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height of beadboard tile -- chair rail?

14 years ago

New here but not to gardenweb. My tile shower is torn out to the studs thanks to a leaky shower. Just ordered an Alantra custom base and am using Savoy tile to tile the walls. I need some advice from some trusted experts and you folks seem like the right people for the job.

I am using the tile in this picture.

From the bottom up: The baseboard on the bottom, then the beadboard which is 24" tall, then the chair rail tile piece, then the subway tile to the ceiling.

You can see in the picture (if you look closely), that they stacked another partial piece of the beadboard tile above one piece of beadboard to make it taller.

If I do not do that, my chair rail height will only be about 30", but then the beadboard will not look as "choppy".

Which would look better?

1. A lower chair rail (should ideally be about 36", will only be about 30")?

2. A partial piece of the beadboard tile stacked above a full piece?

Hope this makes sense?

TIA

PS. If you are interested, I'll tell you what "mysteries" were solved under my torn out leaky shower! My new guy is using Kerdi.

Here is a link that might be useful: picture

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Comments (7)

ILoveRed
Original Author
14 years ago
so sorry--didn't realize the whole brochure would download--the picture is on page 3 of the brochure. Please don't be discouraged from helping me out--I really need some advice :-)

Thanks again.
bill_vincent
14 years ago
30" would be too low for a wainscot. I'd go up the extra piece. Grouted with a white grout, (and installed properly) you won't notice the pieces after a while. Even 36" is marginal. Normal wainscot is between 47- 52". That said, it can actually be any height you wish. :-)
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Personal preference, really; if you absolutely must have a hard number, try 48" or 54" but it's just as likely that neither will fit your room just right. :-) There are a lot of things you can use as a reference point for the cap rail topping the wainscot (to be obnoxious and persnickety, it's only a "chair rail" when it is in a living area and placed at a height to keep a chair from banging the wall): a windowsill, the top of the toilet, the top of a vanity backsplash, a medicine cabinet frame or window frame (1/3 of the way up a window frame or medicine cabinet frame is a very classic relationship), above or below wall outlets/switches. Tape a string up around the wall at different heights to get an idea of which one works for you. Consider, also, how your baseboard is going to work - if you are going to put the beadboard on top of a baseboard, behind it sitting on the floor, behind it but raised above the floor (use scraps of beadboard to fill the dead space behind the baseboard). This will affect your finished height. Sheer practicality and avoidance of waste is a pretty important thing to consider too, so if you can use a half or a third of a plank/sheet instead of, say, three-fifths (leaving two-fifths to waste, unless you have a use for it elsewhere), that's better. It is often more cost-effective to get the full size planks/sheets and cut them than to buy the smaller "wainscot size" ones. In my previous house's master bath, I went for 2/3 of the way up the walls, allowing us to use half-lengths of the 8' long beadboard planks to minimize waste: 48" tall beadboard on top of 5.5" baseboard (seam disguised with an inexpensive trim piece called a "base cap") and topped with 1.5" cap rail = 55"; exactly 2/3 would have been 60" but the beautiful wallpaper border that went above the wainscot brought the total up to just the tiniest tad under 61". I had originally wanted to use 1/3 up the window frame for the cap rail's reference line but the beadboard planks would have had to be about 54", which would have doubled the amount I would have needed to purchase!
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ILoveRed
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you Bill. I will definitely go up the extra height.
pepperidge_farm
14 years ago
How tall are the ceilings? If they are "taller", maybe you could just use 2 rows of the wainscot- or trim so that both pieces are the same size...
yes, I realize I have just suggested doubling the cost... maybe it's not an issue for your project?

for instance, if 48" is too tall, then you could use 2x20" for example.

I tend to be symmetry driven, so that is my perspective. I know it would drive me crazy to have a shorter piece above a longer one, but not someone else.
pepperidge_farm
14 years ago
Actually, if you look not at "page 3" but at the third page in the catalog, you see that they alternate the cut piece like a running bond pattern- that looks nice!
ILoveRed
Original Author
14 years ago
Pepperidge farm--are you talking about the page with the shower on the left and the dark vanity and mirror on the right? If so, yes I see what you are talking about after looking more closely and that does look nice. That is what you mean about "running bond" pattern?

My ceilings are 9 ft. BTW.

The project is already so ridiculous as far as cost, what's a few more bucks. The custom Alantra base is costing me over 2K. Couldn't find anyone around here that I trusted to build a non-leaky shower pan out of tile.

Not to mention I have already paid a man to build the shower, tear it out, rebuild it, have it leak again and then not return my phone calls for over a year.

So now I am paying again to start from scratch. Okay now I will stop whining.

Thanks for the advice. Happy Valentines Day all!
pepperidge_farm
14 years ago
Oh, so sorry about the ongoing problems!!

Yes, that is the image, running bond is like "subway" pattern.

With the 9ft I do like a taller wainscot, but also depends on the home style- I think that taller is a more traditional/classic look, think Victorian, or pre-war. But I am no designer... so who knows. I like more classic, older homes and their design, so take my opinion from that perspective.

My electrician (DH) refused to allow design to dictate the switch/outlet heights, so I had to design around it, and always chose the taller wainscot.

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