Image Credit: AKJ Estate Ventures
Bold interior design is always on trend, but that doesn’t mean the materials builders and contractors use are always easy to install.
Sometimes homeowners want a look that’s not the easiest to achieve (like crown moulding over a brick accent wall), but there are a few tricks that you should keep up your sleeve if you want to make your project move a little more quickly.
Even in the most difficult spaces, there’s a more efficient way to install trim and moulding. Dealers, you can share this with your builder and contractor customers to help them make every job go smoothly.
Builders and contractors, let’s start with the basics.
Start the installation off on the right foot by working with high-quality products that make the job easier. Planning the finishings up front ensures you’re able to achieve a look that stays consistent throughout.
There are a few other basic tips to remember when installing finishings.
Don’t risk any problems with dripping paint: Buy pre-painted products like those from Metrie Complete or plan on installing the floors after the paint has thoroughly dried.
Hide seams with a scarf joint: When Sandra Powell, a.k.a. designer and builder "Sawdust Girl", was installing decorative columns using 1 x 6 flat stock, she found that she wasn’t able to use a full piece of trim vertically given that they were in 8’ lengths. “I have 9′ ceilings so I had to make seams in all my 1×6 pieces,” explains Sandra. “The best way to hide seams is with a ‘scarf joint,’ where you cut the matching pieces of the seam with 45 degree bevels.” For more of Sandra's tips on installing decorative columns, check out her step-by-step guide.
Image Credit: Sandra Powell, "Sawdust Girl"
Create templates for your finishings, like any crown moulding: Builders can make installation faster, easier and with fewer hiccups, with just a little pre-planning. “Cutting crown moulding can be frustrating and confusing,” says Sandra. “Using templates gives you a visual reference for which piece you need to cut and how to cut it.”
A few other pointers from Sandra:
- Set your miter saw to bevel left at 33.8 or 33.9 degrees, and the crown moulding should always lie flat on the saw.
- Depending on the cut you are making, the miter will change between right and left (both at the setting of 31.6 degrees).
Image Credit: Sandra Powell, "Sawdust Girl"
Coming Up Against Corners
Corners can be a challenge to work around, regardless of what you’re installing. For finishings, a few experts offer some additional tips when working with moulding and coming up against corners.
- Bring along an angle finder to ensure accuracy on the project. “For our outside corners, we always use an angle finder,” explains Morgan Molitor with Construction2Style, “because corners are rarely exactly 90 degrees. Find the angle and divide it in half and that’s your miter cut.”
- “We always cope our inside corners to assure a nice, clean corner,” explains Morgan. Morgan uses MDF for coping, since the product is easier to cut and results in a clean look. “It also helps if there is any movement or shifting in the house to keep the corners looking tight.”
- For curved finishings, builders can create rounded corners by cutting trim and positioning pieces to create an octagonal shape. By filling in gaps between the pieces, you’ll wind up with rounded corners to finish off your style. Follow along with this step-by-step guide for installing rounded corners.
Installing Baseboards Over Floor Transitions
Image Credit: Mark Rason, Remarkable Woodworks
Installing baseboard over floor transitions can be tricky, especially when you are trying to tie new trim into existing trim. Typically, Mark Rason from Remarkable Woodworks would flush-cut a transition and make the profile step down or change with the flooring. However, in this case, the transition piece was already in place.
Here’s his process with the transition piece in place:
- Put down painters tape.
- Use an off cut to find the angle.
- Cut the angle you just found, and dry fit it.
- Trace the trim onto the painters tape on the floor, which will tell you the outer dimension (or longer end of a mitered cut) length.
- Mark where the transition is on that piece, along with how high you need to shave the trim for the closest fit.
- Use an angle finder with the pencil marks to cut everything to size.
- Pre-glue everything and slot them in place.
You’ll end up with a smooth transition that’s sure to make clients happy.
Refining Your Work: Touch-Ups
Some pre-painted trim and moulding products, like Metrie Complete, have color-matched touch-up products available to fill nail holes, seams and joints.
The Metrie Complete products are pre-painted to make the job easier during installation, but these finishing kits, that you can purchase separately, come with products that ensure your project looks picture perfect. Kits include:
- Caulking
- Wax fill stick
- Putty
- Spray enamel paint
Because Metrie’s products are high-quality, you can reassure homeowners that any interior design they come up with will maintain its stylish finish.
From Start to the Ultimate Finish
Image Credit: Metrie & Construction2Style, YouTube
With a few tricks and adequate planning, you can install moulding and trim wherever homeowners need a refined design.
To further streamline your next job, try working with Metrie Complete pre-painted moulding or any other high quality products from Metrie. The result will give homeowners the look they're after with a quality to stand the test of time.
Find out where you can buy Metrie products and get started on your project today!
