Buying Interior Molding and Trim for Your Home

Cut boards, likewise called molding pieces, with dignity cover joints in between different surface areas and materials. The most common applications are cases around windows and doors and base moldings at the bottom of a wall.

Crown molding is sometimes used to dress up the joint where wall fulfills ceiling, and numerous decorative trims, including chair rail and picture molding, are used to add interest to a wall or ceiling. If you delight in setting up or fixing a fireplace mantle, staircase parts, wainscoting or paneling, you will discover a variety of trims made to suit those situations.
Cut pieces are determined by their profiles- how they look when viewed at their ends. You can discover profile charts at home centers and from online suppliers to assist you select the right board for your purpose.

Interior Trim Types

The word “trim” refers to nearly every used decorative component you can consider, consisting of baseboard, windows and door casings, chair rail, image rail, crown molding, pediments, pilasters, columns, ceiling medallions, corbels, spandrels, mantels, and fireplace surrounds.
Some trim is simply flat boards-1 x 2 battens, for instance. But much of what we think of as trim is molding, in which a shape-a profile-is sculpted into the surface area of a flat board. There are actually hundreds of profiles to select from, although you might find just the most popular ones in stock at your regional provider.

Trim and moldings are normally divided into categories inning accordance with where they appear on the wall (although some pieces can serve a double purpose, such as a baseboard that is used as a door casing). Typically various type of trim are combined to develop a built-up molding, particularly a crown.

Baseboard covers the crossway in between the floor and wall and protects the bottom of the wall from such things as a wet mop or a vacuum. The profile of the baseboard is typically deeper (wider) at the bottom than at the top. Except in distinct scenarios, baseboard is found in most houses.

Base shoe is a quarter-round trim. Its two flat sides form a 90-degree angle that fits versus the floor and the baseboard; its 3rd side is rounded. In profile, it looks like a quarter circle. Base shoe elaborates the baseboard somewhat but likewise serves to cover any space in between the baseboard and floor covering product.

Ceiling molding (likewise called cornice or crown molding) covers the intersection in between the wall and ceiling. Flat- backed types are applied at the top of the wall, butting versus the ceiling. Crown molding, which is a sprung molding, crosses the crossway at an angle so its back is in 3 parts-a broad, flat central area and angled edges.

Door and window casings produce a frame around the door or window opening and conceal the space between the jamb and the adjacent wall. The outdoors edge of the housings is typically flat, to supply surface for horizontal trim-such as a chair rail-to butt into cleanly.

Wall paneling can cover a whole wall or a portion of it. It can be used frames, panels, bead board, tongue-and-groove boards, or plywood and battens, depending upon the design you wish to attain. Normally, if the paneling doesn’t cover the whole wall, it is called wainscot and runs either one-third or two-thirds of the method up the wall.

Cap molding and back band have rabbeted edges that fit over the top of wall paneling or the beyond flat case.

Chair rail is used approximately 36 inches from the floor. It operates to protect walls from the backs of chairs, however it is likewise used as a division in between paint and wallpaper or more various colors of paint, or just to produce a visual break in the wall.

Picture molding has a rounded leading edge to accommodate hooks. It is positioned high on the wall so artwork can hang from it rather than from photo hooks nailed into the wall.

Tips for Picking Interior Trim

To employ trim efficiently, it’s best to follow a few basic precepts:

Use Trim Regularly

Your home will look best if all the trim work complies with a single architectural design. Official spaces, such as living spaces, might have more trim-wall paneling, a chair rail, or elegant cornices-than bedrooms, but all the trim must be of a constant design.
Throughout your house, beware not to go overboard with trim. Too much can overpower a space and diminish all other interior aspects, decreasing instead of adding to your home’s beauty and value.

Ensure All Trim Elements Fit

Within any design of trim, there are a number of choices. Especially where trim pieces intersect, your selections have to be fit to one another. For example, baseboard and chair rail ought to never be thicker than windows and door housings.
The vertical pieces on a paneled wall need to never be thicker than the horizontal trim they abut. In cases such as where a plate rail meets a window housing, the end of the rail has to be completed with a return so the end grain is covered.

Establish Your Craftsmanship

Woodworking abilities are essential when it concerns installing trim. Narrow gaps are nearly imperceptible when filled and sanded, but broad spaces and irregular cuts offend the eye. This is especially true with wood that will be stained instead of painted. If you are going to set up the trim yourself, try out cuts and joints on scrap wood prior to working with the genuine thing.

Keep It to Scale

The size of your trim and moldings ought to remain in percentage to the size of your spaces. Unfortunately, there are no formulas to assist you identify what’s right for any particular situation.
As a rule of thumb, the baseboard and crown molding need to remain in balance so that one does not overpower the other. In spaces with a standard 8-foot-high ceiling, no baseboard or crown should be more than 6 inches tall. A lot of trim in between 3 1/2 and 6 inches in height works well in these rooms.
Higher ceilings require taller and deeper trim. In rooms where ceilings are exceptionally high, 6 inches is the minimum height for baseboard and crown molding. If the doors in such a space are basic size, you can make them seem bigger by installing large casings or including ornamental treatments such as a pediment above or pilasters alongside them.
Developing scale and percentage is an obstacle, specifically in a special scenario. If you do not trust your very own eye to assist you, you may wish to hire a designer to define what you ought to use and where you must place it prior to you purchase the material.

Interior Trim Products

Wood trim is typically clear, suggesting it has no knots, which (unless you are setting up knotty pine paneling) would mar the appearance.

Though moldings made of other products are available, wood stays the most typical product for trim boards. At a home center or lumberyard, you will discover at least some of these choices:

Hardwoods make the best trim. They resist warping and cracking and can be stained to a beautiful finish. It is generally best to apply the stain prior to setting up the piece, and then to retouch the cut edges and apply the last surface.

Pine has actually long been the most common trim product. It resists cracking and stays steady. It generally has wide grain lines, implying that it will have a casual appearance if stained. That’s why it’s generally painted. Pine is soft and so may be quickly dented.

Poplar is a bit more costly than pine, however it is harder and more resistant to denting. It has a closer grain, so you might have the ability to stain it satisfactorily. Still, poplar is generally painted.

Paint-grade trim is absolutely implied to be painted instead of stained and is cheaper than clear pine or hardwood. Some types come primed, which is a big plus-you can most likely get away with applying only one coat of paint rather than the two or 3 usually required for bare wood. Paint-grade pieces are made of numerous materials.

Finger-jointed boards are manufactured by joining together short pieces. The finger joint will be unappealing if stained, so these boards are usually painted. Some finger-jointed boards are better than others. Feel the joints to be sure they are perfectly smooth; if not, the joints might show up after painting.

Cut for Older Residences

When dealing with an older home, you might have to match a trim profile that is not sold. In this case you have three basic choices:

1. Use one or more pieces of off-the-shelf trim that resemble the old trim. Often, integrating two narrow pieces can simulate the look of one larger piece. This may be close enough that the difference is undetectable.

2. Have a lumberyard custom-mill pieces for you. There will be a preliminary charge for establishing the “knives” used for crushing the profile. Aside from that, the cost per lineal foot will not be too bad. Of course, that means that customized milling is pricey if you only require a couple of pieces however becomes more sensible the more boards you purchase.

3. Start with clear lumber and mill it yourself. Use a router with router bits that match or come close to the profile you want.

If your home has an Arts and Crafts design, you might find that much of the trim is square cut. In that case, you might be able to use clear 1-by boards (which after milling are 3/4 inch thick), or ask a lumberyard to mill boards that are a bit thinner or thicker.