As nice as it is to be away, it’s always almost better to be home. We came back from a road trip to Florida over a week ago and when we came back, i swear the place doesn’t look the same! The trees are all in full bloom, and the HQ is once again hidden behind the greenery. That’s why I didn’t have a blog last week as we were playing catch up around here. Then I realized the blog I had prepared for the week before didn’t post. Ah, technology is playing games with me. But anyway, here we are, so here we go.

Now that the finish floor is on, you can start pouring that champagne. Don’t finish the bottle yet though as there are a couple more things to do before you can hang your tool belt – cabinets and trim work.

I won’t go into the details of cabinets, as I am not a cabinetmaker. Those guys deal with increments of 1/32 on the measuring tape which is half of 1/16th, and carpenters read 1/16 increments at most! But before doing trim, you would want your cabinets installed and secure.

Trim

Like most things, trim materials come in different materials. Hardwood, finger-jointed softwood, MDF, bare or primed. Choose wisely and according to their application. I normally would not suggest MDF for places that will have the most humidity and exposure to water as they will expand with repeated exposure to water, and will need to be replaced soon after. In this section, we will cover the baseboard, crown, door and window boxes and casings.

Baseboard

Baseboard is the trim that covers the gaps between the finish floor and the finish wall. Remember the ¼ gap you left for expansion and contraction when you were installing your finish floor? Baseboard will cover that. They come in many different profiles and widths and height, what you choose to use is completely up to your own vibe.

To make a tight inside corner joint, I recommend coping and not cutting the two baseboards at 45° to make a 90°. More often than not, walls are not perfect, and you could end up with an inside corner of 87° and your two 45s won’t make a nice joint. Coping means the profile of the butting baseboard has been cut to follow the face profile of the piece that it is butting into, creating a tight joint.

Crown moulding

The corners where the ceiling and the wall meet can typically be covered with tape and mud, but if you want to add a touch of elegance, then crown moulding will do the job.

The most important thing to know about crown moulding is the degree that you choose. They typically come in 38°, 52°, 45°. Those numbers indicate the degree at which the moulding sits between the two sides (ceiling and wall). Those numbers will also tell you what to set your compound mitre saw to in order to cut the right angle so that it fits perfectly when you install it. You also have to be able to wrap your head around what the inside corner and outside corner cuts look like because essentially, you are cutting on the table to fit it upside down.

I won’t be the best person to explain this process to you, but what I have found very helpful is using a tool called Sawset protractor and a sliding t-bevel. The sliding t-bevel will enable you to get the angle of the corner you’re working with, and with the help of the Sawset, you can determine the exact compound angles that you need to set your mitre saw to make the proper cut. The chart that it comes with will also tell you the angles for the most common crown moulding types/application (38°, 45°). I also make 4 sample cuts for the Right and Left inside corner, and Right and Left outside corners and label them accordingly. I use these to refer back to every time I get confused on what these cuts are supposed to look like. I highly recommend watching a few youtube videos to learn how to do it.

Window/Door Box

Doors and windows will sometimes have a channel on the inside where you can fit a ¾” material for the box. If not, it’s up to you how much of the frame of the window you’d like to cover up. Typically, you only want to cover where the frame ends, so measure the width of the sides for the window box on all sides of the window/door so that when installed, it is flush to the finish wall. This ensures that the casing (or trim) will sit flat once you install it.

Some doors come preinstalled with the jamb (or “box”). In this case, you don’t need to build a box for it, and you can proceed with installing the casing.

Installing Casing

Typically you want to have a 3/16” reveal around your window/door box where you install the casing around. You can play with these numbers as you wish, you can do a ⅛” reveal or ¼” reveal, but what i find is 3/16” is actually perfect – not too small or too big of a reveal.

When installing these finishing components, use a brad nailer. I use 18 ga nails long enough to penetrate through the drywall and into the stud behind to ensure that you fasten it into something solid.

The nail head needs to be sunk enough that you don’t see it at the end, so go around and check all the nails and if they need to be set, use a tool called the nail set. Once that’s done, it’s time to cover these holes up using a spackle. Go around with a wet rag and scoop a small amount of spackle onto a finger and fill any hole. Use a clean and wet finger to wipe off the excess.

Lastly, with caulking and gun, go ahead and run a bead along corners, edges, and joints. Then run a wet finger down where you put a bead to wipe off the excess. This will give a nice continuous finish between the wall and the trim. One trick about caulking is you don’t want to make a big hole in the nozzle. Make it the smallest possible so you don’t put too much on, only having to wipe it off and create a big mess.

Lastly, go ahead and finish the rest of that champagne bottle.