"Anyone here familiar with doing wainscoting?" Topic

As the title says, I am looking doing it downstairs in the basement gameroom to give it a better look, and then repaint the upper section.
I am basically mechanically un-inclined and when it comes to doing "construction type things" (real world, not gaming stuff), I need well done instructions, and any helpful hints.
Thanks in advance.

Check the alignment of the walls very carefully. We've got it in several of our above-ground rooms but I wouldn't want to try it in my basement. Is yours subject to flooding?

If you're "looking at it" I am going to suggest peel-and-stick wallpaper. It's better than it sounds. You cover the bottom three feet of the wall with some pattern (lots available), then add a border. Top part of the wall is painted. It's cheap, it's quick, and it looks pretty good. You won't have to do any coping. You won't have to worry about moisture. It's quick and cheap so if you want to change it, you change it.

Actual wainscoting is not cheap, there's the moisture issue in a basement, and to get it to look right is a lot of tedious work around the corners and edges. The floor, the corners, the angles, the surfaces, you'll find nothing is flat, nothing is smooth, and absolutely nothing is square. The folks who charge and arm and a leg for this have clever techniques for cutting things to fit. You can see them on YouTube (check videos for baseboards). If you like learning and doing those things you are about to have a *lot* of fun. If you dislike those things this might not be the path to walk down.

If you are not a DIYer I would paint the wall and do the bottom with the peel-and-stick. Done neatly it will look pretty sharp. You could even put wood trim between the wallpaper and the paint to dress it up a bit more. That would not be too tough. But full wainscoting is a real project…

Its easy to do, but only if you have flat and true walls. Probably easier to put a line of beading around, a third of the way up the wall then paint below and different paint or wall paper above. If you want to do squares etc you need some basic wood work skills to bevel edges and corners.

I did individual 2" board oak wainscoting in my basement gaming room about 25 years ago.

I am no home improvement pro, but I had not have many issues as I did this over drywall and framing that I also put in.

The outside walls were pretty easy. It was the wall that I dropped in cutting across the basement. The floor is not level when you go across the basement floor and you have to find some way to account for that. I decided to make the lowest part of that wall the standard length of my boards and cut the rest shorter to match accordingly. With the baseboard and rail topping it looks quite nice. Both sides of the boards were stained and varnished to keep out moisture.

You need to hire someone from Wales. Make sure he has large hands and big feet. By law and custom, they cannot charge more than 100 pounds and 5 shillings.
In the West, they hang out in the parking lots of DIY stores. Back East I hear that they like gas stations and churches. Just listen for flute or violin music…

Being a carpenter this is easy to me. As long as basement is dry go for it. Lots of materials to use, natural, painted whatever you want to do and look at.