Dado rail on stairs and hallway

[mixedpeel]

We have removed the old wallpaper from the stairs in our 1930s house and it's clear from the markings underneath that there used to be a dado rail. There is something attractive about the line running up parallel with the bannister rail, and I've had a mad thought about replacing the dado rail.

Which would mean running it through the hallway and landing, too.

Utterly naff, or a good idea? Also, how straightforward (or not) is it to actually do? We have new stair carpet being fitted on November 3rd so ideally would decide what we're doing, and get it done, pretty soon.

I would love a dado rail. Our house used to have one (I can tell from seeing neighbours' houses) and I wish it was still there. Mainly because then I could do the very practical thing of having a darker colour under it to hide marks and a lighter colour above to make the hall and stairs light.

What's stopping me is that the dado needs to curve to match the skirting that goes up the stairs (if it doesn't match I think it will look odd) and our skirting has a complex series of curves that will take a long time and cost £££ to try to match.

If your dado can be fairly straight, no curves or hardly any curves, then it's a very simple job.

We used to have one in a 1930s house. I liked it - breaks things up and in a period house you can use a traditional papers on the lower sections.

Thanks, both of you. I think I'd really like to try it, tbh. minipie, good point about curves being much more difficult. Ours is all straight, and therefore hopefully pretty do-able.

I have a similar house to yours and have just put the dado rail back in. I'm no diy expert but I managed it my self. I did downstairs hall way, stairs and landing. All you need are the rails and a mitre block (REALLY easy to use!) It's made a massive difference and I'm so glad I did it. I love it!

(And a saw!)

Arf at (And a saw!), ToddlersAndCoffee.

We have a mitre block from when we put in cornicing in our bedroom, so that's a good start.

And a saw...

Is B&Q as good a place as any to get the dado rail from? I'm really up for this, now!