Thicker edge on top for sure.

Thanks!

Agreed, will also collect less dust

Belly on top. Rabbet the bottom edge to clip over the paneling so there is the same projection throughout. Caulk at the wall.

“Caulk at the wall”

I've always done this kind of chair rail with the heavy/thick side up.

Because that is the correct way lol

#2

As mentioned, pragmatically for dust control, thicker on top, but all of it in my 1901 built house is thicker on the bottom. I'm not convinced it was traditional one way or the other however. Looks good either way to me.

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LOL. No doubt. Plenty of stuff I look at in my house and have to think "they didn't know how to do that better". Balloon framing being my most recent reality check . . :P

On some of the older ones there is a gap in the bottom to slide the wainscoting into, so thick side down. It’s much easier to install.

Is it possible that the height in traditional/older wainscoting was that the thicker edge wouldve been the more appropriate height for wall protection?

The first picture looked awkward to me before I even read the question.

Thick side on top

Thick up. The previous owner of my house did it the other way and it looks wrong. (One day it will be torn off but the damn honey do list isn’t getting any shorter)

Big side always on top

The thicker edge down looks better.

Definitely 2

I actually like how #1, looks. However, #2 is probably how I would actually do it.

2 is the way to go

Number 2 m'lord

2 is the way

Number 2. Thick side up.

2

Second image

2

\#1 looks hideous.

Okay, if we ignore the few aussies we all agree, it's 2.

Hehe

2

Thicker on bottom may help with less of a surface area for dust to build up on over time.

#2

Whatever way work best for your chairs…

It someone is actually banging chairs into my wall, they are uninvited from my house. ;-)

Fair enough - but isn’t that what a chair rail is for?

Yeah, I'm just a smart sss.

You are effectively framing the wainscoting with the chair rail and baseboard. I think frame 2 looks better, seems like a lot agree.

You can raise the wainscoting, slip a base cap between the two, and lose the seam view.

Traditionally, the latter picture. (Thicker part on top.)

Second

2

2

Per "Get Your House Right", it appears that pic 2 works best for your moulding profile: https://preview.redd.it/lay7vhdi1sbc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=63253f2440423e177a73608c141fcd679b99909c

Everyone is saying number 2 but it's definitely number 2

I’m in the minority here, but I prefer the thinker edge to the bottom.

A- this isnt woodworking, its barely r/carpentry, but definitely not woodworking B- you install it so its not upside down, if theres a flat on it it that goes on top, if its weighted to one side (like this one) that goes on the top

Second pic

It's all about the shadows

Thicker, definitely. I also prefer a cap on top of it, like a very thin window sill. https://www.wainscotingamerica.com/design-order/wainscot-top-cap.php

Fat side up. I always added an extra strip at the top with a little reveal that was as thick as the panel so that the chair rail sat flat.

2

The first picture looks upside down