ArcaMax

To add a rich, warm appeal to a room, consider installing wood raised paneling as a wainscoting on the walls. You’ll see it in a library of an upscale home, and often surrounding the walls of a restaurant, to add character and enhance a room’s appeal. And designers often use wood wainscoting to transform an ordinary room to extraordinary. You can create that same look in any room, but it’s a pricey, not a low budget improvement. Consider installing wood wainscoting as a long-term investment you’ll enjoy for years to come.

The project involves surrounding the bare walls of a room in wood. The steps include measuring and laying out the panels, installing horizontal base rails, followed by the vertical panels, and then finishing with top rails. The material is fastened to the walls with adhesive and nails.

A carpenter will charge about $3,000 to install raised paneling as wainscoting on the lower third of the walls of a 12-by-15-foot room (approximately 50 linear feet), and then finish the job with a top rail and baseboard molding at the floor. That includes labor and material. You can buy a customized kit for a room that size for $1,750 and install it yourself, saving 42%.

The components, which are precut and milled to fit together, come paintable and in different wood finishes. You'll find wainscoting sold online and at building material suppliers and lumber yards. One source is www.newenglandclassic.com, where you’ll learn about their modular system with raised and flat panels and beadboard in a variety of woods, with styles ranging from Colonial to contemporary.

Pro Cost: $3,000 — DIY Cost: $1,750 — Pro time: 21.0 DIY Time: 29.5 — DIY Savings: 1,250 — Percent Saved: 42%

========

To find more DIY project costs and to post comments and questions, visit www.diyornot.com and m.diyornot.com on smartphones.

©2024 Gene and Katie Hamilton. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.