Can I use contact cement for wainscot?

[Kerry]

I'll be hanging grasscloth from the floor up the wall 37" in my living room and hallway. From 37" up to the ceiling will be latex paint. Where the paper and paint meet I'll be placing wainscot molding.

I'd prefer not to have to use finishing nails on the wainscot. My home is old and the studs aren't uniformly positioned. I miss hitting the studs a lot. I bought a stud finder but it wasn't reliable. Also, with the prepainted finishing nails it's hard for me to countersink them (they don't have the dimple on the head like the larger common ones do). Quite often the nailset slips and it makes a larger hole which I then have to fill with walnut colored putty. I discovered this problem when it came to installing the molding on a floating floor I installed in my TV room.

I plan on getting the prefinished walnut-colored molding at Home Depot. 1/2" x 2" x 8' for the baseboard (against the grasscloth) and the same color prefinished molding (1/2" x 1 1/2" x 7') for the wainscot.

Can I use contact cement to glue the wainscot molding to the latex painted wallboard? The molding has 3/4" of bare wood on the wall side that I could put a thin coat of contact and then apply another coat of contact 3/4" high just above the grasscloth and then stickum.

I'll be using Bullseye 123 as the primer for the grasscloth. I could prime 3/4" higher than necessary so as to use it as the backing for the contact cement. Or, I could prime just 37" and use the latex as the backing for the cement.

For a guest bedroom I used 3/4" round molding and 2" common finish nails and they all reached through the wallboard to the 2 x 4 on which the studs rest. But that wouldn't work well for the baseboard molding against the grasscloth because the nail has to be placed low enough to be sure to hit the 2 x 4 and so the molding would lean out, away from the wall, a bit at the top.

Tips?

Thanks,

[Cliff Hayes]

No way. With contact cement, you'd only have one chance to get it right. And since you're obviously not a carpenter, the chances of that happening are pretty slim.

[Kerry]

Thanks Cliff, how about wood glue? I could use tape to hold the molding until the glue dried.

Kerry

[Bill Archibald]

Kerry,

Doing the wainscot while you wait for the 888? :lol: :lol:

No seriously, remember, we are not carpenters by trade, although many of us have some talents. (emphasis on SOME)

With that in mind, my reservations about using a glue is how will you hold it in place while it sets up? I am not confident with tape. I too have a home in which the studs are not regularly spaced, I feel your pain. What I would do is to use a stud finder and then drive a 4 d finish until you find the studs. IF you do this on the wall RIGHT where the molding will go, you will never see the holes. After you find a stud (BOTH sides) mark the center above or below where the molding will be.

BTW, remember that electrical boxes are usually attached to one side of a stud, so outlets and switches will help locate some of them. Also, if there is a crown molding or base molding you may be able to find the nail holes in them - more clues where the studs are. (can you tell I have experience ?:D )

I have a problem with installing trim PERMANENTLY with glue. If down the road someone wants to take it down, they will be cursing you and the horse you rode in on.

BTW, ANY and ALL finish nails from HD are impossible to set. When I renovated my living area, most of the finishing nails (from HD) had RIDGES where the dimple was supposed to be. :cuss: :furious: :cuss: The use of a larger nail set helped a little.

Personally, I would buy GOOD finish nails (not colored - not from HD), counter sink them, and fill with appropriate colored putty.

But as I said, my talents are not with carpentry. Perhaps you could find a carpentry Bulletin Board where they are as helpful as us NGPP hangers are :banana:

Good luck, keep us posted on the progress.

-Bill

[Kerry]

Can't wait, must hang, must hang. The house has been upside down for 6+ months while the contractor procured and installed the vinyl flooring and kitchen cabinets. His requirement was to have everything off of all the floors so I had most everything piled in my two bath tubs with the rest out in the carport for 6 months. as he kept saying, "It'll be here any week now." :( I moved my whole computer setup to the kitchen and back twice. I found dust I didn't know I had. The house is so easy to keep clean now, simply amazing. The carpet I removed was 20 years old. Layers upon layers of dust and mites and animal stuff. This area is zoned agricultural and I have several free-roaming (not in the house) chickens plus a perpetually drooling house cat.

I'll be priming this weekend so that will give me something to do while waiting for the 888.

You've convinced me to try another stud finder and also use the 4d nail method and then to use Hot Galvanized 8d 2" exterior finish nails I got from Ace. Not one bent while nailing the base molding in the guest bedroom.

Is there any advantage to priming floor to ceiling rather than just floor to 37"? The wall already has 2+ coats of flat latex 10 + years old.

Thanks,

[B Blanchard]

As Bill says, we're not carpenters. But, if you want to try installing the trim without nails you might look into liquid nails. Comes in a tube to be used in a caulking gun. It will have enough stick to hold the molding in place but will give you a window to repostion. You might want to find a place to experiment with a piece. Home Depot, or any hardware store, will have it.

[Kerry]

Hi B Blanchard,

Thanks, good tip. Bill's comment about years down the road removing a glued on molding, with part of the walboard coming with it, hits home. I've decided to do the nail game.

Mucho thankso,