Find a real lumber yard with molding.

I purchased Graham and Brown's vinyl covering online after reading positive reviews on this board. I admit I was cynical but ultimately VERY pleased with both the ease of application and the final result. These are not ideal photos for showing the covering, but hopefully you get an idea...

Here is a link that might be useful: picasa pix

I have extensive wainscot and trim and we bought almost everything through a lumber products supply yard. We saved a ton of money and got top quality.

You can pick whatever you want for chair rail as long as you like it. There are many different types of moulding that can be used as long as you like the final profile. Our chair rail is probably not used much for that purpose, but it fits and looks stunning.
I don't know about vinyl as we used all wood products and some MDF.
Happy to pass along pics if you want to see any of the finished work.

I guess my question about the chair rail is...how do you use "any" chair rail if it isn't notched out on the back like the "official" beadboard chair rail? Do you know what I mean? This is a DIY project, so I'm trying to make it as simple as possible. Is it something that requires a router to etch out the back of the moulding??

-Sarah

From a technical perspective you can do either. In our current home we simply set the chair rail we chose on top of the beadboard. In the house we are building we routered the back so it would sit a bit down on the beadboard. Both look fine. I think really it is just a choice you need to make. The reason we routered the one was because it had a much thicker profile and it just made sense to do it that way, certainly don't need to though.

It really is very easy, we did all beadboard in current home and some in current build.

Acountryfarm--I love the pictures I saw on another thread of your beadboard. I absolutely LOVE your chair rail--it is exactly what our old house needs--not the super-skinny, rounded kind they have at Lowe's. Did you ever find out what the name of it is? We don't have a lot of choices in lumberyards here in Albany, NY--we have Curtis Lumber and Stock Building Supplies...I can't even think of any others off the top of my head. Lowe's had a decent selection of neat historic chair rails--but I couldn't figure out how to make them work with the beadboard.

How did you just "set" it on top of the beadboard? I guess I'm confused (I've never done this before, so I'm having a hard time envisioning it.) Did the top of the beadboard have to be EXACTLY flat that way? Or did the chair rail overlap a little? I guess that's where I don't get it--many have said you have to router out the chair rail if you don't pick the ubiquitous "wainscoting cap" (that I'm trying to avoid).

Thanks for your help!!
Sarah

Sarah - I will get the name for you, I just need to dig a little.

Let me clarify though. The pictures you saw are for our new home we are building where we did router the back. In the home in which I still reside we set the chair rail on top of the beadoard. You CAN do either.

First the bead board should have level line across the top and then you can set the chair rail on top . I am going to find pictures that will help in a little bit, I have to get a child to tennis right now.

Here are photo's of the wooden and PVC beadboards. The PVC is in the baths. I can't remember if he bought them at Lowe's or HD. The cap molding is not a panel molding, but another type that we inverted and routed out. Of course the PVC is more expensive, but if you have to pay for labor to paint, you would come out cheaper getting the PVC beadboard.

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It looks great! I guess I'm still on the fence about wood vs. PVC...I'm guessing we'll do wood because (A) it's cheaper, (B) my BIL is a Sherwin-Williams rep and we get cheap paint, and (C) my DH is a bit of a traditionalist, and I'm guessing he'd rather have wood...along with all the annoyoances it brings. I'm thinking maybe the pre-primed big sheets from Lowe's/HD--might be a good compromise.

Oh, and do you think DH will pay me for my painting labor? :) Doubtful!!

:)
-Sarah

esthavera - how thick is that wallpaper? Oceana mentioned that it dents pretty easily - how is it holding up in the bath?

OT - I bought the same (Delta Victorian ORB) faucet for when we finish our master bath. Plumber said ORB doesn't hold up for drains - what brand drain do you have and how is ithe finish holding up? Thanks

Sarah,
Where I live (rural) we don't have many options for lumber yards either. We purchased beadboard for our kitchen online from Vintage Woodworks. They make individual tongue and groove boards - just like the old stuff. You can order it in exact lengths and in several different wood species. I love it, and IMHO I think the true bead board looks better than the big panels. Of course that's really a price-value judgement and is probably affected by how much you need to buy. But I thought I'd mention it as another option for you.
-Kim