Dado Rail
Dado rails are the perfect moulding for seperating colours, textures or finishes, creating balanced proportions on walls. The standard choice for British residential properties. Constructed from a 100% softwood fibre & resin composite, our MDF formulation offers moisture-resistant performance. Choose from our best-selling 324 Dado with smooth curves and deep grooves. Or add subtle design detail with our classic bullnose moulding.
What Are Dado Rails?
Dado rails sit horizontally around your room at about waist height. They divide wall space into upper and lower sections, which lets you use different paint colours or finishes above and below the rail.
Originally, they protected walls from chair backs in Georgian houses. Today, they're mostly for looks, though our dense MDF construction still handles everyday knocks in hallways and dining rooms.
The rails work by creating visual proportion. A room without any horizontal breaks can feel unbalanced, especially with higher ceilings. The dado rail gives your eye somewhere to rest and makes ceiling height feel more comfortable.
For full wall panels, our wall panelling kits include matching dado rails alongside panel mouldings. Everything coordinates rather than mixing different profiles.
Which Profile to Choose
We stock five main profiles, each with different levels of detail:
324 Dado Rail (60mm wide) - Our most popular. Combines a simple torus curve with extra detailing. Works in most homes without looking too plain or too fussy.
Ogee 1 (70mm wide) - The standard profile you'll see in British homes. Recognisable S-curve that suits both period and modern properties.
330 Dado Rail (70mm wide) - More intricate curves above a flat section. Better for traditional interiors where you want something with more character.
Mini Ogee 1 (60mm wide) - Smaller version of the classic ogee. Use this in compact rooms where standard profiles might dominate the wall.
Antique 2 (75mm wide) - Modern take on period styling. Works in new builds where you want traditional detailing without full heritage profiles.
All profiles come with a bullnose edge on one side for clean finishing against your wall. Standard thickness is 18mm, lengths up to 3.05m.
Installation Height
Most dado rails go at roughly one-third up your wall. For standard UK ceiling heights (around 2.4m), this means 900mm-1000mm from the floor.
Lower installation (750mm-850mm) makes rooms feel cosier. Higher placement (1100mm-1200mm) suits rooms with tall ceilings or formal dining areas.
In practice, align with existing features. If you have window sills, door handles, or built-in furniture at specific heights, matching these gives a more professional result than strict adherence to proportional rules.
For connected rooms, keep the height consistent. Dado rails that jump up and down between hallways and living areas look unplanned.
Paint Finishes
Primed - Basic primer coat. You'll need to add undercoat before painting. Choose this for specialist paints or when you want complete control over the finish build-up.
Undercoated - Primer plus undercoat applied. Ready for your final paint colour. Most customers choose this option as it saves preparation time and gives good coverage.
Matt Grey - Complete finish ready to install. No painting required. Works if you like the grey colour or want to get rails up quickly without decorating delays.
The undercoated option hits the sweet spot for most projects. You skip the undercoat step but still get to choose your final colour. The white base also provides better opacity for lighter paint shades than building up from primer alone.
