My Wife's Take on Wainscoting

[mkasdin]

The wainscoting on the stairwell looks more involved. I think a flat rate is the best way to go. It's mostly finish work, paint grade with angled cuts and no coping and not staingrade. So i would add a little to make up for any time discrepancies and snags. Any misalignments you could fill. Also it's repetitive pattern so some templates and jigs could speed up the task?  Just my thought never done wainscoting I like simple.

 

[jeh]

Another way to gauge what you should charge is find a couple of trim carpenters come and price out work at your place.  Play kinda dumb and say you would like to replicate your work in another part of the house, just say it was there when you bought it.  You could also do the same with the people who asked you to do the work.  As for materials, make sure you keep track of everything, glue, caulk, nails, brushes, etc.  In the end it all factors in.

Not cool to waste anyone's time.

 

[jeh]

...wanted a 2/3 wall height, but because of the stair ceiling I didn't think it would look right. So I matched it to an existing entry coat/shoe cubby and it ended up being 54". I understand that's a little untraditional, but the "client" is very pleased.

Your work looks great and the client is happy with it and that is all that matters. There is a lot of material on proportions that can help you make decisions on future projects. I also take pictures and measurements (sometimes) or use a person as a point of reference when I am in an historical home. This is where you can find solutions to difficult transition and termination problems that are not covered in books, but always occur. Some of my opinions and advice based on my experience:

• Go large on trim and avoid one-piece baseboard (chair rail and crown as well). I rarely go smaller than a 1"x6" with a separate base cap (looks better and solves the problem of walls that are not flat. For casing a 3 1/2" or wider material at a minimum with the option to go a little wider with a back band. This adds depth to avoid returns or to at least minimize their impact.
  
• Avoid using the stock moldings from the home improvement centers. You can do build-ups with stock moldings or find a distributor with access to infinitely more options. I realize that sometimes you can't because of the rest of house or adjacent rooms, but if you can it might generate additional work for you. I have had customers order new work to other rooms once they see what properly sized trim looks in a room. I am yet to see a McMansion interior with trim that is not massively undersized or even worse windows with no trim and/or undersized stools.
  
• Prime the front and backside of all trim before installing it to seal it. It's an extra step, but minimizes issues from shrinkage. It never looks good to see unpainted wood showing that was originally hidden.
  
• Put the same amount of time into woodwork that will be natural or painted. Don't even think that caulk is the answer to a short cut or a bad cope.
  
• Take lots of pictures of your finished work with closeups along with some of the before photos.