How to Install Chair Rail Molding

Attractive chair railing can add to the functionality and beauty of any room in which it is added, and can be installed with limited knowledge and/or carpentry skills.
Installation requires taking accurate length measurements and the ability to cut molding at a 45-degree angle using either a miter saw or a back-saw and a miter box. An average-sized room can be transformed from bare walls to having attractive chair rail surrounds in 2 to 3 hours.

Things You'll Need

• Miter saw or back-saw and 1 miter box
• Stud finder
• Hammer
• Box of five penny stainless nails
• Caulk gun
• Tube of painter's caulk
• 20-foot tape measure

Instructions

1. Individually measure and record the length of each wall in the room in which the chair railing is to be installed. Add 3 to 4 inches to each wall measurement to allow for miter cuts during installation.

2. Total the individual wall measurements in Step 1, and purchase the required feet of chair rail molding.

3. Measure a distance of 32 inches from the floor, and mark a point on each wall at 3-foot intervals. Connect these points with a pencil line to designate the chair rail location.

4. Use stud finder to locate studs behind each wall, and mark an "X" at location of every third stud along the the line placed in Step 3 to designate nailing points during chair rail installation.

5. 

   Cut a 45-degree angle on opposite ends of the first piece of chair rail to be installed.

6. Position this cut piece into an inside corner, and align it along the pencil line drawn in Step 3. Mark center points where stud locations fall on the chair rail molding.

7. Use a 1/16-inch bit to drill pilot holes through the molding at each designated stud position.

8. 

   Hold the molding into the corner, and aligned with the drawn pencil line. Nail to the first stud using previously drilled pilot hole.

9. Move halfway down the molding, and use the pilot hole to nail the molding to a second stud located at this point. Complete nailing molding to studs by using remaining pilot holes.

10. Measure the gap existing between the end of the previously nailed molding and the opposite corner. Cut an opposing 45-degree angle to nest with the trailing end of the installed molding, and cut a second 45-degree angle on the far end of the joined piece, which will nest into the inside corner.
    Add a thin coat of painter's caulk to one surface of the two 45 degree angles to be joined.

11. Nail the joined piece of molding as described in Steps 8 and 9.

12. Start installation on the second wall by cutting 45-degree angles on each end of the molding. Then fit the first end into the corner to nest with the 45-degree angle cut in the previously installed piece of molding. Prior to nailing, coat one surface of the 45-degree cuts with painter's caulk.

13. Proceed by following nailing and joining as described in Steps 6 through 11 until all walls are covered.

14. Seal the gap between the top of the chair rail molding and the wall by applying a thin coat of painter's caulk around the entire perimeter of the room. This provides a finished look to the molding.

15. Paint the chair rail molding.

Tips & Warnings

• Pre-drilling nail holes at marked stud locations will avoid splitting of the molding and will ensure nails are placed in position to contact wall studs. The added step of caulking the top seam between the molding and the wall improves the overall appearance of the chair railing.