Is popular wood a good material for wainscoting?

Gary, welcome to The Patriot Woodworker, I believe you are talking about Poplar, and yes, it is a great choice for you project, it's inexpensive, solid wood, and typically used for paintable woodworking.

Great choice, easy to work in addition to the things John mentioned. Welcome to the forum!

If you get some with the green streaks poplar will sometimes have, I suggest a seal coat first. Especially for white paint. Kilz is a good choice for a sealer.

Green will eventually turn brown with exposure.  You can kill the green with some selective red stain (e.g., dye) prior to overall staining.   Then hope the green fades to brown at the same rate as the red fades out.

 

Only issue I've had with poplar is that it is softer than some other hardwoods.   Should not be a problem for wainscoting unless you have children that run around with metal toys and slam into it.  

I use it most of the time for drawer boxes or other secondary wood  (insides of cabinets, etc.)  Though I have made some furniture from it.

Edited December 5, 20196 yr by kmealy