frazzled holes.

As you install the rails, apply wood glue to the top ends of the stiles, and two small beads of construction adhesive to the back face of the rails. Nestle one top rail in position, then secure it with nails. Predrill holes for these nails if you're driving them by hand, or use an 18-gauge finishing nailer. The video shows how to do all this, including a look at fastening the cap that sits on top of the top rail.

Do any gaps exist between the top rail and wall? Don't worry. That's quite normal. We'll take care of them next.

Step 6: Fill, Prime and Paint

Now's the time to hide any gaps and nail holes, and there are two products you need to use: spackling compound and paintable latex caulking.

Spackling compound is a generic term used to describe a fine-grained filler. It's made by different manufacturers and is ideal for filling nail holes and small dents. Use a putty knife to work spackling compound into the little defects, then scrape all excess off the surface before letting it dry. Complete a light sanding of the area by hand with 120-grit paper to make the filled areas perfectly fllush with the surrounding surfaces.

You'll also need to run a small bead of paintable latex caulking along all inside corners where wainscoting parts meet walls. The idea is to create a small concave profile of caulking to seal all of these transition zones visually. It makes for a much nicer installation after painting. Immediately after caulking one section, run your finger tip over the joint to smoothen it. Latex caulking cleans up easily with water, so it's easy to keep things neat, as you can see in this video clip.

Let the caulking dry for a day, then examine your installation with a piece of 120-grit sand paper in hand, removing any hardened excess caulking in preparation for paint. All paint-grade Elite wainscoting comes pre-primed, but give the walls and any sanded areas of wainscoting a coat of primer anyway, to cover any bare wood that may have been exposed during installation. Let the primer dry, then apply the first coat of paint. Want to try something new? Consider wall paper instead of paint in the rectangular areas surrounded by stiles and rails.

Installing Wainscoting Around Windows and Doors A Word About Doors . . .

Every wainscoting installation looks best with stiles flanking the sides of the door trim. Trouble is, standard stiles also look too wide sitting next to door trim this way. That's why the best option is to saw stiles in half, length-wise, on a tablesaw before installation flanking a door. Don't have a table saw?No problem. Friends, neighbours, tradespeople even the folk who run high school wood shops can make these cuts for you in minutes. Simply install these narrow stiles as you would any other, except that the sawn edge is tight to the door trim. The top rail will probably stick out farther from the wall than your door trim does, and this mismatch won't look great. Solve the problem by completing a 45^o angled cut on the end of the top rail. A chopsaw makes quick work of this job.

Two Choices for Windows . . .

Option 1: The Simple Way

Just cut the top rail and stiles so they stop wherever these parts intersect the outside of the window trim. If the wainscoting parts are thicker than your window trim, you'll need to make angled cuts on the ends of the stiles and rails to ease the visual transition. It's the same way I recommend dealing with the junction between top rail and door trim.

Option 2: The Double Frame Method

This creates a fancier, more refined look by wrapping the top rail around the sides and bottom of that part of the window that extends down into the wainscoting area. The approach requires more skill than can be delivered in these instructions, but whether or not you have the know-how personally, the double frame method is worth knowing about.