How high off the ground does a chair rail on a wall need to be???

Answer 1

You can place it at any height you want. Originally it was used to protect the plaster from chair backs that would hit the wall. So you could put your chair up to the wall and where it touches is where the chair rail will go. Many times now a days you see it at 33 inches because you can cut a sheet or wainscoting into 3 sections from a 4x8 sheet.

Answer 2

To determine the height of your chair rail, measure the height of the ceiling and divide it by three. The general rule is that the chair rail should be about 1/3 of the way up from the floor (between 32" and 36" for an 8' ceiling). You can also slide a chair up to the wall and mark where it will hit on the wall.