Livingroom Trim

[Sweet Chuck]

I'm currently working on getting my living room ready for paint. I've been looking at a lot of "inspiration" pictures of other homes and I see a lot of them with trim like in the attached picture. What do they call those squares made from narrow moldings that are both above and below the chair rail? How are they attached? I would think that if the vertical pieces didn't land on a stud that there would be very little holding them on.

[Hellrazor]

More than likely that whole wall is wood, not just trim attached to drywall.

[LinuxRandal]

While I don't know the proper term, I have seen that done before. Several methods which can depend on how wide/thick the molding is. From nailing the horizontal pieces with the vertical ones pocket screwed, to a wood backing, to using construction adhesive. In older homes it was easier, due to plaster and lathe.

[pelligrini]

I bet that example was a fine wood wall until some decorator got a bright idea.

I have seen that done on drywall in a couple houses we designed a few years ago. In one instance the trim guy used construction adhesive to put the mouldings on. In the other they were using a really neat gypsum sheathing product that took screws and nails. Can't remember the name though, costs more than regular gypsum drywall.

[jussi]

I think it's just called paneling. They take mount the panels with construction adhesive and some brads to hold them in place and then I believe they toe nail the moulding to the panels (or use more adhesive). Or I guess you can put a rabbet on the moulding to go over the panels.

[cabinetman]

I'm currently working on getting my living room ready for paint. I've been looking at a lot of "inspiration" pictures of other homes and I see a lot of them with trim like in the attached picture. What do they call those squares made from narrow moldings that are both above and below the chair rail? How are they attached? I would think that if the vertical pieces didn't land on a stud that there would be very little holding them on.

I've always known it as "panel moulding". For an installation on just drywall, I use a finish nail (#4), and clip the head off. Then, I mount the clipped end in my drill. I use the pointed end to drill holes to mount it to the wall. The hole drilled by the nail fits the same nail you use. This is for a hammer and nail installation. I also run a small bead of Liquid Nail. I press and remove the moulding and let the Liquid Nail flash off for a few minutes, then press in place and tap in the nails, then use a nail set.

Panel moulding can also be installed with a small bead of Liquid Nail, and shot to the wall with an 18 ga brad nailer.
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[Tom Slick]

Nahm has done some similar paneling on New Yankee Workshop. It might be worth looking at his website to see if his video covers what you want to do.

[Slik Geek]

We did a similar thing in our master bedroom (drywall) walls a few years back - with slightly smaller trim and much smaller sized panels. LOML calls them "faux panels". Since I had over 500 feet of trim (machined from 1 x 6 fir), I wanted as efficient of a system for installation as possible.

You are correct - very few, if any will be over a stud. My solution was to forget about studs and just nail to the drywall. (I also did not use any adhesive). Allow me to describe my technique before you judge this approach!

I used an 18 gauge pneumatic brad nailer, with brads of sufficient length to take advantage of the full thickness of the drywall. I varied the angles of the brads such that one can't pull the trim off easily as you could with all brads at the same angle to the wall. I don't recall how closely I spaced the brads, but I'm guessing about every six inches, perhaps a bit further apart. At the corners, I sent a brand thru the miter into both pieces to insure they stayed aligned.

You would be surprised at the holding power of those brads at various angles. (They go up really fast). Just make sure that you have the piece where you really want it before you send more than a couple brads into the trim.

The final holding power comes from the paint. We haven't had any problems with the trim coming off after two or three years.

I believe that I may have gone over the brad holes with a dab of putty to hide them prior to painting.

The effect was really quite impressive.

[MilDoc]

I did the same as Slik Geek, same brads etc spaced at 6-8", but also used construction glue. Probably overdone, but then I'm chicken!

[drumpriest]

I've heard it called "european wall moulding", I'm sure that isn't the proper name. Still, I like it a bunch. Saw an episode of "In a fix" back when it was on where they did that to a room, looked great. Home owner hated it.

[cabinetman]

I wasn't going to post this picture as the panel moulding was attached to Oak plywood, not drywall. I do have a tip for doing this wall treatment. This installation was on the seventh floor, and too much woodwork to do on site. So, I made a layout of the sizes, and prefinished all the trim, and cut the individual pieces with a 45 deg end, and grouped them into their perspective panels. Each entire panel was a group of four pieces ready to install that were taped together and marked, and carried to the jobsite.

The chair rail went on first, and then I used spacer blocks for laying out the spacing to the chair rail, and in between the mouldings. Done this way, it goes very fast.

I like shooting the brads straight into the moulding, and not on angles. There is the possibility that the intricacy and detail of the moulding can be damaged. I try to use the thickest part of the profile, or the best section, so touch up and hole filling can be done.
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[rnelson0]

I would think that if the vertical pieces didn't land on a stud that there would be very little holding them on.

Others have covered some techniques to get more grip, but it's not like there's constant movement and pressure applied, either. I bet in most cases, double sided stick tape would work - at least, until your friend's 3 year old comes to visit

[Sweet Chuck]

Thanks for the replies and ideas. I think I'm going to go with something more like whats in this picture instead. I'll either biscuit or pocket screw the vertical pieces to the horizontal ones.

[rnelson0]

What you show in that picture I have seen done on a few shows, including Man Caves. In all cases that I saw, they simply secured all the pieces to the wall instead of each other. Of course, they didn't go into details and explain their reasoning, but I'd wonder if that was a better method to secure it.

[Bill in Buena Park]

I've heard it called "european wall moulding", I'm sure that isn't the proper name. Still, I like it a bunch. Saw an episode of "In a fix" back when it was on where they did that to a room, looked great. Home owner hated it.

This definitely takes commitment to the effect of a wall that will only have the molding as decoration - with what's shown in the OP's picture attachment, it would be difficult to add any other wall-hangings (pictures, decorative pieces, etc.) up without causing some type of geometrical imbalance, IMHO.