wainscoating in bedroom question

[Justin SE IOWA]

Wife and I want to put up wains coating in our bedroom. Local sawmill has all hardwoods and that's what we are gonna use. I'm not putting up the cheap crap from Menard's. My question is do i put it on top of the carpet or pull up the carpet and put wains coating to the floor and then new carpet up to the side of it? I think Wains coating to the floor then new carpet to the side is correct but thought I would get some more insight from some carpenters on here. We are wanting new carpet anyway so pulling up the old isn't an issue. Thanks
 

[GordoSD]

Pull carpet. Wainscoat to floor. Then Chair rail. Then new carpet. Then new baseboard
 

[Justin SE IOWA]

Base board goes on top of carpet right? Also how do I fasten the wains coating to the sheet rock? Do I have to put a furring strip at the top and bottom? Im afraid that will make it stick out from the wall to far. Is there a better way?
 

[Frank (N.Mi.)]

Well if you are using vertical boards for your wainscot and the existing wall isn't blocked or sheated under the sheetrock your only options are to find a good cons't adhesive and glue the boards or remove the sheetrock where the wainscot is going to be and sheet the framing with plywood to give the nails or screws something to fasten into. We had to do this on a place this past summer.
 

[Justin SE IOWA]

[Jaden]

Another tip I heard. Spray paint the wall behind the wains coating with a similar color in the joint area. That way, if the boards shrink, you don't get a colored stripe showing.
 

[State of Jefferson]

You don't HAVE to pull the carpet. The wainscoting doesn't HAVE to go clear to the floor. Infact if you are not wanting to replace the carpet right now, i'd leave it up enough to pull the old carpet. The baseboard should go pretty tight to teh carpet.
When I install baseboard in a house and the painter, carpet layer and myself are all on tha same page, I isntall baseboard BEFORE carpet, about 1/2" above the subfloor. Paint it in place, then the carpet layer can tuck the carpet right under. Saves alot of hassle masking/ cutting in paint against carpet.
The IDEAL way to install wainscotting is to cut the sheetrock back, add nailers(and possible more insulation on exterior walls) then the wainscoting, then chair rail above and baseboard below, as a way to aleiviate the sticking out into the room problem.

Just my humble advice. Worth every cent you paid for it!

Ben
 

[Hoenes]

Pull carpet back. One way to get the "old" look, is to start out with a 1 inch, or 5/4 base board (if you are using 3/4 wainscoat) say a 1x4 or 1x6 and set your 3/4 boards on top of the base. Set your base on 3/8 blocks, (remove after install) and the carpet layer will tuck underneath base. Glue is fine, but if you have access to a trim nailer, you can toe-nail the edge of the tongue on a 45 to hold them in place till the glue dries.
 

[Stephen Newell]

f it were me I would run the wanescot to the floor. If you don't and you replace the carpet with thinner carpet you will have to come back with quarteround to cover the gap. Instead of pulling up the carpet I would just go around the edges and cut the carpet enough to slip the wanescot behind it.
 

[GordoSD]

As others said , use construction adhesive in a caulking gun to apply panels to sheetrock.Paint or stain and finish baseboards and chair rail to match before install. Look at some home decorating sites on this from google.
Go to a home remodel site, not a Farmall site!
 

[rRocko]

Not to slight any others but the best advice I read was Hoenes answer. I've done the same as he described many times and it always turned out to be a great looking finished project. Not sure why your hesitant to use adhiesive, thinking you may pull it out in future and don't want to reck drywall?? Also 3/8 thick is plenty with drywall behind it. Probabley need thicker if nothing else there. Anyways lots of options given to you in these reply's now its up to you to make your mind up. Good luck on your project. Rocko
 

[da.bees]

Since you mentioned sawmill,I conclude you are talking rough sawn so that's what I am talking about here. The wood will srink and expand the intire time it's on the wall. You should leave an eighth inch gap between floor and wainscoating to alow expansion. As far as holding it on the wall,adhisive suplimented with pneumatic nailing is the conventional method. If you prefer nails,you might consider running the boards at an angle so each board crosses 2 or more studs. If you want the boards running vertical,they will be nailed to plate at bottom. Rabbat cap/chair rail to fit over front of wainscoat,make certain there is a nail going into each stud crossed by cap/rail. Regardless how you decide to go,paint the wall with a flat color close to wainscoat color.
 

[Dr. Walt]

Stephen:

You're forgetting about the Tack-board strips at the edges that hold the carpet down.
 

[Kyle in KY]

Don't use adhesive. if you don't have a trim nailer you can rent one. The bottom of the wainscote gets nailed into the sill plate at the bottom, try to tack the top into the studs. The chair rail or top caps nailed into the studs hold it against the wall. Leave the wainscote and baseboard 3/8" - 3/4" off the floor depending on the pile carpet you install. Another gentleman stated painting the wall behind the edge of the wainscote, It's a good idea to cover any shrinkage of the panels so you don't see an exposed seam.
Just my 2 cents, been doing finish work for close to 30 years now.
 

[Larry NEIL]

You mean "Oliver" site.