Picture rail

[mollyb]

I have a painted picture rail in one room but to match the look of the room I would love for them to be plain wood

In terms of removing the picture rail - am I making a HUGE mistake to remove and just refit plain picture rails with an adhesive over nails?

Then I could just stain them rather than stripping all the paint and sanding all week

Thanks!

 

[sparkwright]

A lot depends on the age of the house and what the plaster is like.

In a pre-war house, prising off an old picture rail is likely to cause a lot of damage to the surrounding (original) plaster.

Have you considered a paint product that looks like stain, but isn't, that can be painted on over the existing with a bit of technique?

 

[JohnD]

If you feel you must remove them, better not to rip them off so the nails pull out a great chunk of plaster. Use a multicutter to cut the rail away then cut through the nail.

If you fit new ones, use screws so they can be removed if necessary. IMO brass screws look good in varnished, unpainted skirtings, architrave and picture rail. Brassed steel is stronger.

The effort and expense of replacing your rails exceeds the benefit you will gain.

 

[opps]

Do you plan to use the picture rail to hang pictures from or is just decorative?

If just decorative, adhesive will be fine but you may need a few nails to keep it up and to pull it in where the wall runs out.

How old is the property?

There is likely to be paint build up where the picture rail meets the plaster. You may need to chisel away the paint build up. Going for a slightly taller picture rail will help to hide such things.