https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/f87b9960-2686-405f-952f-85d96959fe5f Senior technical editor Mark Powers layers stock lumber and moldings to produce this classic architectural element. (See below for a shopping list and tools.) SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse We're the first to say all you need is a can of paint. But for a room revamp that brings dimension and lasting value to plain walls, nothing beats a traditional wainscot of richly layered wood panels. How they're put together may seem inscrutable to the average DIYer, but once you peel back the layers of this architectural onion, you'll find that each step is plenty doable, if a bit tricky at times. See for yourself, as This Old House senior technical editor Mark Powers assembles this paneled wainscot piece by piece—moving a pro-worthy project onto a can-do list for you. Shopping List for How to Install Wainscoting: Painter's tape, 1/4 inch plywood. Get enough to cover the entire area of your wainscoting with the grain running vertically., 1x4, for the stiles, 1x5, for the corner stiles, 1x6, for the bottom rail., 1x8, for the top rail and baseboard. Get enough to cover each wall twice., Stool, for the chair-rail cap. Choose a profile deep enough to extend beyond the layered depth of the plywood, rail, and apron., Casing, for the apron, Panel molding, to trim the panels, Base-cap molding, Shoe molding, Panel adhesive, 2 1/2-inch finishing nails, to install the stiles, rails, baseboard, apron, and chair rail, 1 1/2-inch finishing nails, to install the panel, base cap, and shoe moldings, Wood glue, Wood filler, Adhesive latex caulk. Choose primed boards and molding to save time., Tools for How to Install Wainscoting: utility knife, pry bar, chalk line or straightedge to mark cuts on the plywood, 4-foot level, circular saw, caulk gun, stud finder, nail gun, miter saw, flush-cut saw to back-cut existing moldings, Speed Square, chisel, Looking for more step by step guidance on how to complete projects around the house? Join This Old House INSIDER to stream over 1,000 episodes commercial-free: https://bit.ly/2GPiYbH Plus, download our FREE app for full-episode streaming to your connected TV, phone or tablet: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/pages/streaming-app Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House: Facebook: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTwitter http://bit.ly/AskTOHTwitter Pinterest: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHousePinterest Instagram: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseIG http://bit.ly/AskTOHIG For more on This Old House and Ask This Old House, visit us at: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseWebsite How to Install Wainscoting | This Old House https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/ Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:39:59 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://stream.echo6.co https://stream.echo6.co/client/assets/images/icons/icon-512x512.png https://stream.echo6.co/videos/watch/f87b9960-2686-405f-952f-85d96959fe5f All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://stream.echo6.co/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.