Dado rail - floor not level

[Conshine]

Hi there

A bit of a dilema

I am putting up some dado rails around the upstairs hallway, down the stairs and then around the hall downstairs. When I measured up Xcm from the ground on one side and used a spirit-level, the gap from the rail to the floor lost about 0.4cm per metre. Floor is obviously not level.

How should I do it - Have the rail in line with the floor, or go by the spirit level?

Also, where there is a break in the hallway - a door frame - should I again take the starting point of the next rail completely level with the last rail, or allow for the slope?

I am fortunate in that two ends are not going to join at the end, so there is margin for error.

Cheers!

 

[Celtwytch]

Personally, I'd go with what looks straight (ie whatever the spirit level is telling you). If you follow the slope of the floor, the rail will look crooked. As for where the door frame breaks the line, stick with the level of the rail on the other side of the door. To the naked eye, your floor probably looks just fine. But if you put the dado rail slightly crooked, it will annoy you for all eternity!

 

[Leo]

Does the floor to ceiling level change across the room?

When going across the door, stretch a string line from one side to the other along the line of the rail. Keep is consistent across the space as it will stand out if it's at different levels.

If there are humps in the floor, but the ceiling is straight, use the ceiling as the guide. Again, use a string line from one side of the room to the other, variations in the line of the dado will be more obvious as it's closer to eye level.
Leo

 

[rabbits]

Definitely go with the spirit level rather than the floor. You will notice the rail constantly if it isn't level, you don't 'see' the crookedness in the floor. I knew someone who installed a similar rail near a ceiling and aligned it with a crooked ceiling instead of just making it level. It bugged me no end any time I saw it!