Panelling up the stairs: tips and tricks

Installing panelling yourself is much easier than it looks, but when you’re dealing with diagonal angles like those you would get on stairs, it can be a bit trickier. Thankfully, we’re here to walk you through the process.

Step-by-step

Start with a Dado rail. This is the thicker piece of wood at the top of a panelled section, and you’ll need to measure and mark the position of this first as it will follow the direction of your stairs. To mark out where to place this, measure an equal height from the top and bottom steps. The straight line between these two points will be where you place your Dado rail moulding.

To cut the moulding, you’ll need to use an angle finder to get the perfect cut. Find the angle of the diagonal line, and half it to get your cutting angle.

Once you’ve attached the Dado rail, you’ll need to work out where the box panels will go. Make sure to measure an equal distance below the rail all the way along it to mark where the top of your panels will be.

Take a horizontal measurement between the marks you made earlier above the top and bottom steps. You then want to take 10mm away from this measurement for every panel you’ll be installing. So, if there will be 4 panels, take away 4x10mm. Then divide the result by the number of panels. For example:

Measurement from bottom to top steps = 2500mm

4 Panels: 10mm x 4 = 40mm

2500mm – 40mm = 2460mm

2460mm / 4 panels = 615mm per panel

Mark out your panel positions according to your measurements, and then cut your moulding pieces to fit your markings. Don’t forget to include the 10mm gaps between the panels when you’re working out the spacing. Again, you’ll need to use an angle finder to get the perfect cut angles.

Fix your moulding onto the wall with wood glue and secure with nails.

Now all you need to do is mark out the rest of the panelling on any straight walls above and below the staircase, and paint. To achieve this, check out our handy wall panelling guide.

Top tips

Drawing a straight line between two points that are meters apart can be a challenge, so we recommend using a chalk line. With this, you need to ask someone to hold it at one end while you hold the other, and then quickly pull the taut string towards you so it pings a line of chalk onto the wall. You can then remove the mark with a damp cloth before painting.

If your walls are uneven, panelling can leave some gaps between the moulding and the wall. If this happens, use caulk to fill in any gaps.

When you’re marking the space between the Dado rail and the top of the panels, use a wood offcut to make sure the measurements are equal along the wall. Simply cut the offcut to size, line it up against the Dado rail, and mark underneath it. You’ll then have a consistent measurement for the whole design.