firef2005 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I would like to put a chair rail in the main hall on the second story in my Lily. How high up from the floor should I put it, and do I measure from the floor or from the ceiling? I am absolutely positive my house is not square. :wub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn74 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I was researching the same question a few weeks ago. If you search "chair rail height" on the internet, you should find a few different measuring alternatives. Generally speaking, a chair rail is usually hung about a third of the way up from the floor. However, if you are going to actually have a kitchen/dining room table and chairs in the same room, they say the chair rail should be placed at a height at which it would protect the walls from being damaged by the top of the chairs (like if someone was sitting in the chair and attempted to push away from the table and backed into a wall). Chair rails were originally designed for this purpose. I hope this helps! :wub: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsbeth Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I tend to go with 3 feet (36 inches). Aka 3 inches. I put in a chair rail in my colonial diningroom and I went with 3" and liked it fine. I read it should be from 28 - 36 inches in real life- but I also read someone saying you divide the ceiling height by something else, etc. I disregarded that, and just tested out 3", then put a chair in there to see if it looked right. I was happy. So are my mini housekeepers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grazhina Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 This question is asked over and over again. It's one of the reasons I started my Victorian decorating pages. People will insist that it MUST be a certain height, well, it can be any height that looks good to you. Most people are more comfortable with it being 30 to 36 inches high in real life, which is 2 1/2" to 3" in 1:12 scale. In my RL house it's 2 feet high on the first floor and @ 3 feet high in my upstairs hallway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_in_PA Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I always went 3 inches from the floor. (3 feet in real life) That seems to be the average. Steve in PA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 30"-36" from the floor is what the chair rails were in my RL houses that had them, so I just went with that when I put them into my dhs; ditto, wainscots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 My reall life house has chair rails. It is 34". 30-36" is most common in the houses I have seen. Now dish rails are different. They are about 5' high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justmesue Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I just make them look right. I don't go with a particular height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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