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Installing Door, Window and Baseboard Trim

Updated: Sep 17, 2019


Decorative moldings can liven up an area. If you want to paint your trim, you can aquire finger-jointed molding (figure A), which can be less costly than seamless molding. You may need seamless molding if you intend to stain it.



Materials:

  • Measuring tape

  • Level

  • Hammer

  • Nail set

  • 4-, 6- and 8-penny finish nails

  • Drill, with drill bits

  • Miter saw

  • Coping saw

  • Primer

  • Paintbrush

  • Base molding

  • Shoe molding

  • Window molding

  • Crown molding

  • Crown corner molding

  • Wooden shims of varied sizes

  • Putty knife

  • Wood putty

  • Safety glasses


Window and Door Trim



fig. A

Measure across the windows and door casings to ascertain simply how much molding you want to buy. To save lots of time and effort, paint or stain the molding before installation. If the molding is not already primed, apply a coat of latex primer before painting.


When your room is completely unfinished, start your project with all the doors and windows. It is more straightforward to fit chair rails and base moldings contrary to the window and door moldings than to guess simply how much room the window and door moldings will require up.


Note: When installing trim on a door casing (the trim that covers the gap between your doorjamb together with wall), set the molding back 1/4" to produce a "reveal" that presents the edge of the casing.


Door Trim



fig.B

Measure and slice the molding when it comes to sides of the doors. Miter the most truly effective edges at a 45-degree angle.

Attach the molding with 4-penny nails on inside edges and 6-penny nails on the outside.


Assess the distance between your top edges of the two sides, and slice the top piece towards the exact size.

Fit the most notable piece correctly, and nail it set up.

Secure the miter joints with 4-penny nails through the most notable or sides (figure B).

Use a nail set to drive all the nail heads just beneath the outer lining. Then fill the holes with spackling compound or wood filler, and sand them smooth when they dry.


Window Trim



fig. C

Window molding is much more challenging than door molding as it involves four components: the stool (also referred to as the sill), the apron under the stool, the truth molding and the extension jamb between your frame and the inside wall.


Begin by installing the stool, which forms a ledge at the end associated with window. Use a good-quality wood such as for example 5/4" fir stock. Slice the stool to size, and notch the ends so that it fits snugly within the window opening. You may have to install shims to make sure a decent fit (figure C). Secure the stool in place with 8-penny finish nails.Install the most notable extension jamb such that it fits tightly contrary to the window trim. Shims may be necessary for a super taut fit. Secure the jamb with finish nails.



Use finish nails to set up the medial side extension jambs, that are ripped to a width that will cause them to become flush with surrounding dry wall.

Fill the gaps across the window with insulation (figure D).


Install the window casing very much the same while you installed the doorway casing, you start with the sides after which adding the most effective piece.

Slice the apron to the same length due to the fact outer percentage of the stool. Use finish nails to secure the apron to the wall studs.


Baseboard and Shoe Molding


Along the floor the walls should always be trimmed with baseboard. In many cases you might use two pieces--for example, painted baseboard and shoe molding that matches your flooring.


Measure the walls, and transfer the measurements to your baseboard. Then begin cutting the baseboard to size.


Note: For most inside corners, use two 45-degree inside cuts. In case the corner is not square, you will have to cut one little bit of molding at a 90-degree angle and use a coping saw to trim the other piece for a suitable fit. To deal the molding, cut a 45-degree outside cut from the molding. Then back-cut the molding on an inside 45-degree angle along the edge of the mitered cut (figure E). When you are finished, file the edges smooth for a super taut fit.


Secure the baseboard with 6-penny finish nails driven into the wall studs. Use two finish nails at the ends of each piece.


For outside corners, cut both ends at some other 45-degree angle. For long walls that require more than one little bit of trim, join the two pieces with a lap miter joint. Cut one piece on an outside 45-degree angle and also the other at an inside 45-degree angle. Overlap the two pieces, and secure both pieces with finish nails.


Cut and install shoe molding in the same manner as baseboard molding (figure F). Use 8-penny finish nails to secure the shoe molding to the sole plate, the board that supports the studs behind a wall.


Chair Railing


Chair railing protects the wall from being scuffed by chairs and creates a visual break between the top and bottom associated with wall.


Installing it requires all of the same techniques as needed for base molding. The only real additional step is that you must first draw a level reference line round the room at chair-rail height. On a wall where your chair rail or base molding won't wrap around a corner, you will have to install a return (figure G), which defines the end of a bit of molding. To generate a return, simply make some other miter cut on the molding, and cut a little bit of molding to suit.


Crown Molding


Crown molding is installed in the corner between your ceiling and also the wall. To prevent making compound miter cuts, which can be tricky, use premolded corners within the design of your crown molding.


Drill pilot holes during the corner pieces, and install these with finish nails on the outside and inside corners. Make 90-degree cuts on the crown molding, and butt it from the corner pieces. Adjust the crown molding until it matches the corner pieces, and secure it with finish nails driven into the wall studs and ceiling joists.

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