Can You Put Wainscoting Over Linoleum in a Bathroom?

Treat Mildew

• Spray the wall linoleum with bleach or household antimildew cleaner to remove mold and mildew from the wall. Wipe away any chemical residue, and then completely dry the linoleum before installing wainscoting. Mold, mildew and moisture trapped between the linoleum and the backside of your decorative panels produce allergens and eventually cause the wall’s surface to deteriorate.

Secure Loose Linoleum

• Reattach loose, peeling linoleum pieces before installing wainscoting. Using adhesives specifically designed for linoleum ensures that the material does not pull away from the wall's surface. Avoid tearing pieces of linoleum off the wall, or you could damage your drywall and warp the surface. Properly attached linoleum works as a barrier and keeps moisture away from the wall and the wainscoting.

Select Textured Wainscoting

• Opt for textured wainscoting rather than a nonflat surface. Textured wainscoting panels hide checkerboard designs and busy patterns often associated with linoleum. Choose tongue-and-groove, beadboard or raised-panel wainscoting designs camouflaging the linoleum’s sublayer. Avoid solid, flat sheets of wainscoting that are not best suited for high-traffic areas like bathrooms.

Add a Top Rail

• Installing a top rail above the wainscoting hides seams and borders where linoleum attaches to the wall. The top rail, often referred to as a chair rail, completes wainscoting by giving it a finished edge. Secure the wainscoting and the top rail with nails that are long enough to penetrate the panel, linoleum and wall surface. Depending on the thickness of your wainscoting, you may need to remove your baseboards to ensure that the paneling is flush against the wall.