WAINSCOTING
Al Carrell: This ho-hum home office really needs a little pizzazz and I got just the thing. This incredible wainscoting and chair rail take the room from drab to dramatic. Amazing. And what's even more unbelievable is this system we're working with. It's called Natural Impressions by HDM U.S.A. (404-842-0077), and because it's installed in pieces, not panels, you have a wide range of options in customizing the look of your walls and ceilings and it's really easy to install. First we remove the existing baseboards and trim. We spent about $535 on the planks, battens and moldings for our 120 square foot room. Installing it yourself saves about $350. To do this job you're going to need a tape measure, a level, a hand or power saw, a pencil, a cordless drill, an Exacto knife, hammers and nails, the chalkline and a miter box.
Rick Chunta: What we've done here is we've started in the nearest corner as you come through the room, the focal point. We put in our first two clips here for starting, then we're going to put in our first plank.
AC: It's crucial your planks are vertically level. Now these planks are concord maple finish. A lighter tone can brighten up a small room. This HDM system has been available in Europe for a quarter of a century, but it's new to us here in the states. It's unique because the backs are fiberboard and the woodgrain finish is a durable rice paper. The paneling easily installs with these clips. I like the way these things slide in and hide the underpinning back there. And since they are snap-off like that you want to smooth off the edges with a knife. That'll make them slide in there a lot easier. Once you get going on the installation you're going to run into one of these - an electrical outlet. Well, we have two options now. One of them is just to go ahead and cover up this outlet or probably the better idea is to take the plate off and do a little butchering over here on the wall paneling. After cutting the current, remove the outlet covers and then loosen the screws. Measure and mark where you're going to cut the wood and then get ready for a little minor surgery. Worked like a charm. Mark the second piece and then repeat the procedure. Well now that we have the outlet out flush with the wall we can put the cover plate back on and we've got almost a finished product. Here's a way around another potential problem.
RC: And we notice if we take a piece of inside corner, which will be our finished look, as we get down to the base the inside corner tends to slide in and that's probably because you have a little bit of the crookedness in the wall.
AC: Remount the plank flush to the inside corner and presto! Our corner piece fits fine. Now that's the beauty of the HDM system. So long as the planks are vertically level, the system is very forgiving to the do-it-yourselfer. After measuring the trim, use a miter box to cut it. We started with the baseboards. Well, that baseboard really finishes off nice down there at the bottom and we're going to do the same thing at the top with the chair rail. This piece hides any discrepancies in the height of our planks. We want to make sure that the rail is level all the way across. Pre-drilling your nail holes about every foot and a half makes installation a snap. Now the next thing we're going to do, and it's going to be the last thing, is we're going to put this corner piece up here and create a new profile for this chair rail that we have up here and also cover up that gap. A little wood putty hides the nails. And now, you have an office with a very official look.
Episode 66 1997 - 98 Season
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