[chieffan]

Left home in the snow heading for the City yesterday morning about 8. Drop our Pom off at Petsmart for a grooming,etc. Was 9:30 and the store we wanted to look for new curtains in was not open. Headed to Walmart. The had some nice heavy thermal sets with no price. Found a clerk and found they were going on clearance for 1/2 price. BINGO ! Grabbed two and a nice rod and out the door.

Next stop was Nebraska Furniture Mart. Met a friend there that had a NOS UP calendar for 1988 I wanted for display this year. Picked out the carpeting for the living room, did the paperwork, wrote the check and left happy? Headed for Golden Coral to refuel. The a stop across a couple street to Menard's. Picked out some Wainscoting we liked & a couple other items. Out the door and stopped to pick up the Pom. He was ready to say the least. Headed down the road to a friend that runs a small engine salvage yard/repair shop (when he decides he wants to work). Picked up a good running Briggs Vanguard 18 hp for my Cub Cadet I picked up for $25 a while back.. Chatted a bit and headed towards home.

One more stop yet. Picked up the hydro belt, steering shaft bushing, and tie rod end bushings from a Former Cub Cadet place. He dropped the Cub Cadet due to way to the way they were built. Headed for home. Got unloaded and in the house. Then got to thinking. Now I have to put that Wainscoting on the wall in the hall way. Bought 5 pieces 48 X 32 and only two go on as on piece. Have to start packing things up and get ready to move everything out of the living room in a week. Mean time have to remove the old carpeting and do some minor repair work on the floor. Just what I needed. More work but at least it is inside as it is 10° this morning and talking below 0 this weekend. Come on Spring !

 

[KennyP]

Sounds like a fun job!

 

[crittersf1]

What is "Wainscoting"?

 

[KennyP]

What is "Wainscoting"?

Paneling that only goes part way up the wall.

 

[LilysDad]

.

. He dropped the Cub Cadet due to way to the way they were built.

What did he replace CC with???

 

[crittersf1]

Paneling that only goes part way up the wall.

Never heard it called by that name before

 

[toppop52]

I was in the upholstery, interior design business for 37 years, most people think of Wainscoting as the lower portion of the wall, but it can also be the whole wall, or any part of the wall or surrounding area. All these and many more, are examples of Wainscoting.

 

[chieffan]

What did he replace CC with???

His main line now are Simplicity, Stihl, Torro and BCS. Has several other smaller brand also but these are his majors. Forgot Snapper.

 

[chieffan]

toppop52: Going to disagree with you completely. The photos you posted are NOT Wainscoting. Wainscoting originally was is 2" wide boards 32 -36" long with a 1/2 a shallow grove on each side. They were nailed to the wall individually and their purpose was, and still is to protect the wall from the chair backs, tables etc. It is seen in restaurants a lot, especially the older ones. Now, you can by Wainscoting in 48" X 32" panels or 4' X 8' panels as well as a wide variety of wood simulations. It is being used more and more in family room, rec rooms and other high traffic areas. Most of the original Wainscoting has been painted, some several times over the years. When dry wall came in with texturing a lot of the Wainscoting was removed. I hate to guess how much of this I tore out of older kitchens back in the 60's when doing remodeling.

Have included two photos of what I am putting up, The top cap is not installed yet. One panel is laying flat on the floor.

 

[toppop52]

I agree with you, on what it was originally, the individual boards, though there was no 2" standard originally. But there was no rule on how much wall was covered either, could be a foot, could be the whole wall. But somewhere along the way, virtually any decorative wood that covered a wall in panel form, became known as Wainscoting. When I think of it, I think of the board panels covering the lower 30%-50% of the wall, but in today's world the term covers far more styles.

 

[toppop52]

From Merium Webster...wainscot
verb wain·scot
Definition of wainscot
wainscot·ed or wainscot·tedwainscot·ing or wainscot·ting
transitive verb
: to line with or as if with boards or paneling

It seems the original meaning was fine oak, and didn't apply to any specific use. Seems I'm learning as I go.

 

[olcowhand]

Chieffan, I have the same panel 4' up my wall in my living room. Put it in 20 years ago & looks as good as the day I put it in.

 

[chieffan]

Wainscoting is coming back again due to the various wood grain varieties available, as well as it being produced in larger panel forms. Webster does not always comply with the industry standards and term either. exp: If a closet is lined with cedar boards to make a cedar closet it is not Wainscoting. When I was doing construction I do not remember but one time we installed Wainscoting in a new kitchen. That was in the 2" wide boards that are still available today at Menard's, so I found out yesterday. Anything about 32-36" was called paneling. We did use paneling cut in half to go around the lower 49" of the wall different times. More to save on the waist and labor than anything.

I don't remember what the original wood was but it was hard and brittle so your probably right in it being Oak, more than likely White Oak. The Wainscoting I got yesterday has a Mahogany plywood panel with the veneer overlay, 3/16" thick. Goes on real nice. Will post a photo when done, less the cap.

 

[chieffan]

Chieffan, I have the same panel 4' up my wall in my living room. Put it in 20 years ago & looks as good as the day I put it in.

Wainscoting does not wear out, it goes out of style and your ahead of the game now as it is coming back. Home Depot and Lowes haven't figured that out yet as in this area they don't have it in stock. Special order only. I guess you could say it does wear out if it gets really beat up from chain backs.

 

[toppop52]

I wasn't trying to argue, just pointing out the differences in terminology between industries, regions and eras. Dictionary and reality don't always agree, but in my line the term has always been liberally applied. It appears the origin of the word is 16-17 century England, referring to quality oak lumber. I never knew that before,

 

[chieffan]

I wasn't trying to argue, just pointing out the differences in terminology between industries, regions and eras. Dictionary and reality don't always agree, but in my line the term has always been liberally applied. It appears the origin of the word is 16-17 century England, referring to quality oak lumber. I never knew that before,

I think Wainscoting was more popular the more traditional style homes, where it was found in about any room, but especially in the bath/laundry, kitchen and dinning rooms. I have mine all up and the top cap is cut. Did not use any inside or outside corners as to me that was a way to cover up shoddy workmanship.

I worked and was trained under an old boy that took pride in his work and wanted everyone else working with him to do the same. Many times we would work together without anyone else around for weeks on end. We built stairs when they stained and varnished, if anyone is old enough to remember that. Our stairs would only have a hand full of #3 shingle nails in them. They were held together with wedges on both the tread and riser. Everything was tight wood to wood fit. Any crack that showed up, it was taken apart and done over. O'l Griff would mark the board in place on each end. I would connect the two marks to make straight line. He would tell me before he handed me the board if I was to take the line, leave the line or split the line. And that is exactly what he wanted. Would take a day for the average set of stairs. That type of workmanship is long gone. I still like to practice that today but not near as good as I was back then. O'l Griff had a saying 'If you don't have time to do it right the first time when will you have time to go back and do it over?"

 

[toppop52]

Griff was right, if you don't have time to it right, you sure as hell don't have time to do it twice. I'm a self trained upholsterer, and pretty fair at it, I expected the same from our upholsterers and seamstresses. I did two Victorian chairs that were in the White House from 1983-1989. We did window treatments that cost several thousand dollars each window, they had to be near perfect, no excuses. I'm not very tolerant of sloppy work.