Minecraft wiki entry for Walls_and_buttresses, associated text: Wainscoting — this was a usually wooden covering over the lower area of a wall (the dado) up to about waist height. In newer buildings the height of a wainscot might increase up to about chest height. Wainscoting would have provided insulation, making rooms in cold stone buildings more comfortable, and would also have helped conceal the water stains that tended to creep up old walls prior to the use of damp-proof courses.