Pro Handyman Blog

For Chair Rail Should I Miter or Cope the Corners?

 Email Article  

Tweet  

  

 delicious  

  

Chair Rail is certainly conspicuous because it sits at about waist high and usually separates two different wall treatments. What I mean is that you may have two different colors of paint, or even something like wall paper or wainscoting below the rail, and paint above the rail. So, the corners should look clean as they will attract attention.

The decision to either cope the inside corners or miter them, probably lies in what material you are using and how the chair rail will be finished.

If you are planning on painting the chair rail, you can get away with mitering the corners and then using a small amount of caulking to fill in any imperfections.

If you are planning on staining and varnishing the rail, any small imperfection will stand out and be very noticeable. Your other option is to use wood putty to fill in the imperfections, but it typically absorbs more stain than the surrounding wood and will look like a dark blotch. In short, it will look like someone stuffed some wood putty in there to try to make it blend in.

Coping the corners takes much more time, as you cut the exact profile into the edge of the chair rail so that it mates perfectly with the opposing piece.