Renovation 4th Edition

by Michael Litchfield

  the walls so that wood strips or planks can

  its interior edge overhangs the apron beneath it. And note that the stool’s “horns”

  expand and contract seasonally. Baseboards

  extend 3⁄4 in. to 11⁄2 in. beyond the width of the side casings. You can still buy replace-

  cover that gap along the base of the walls. You

  ment stools for window renovations in older houses.

  should also install door casing before baseboards

  so that baseboards can butt to side casing or

  plinth blocks. Back-cutting the baseboard slightly

  yields a tight butt joint against plinth blocks or

  casing, even if the trim boards are not perfectly

  square to each other.

  496 Chapter 17

  INSTALLING MITereD JAMB AND HeAD CASING

  2. Although many carpenters install both jamb casings

  before measuring the head casing, this carpenter chose to

  dry-fit the second jamb and head as a pair so he could

  adjust the miter joint in place. An unglued biscuit held the

  pieces of casing together as he finessed the joint.

  1. After installing stop-strips inside the window frame and scribing reveal

  lines on all three jamb edges, cut and tack up the first piece of casing.

  zzzzzz Baseboard strategies

  Cap molding bends

  to fit wall irregularities.

  3. Set nails, fill holes, and touch-up

  Drywall

  sand all surfaces before finishing the

  wood casing. Generally, there won’t

  be many nails to set if you’ve used a

  pneumatic nailer.

  Baseboard

  P R O T I P

  When ripping down a base-

  Finished floor

  board, keep the sawblade just off

  the scribed pencil line. after cut-

  ting, clamp the board to a bench

  and sand exactly to the line,

  Scribed line follows

  using a belt sander held perpen-

  floor line.

  dicular to the board edge. in this

  Base shoe will hide

  case, 80-grit to 120-grit sandpa-

  floor gaps.

  per is effective because it’s not

  overly aggressive.

  If you can’t scribe and cut the bottom of the baseboard,

  use base shoe to cover gaps.

  Finish Carpentry

  497

  CASING AN ArCHeD WINDOW

  Arched windows require complex framing around the arch so you have something solid to nail

  finish walls and casing to.

  1. After scribing a reveal line along the edge of the

  arched head jamb, tack a finish nail at the apex of the line,

  and hang (balance) the arched head casing from it. Then

  level across the “spring lines” of the casing—the points at

  which the casing springs into its curve.

  2. After cutting the arched casing at its spring

  lines, align the inner edge of the arched casing to the

  reveal line.

  498 Chapter 17

  4. Work around the window, nailing the casing every 16 in. The thickness of

  the casing determines the nail size. In this case, the carpenter used 1-in. brads

  to nail the inside edge of casing to the frame edges and 6d finish nails along

  the outside.

  3. Install the straight side casing, cutting it a little long

  on the bottom and then trimming as needed until the

  casing fits tightly between the arched head casing and the

  window stool. After dry-fitting the side casing, apply glue

  and tack it up.

  5. If the casing is not wide or thick

  enough for biscuit joinery, angle 6d

  finish nails to draw the joint together.

  To avoid splitting the casing, you first

  need to snip off the nail points.

  Finish Carpentry

  499

  installing CroWn Molding

  Crown molding dresses up the wall–ceiling joint,

  as do its fancy cousins cornices, which are

  formed from several boards. Crown molding can

  be as simple as a single piece of shaped trim

  angled along the corners of the ceiling, or you

  can pair it with a backing trim to ensure a solid

  nailing surface, which is not always present in an

  old houses with irregular framing and springy

  plaster. Backing trim is, basically, a flat board

  with a shaped bottom edge.

  Start by locating and marking stud and joist

  centers on the walls and ceilings. Where joists

  run parallel to a wall or where you can’t find

  framing on a regular nailing interval, install a

  row of triangular nailing blocks along the tops of

  walls, as shown below. Predrill these blocks to

  avoid splitting them, and nail them with 8d finish

  nails to the top plates or studs, spacing the blocks

  every 24 in. to 32 in. Cut nailing blocks at the

  same angle as the crown molding, when correctly

  Scribe baseboards so they follow the

  seated to wall and ceiling.

  floor. Or, if you’re installing the

  Locating studs beforehand will make installa-

  baseboard before the floors are in,

  To determine that angle, cut a short section

  tion easier. If walls have been newly drywalled,

  shim the trim so it will be a consistent

  of crown molding to use as a seating gauge. Hold

  look along the base of the walls for screws or nails

  height above the subfloor. Use scrap

  the gauge so that trim edges seat solidly on both

  to cushion the trim from hammer

  where drywall is fastened to studs. Otherwise,

  the ceiling and the wall. Using this gauge, make a

  blows, as you tap the trim to align

  rap the base of walls with your knuckle until you

  its edges.

  think you’ve found a stud. Then drive in a 6d

  finish nail to locate the stud exactly. Stud finders

  work, but they are less reliable with plaster walls,

  whose lath nails meander all over the place.

  Scribe the bottom of baseboards to follow the

  zzzzzz Crown Molding and

  Blocking

  Nailing block

  contour of the floor, especially if the floors are

  Ceiling

  P R O T I P

  irregular. But first, shim the baseboard(s) up

  about 1 in. above the floor, butt one end of the

  Crown molding must be solidly

  board to a corner or a door casing, and tack the

  nailed. so, as you locate studs

  baseboard to a stud or two to keep it upright.

  and ceiling joists, affix a small

  Then run the scribe or compass along the bottom

  piece of blue painter’s tape to

  to transfer the floor contour to the baseboard.

  indicate their centers. place tape

  Cut the scribed line with a fairly rigid sabersaw

  Gap

  sufficiently back from the trim

  blade that can cut with the grain yet not wander.

  path so you can still see the tape

  Baseboard joinery employs basic techniques

  as you position the trim. using

  described earlier. Miter outside corners, cope

  Wall

  painter’s tape is easier than

  inside ones, and glue all joints before nailing

  erasing pencil marks, and th
e

  tape won’t pull off paint.

  them off. Use two 8d nails (aligned vertically) at

  every other stud center, and use a single 4d finish

  nail top and bottom to draw mitered corners

  tight. Used as baseboard caps, standard mold-

  ings, such as quarter-rounds, can hide irregulari-

  Crown

  Backing trim

  ties between the top of the baseboard and the

  molding

  screwed to framing

  wall, and they dress up the top of the board.

  Routed edge

  Where baseboards abut door casing and there’s

  no stud directly behind the end of the baseboard,

  nail the bottom of the board to the wall plate,

  When instal ing nailing blocks without backing

  and angle-nail the top to the side of the casing or

  trim, nail the blocks directly to the wal plates.

  plinth block, using an 18-ga. brad to avoid split-

  Keep a 1/16-in. space between the back of the

  ting the trim. Finally, set the nails, fill the holes,

  molding and the face of the blocks to

  and caulk all seams before painting.

  accommodate wall-ceiling irregularities.

  500 Chapter 17

  Outside corners are seldom square, requiring that miters

  be marked in place. Here, scrap was positioned on both

  sides of the corner to guide a pencil line along its top

  edge. At that intersection, the top point of the miter was

  marked on both scrap pieces. The bottom point of the

  Cut or assemble a small section of crown molding to use

  miter is the corner itself, here being marked.

  as a seating gauge to tell you where the bottom of the

  molding will meet the wall. A pencil mark every 3 ft. to

  4 ft. should do; don’t use a chalkline because it could

  bleed through finish paint.

  the bottom of the miter box. (Inverting the mold-

  ing in the miter box is the only way to support

  both of the molding’s edges and re-create the

  light pencil mark every 3 ft. to 4 ft. so that when

  same angle the crown molding will have when

  you nail up the molding you’ll have reference

  installed against the wall and ceiling. If you cut

  marks for its bottom edge. (Because crown mold-

  the molding right side up in the miter box, the

  ing is relatively thin, it easily twists and mis-

  top edge of the molding would be unsupported.)

  aligns.) Nail molding roughly every 3 ft. or to

  Use the seating gauge you made earlier to estab-

  every other 16-in. on-center stud and joist. If

  lish this angle on your miter saw. Screw a piece

  walls are too long for a single piece of molding,

  of scrap to the saw bed to hold the molding stock

  splice boards over stud centers. Use a nailer to

  in place as you cut it. When in doubt, test the

  attach crown molding and cornices—hand nail-

  joints by cutting and joining pieces of scrap.

  ing is too erratic. If you’re nailing molding to

  P R O T I P

  blocks, use 18-ga. brads to avoid splits; other-

  False BeaMs

  wise, use 6d finish nails. Nail the bottom edge

  first, then the top, keeping the nails back from

  There are several ways to construct false beams.

  When installing crown mold-

  edges by at least

  ing, leave the last 2 ft. to 3 ft.

  3⁄8 in.

  Two are shown here. The first is to make a ladder

  unnailed until you’ve test-fitted

  To install backing trim, snap a chalkline to

  frame (imagine a ladder set horizontally) clad

  all joints. sometimes the mold-

  line up the bottom edges of the trim. Backing

  with finish boards. This type, shown in the top

  ing needs to come up or down to

  trim is a godsend when you’ve got level upper

  photo on p. 502, runs perpendicular to ceiling

  make a coped joint fit exactly.

  cabinets but an unlevel ceiling. Install the back-

  joists so its top board can be screwed to them;

  ing trim level and the crown molding snug

  end-nail “ladder rungs” to the top board before

  against the ceiling. The amount of backing trim

  installing it. Once the top board is secured to

  revealed (exposed) will vary, but your eye won’t

  joists, attach the bottom board and then the

  notice it. Use screws to attach the backing trim

  sides. A power nailer is a must because the

  because they hold better and are less likely to

  assembly is shaky until all the boards are on.

  fracture plaster. Before nailing up crown mold-

  The second type, shown in the bottom photos

  ing, use a seating gauge to mark its position atop

  on p. 502, is more correctly called a box beam

  the backing trim.

  because there’s nothing false about the steel

  As with baseboard molding, miter outside cor-

  I-beam it’s disguising. You can order I-beams

  ners, cope inside ones, and glue all joints before

  with bolt holes predrilled, making it easy to bolt

  nailing them off. If the first piece of crown mold-

  plywood nailing blocks to them. The plywood

  ing is long enough to run from inside corner to

  shown was faced with clear fir on three sides and

  inside corner, just cut both ends square, pop into

  stained to simulate redwood. Because the under-

  place, and cope the ends of adjacent pieces.

  side of the box was most visible at eye level, the

  Miter-cut the crown molding upside down, with

  carpenters took pains to create an even reveal

  its bottom edge up—angled so that the molding’s

  along the bottom of the beam. The gaps along the

  lower edge rests against the back fence of the

  top of the beam were later covered by the crown

  miter box and the molding’s upper edge rests on

  molding, shown in the left photo above.

  Finish Carpentry

  501

  Scan left to right on the ceiling, and you’ll see the evolution of a false beam. Preassemble the top

  board (which nails to the ceiling joists) and short nailer blocks. Install the bottom board, then the

  sides. Use a pneumatic nailer only because hand nailing will loosen the assembly.

  BOxING IN A STeeL I-BeAM

  To provide nailing surfaces for the sides of the box beam, first bolt plywood strips to the predrilled

  Because the underside is the most visible part of the box

  I-beam. Attach the bottom panel of the box beam first, then the sides.

  beam from eye level, measure to be sure the board reveals

  are consistent. Measuring also tells you exactly where the

  edge of the bottom board is—so nails don’t miss it. Cover

  gaps along the ceiling with crown molding.

  502 Chapter 17

  WainsCoting

  In the old days, when raised-panel wainscoting

  was constructed from solid wood, fancy joinery

  was required to accommodate the expansion and

  contraction of the panels. Today, thanks to the

  stability of MDF panels and readily available

  stock molding, you can create good-looking

  wainscoting with simple join
ery. Once painted,

  this new wainscoting will be almost indistin-

  guishable from that built with traditional materi-

  als and methods.

  Construct the frame rails (horizontal pieces)

  and stiles (vertical pieces) from clear, straight

  1x4s; if you need more than one board to attain

  the length you need, use a biscuit joiner (see the

  bottom photo on p. 480) to splice the board ends.

  Use this tool to strengthen the butt joints

  between rails and stiles, too. But first, snap

  chalklines onto the walls to indicate the position

  of rails and stiles; if any stiles coincide with

  electrical outlets, it may be easiest to relocate the

  outlets so that all the panels along a wall have a

  consistent width.

  Assemble the frame on the floor. After allow-

  ing its glued and biscuited joints to cure, tilt the

  frame upright and fasten it to wall studs with

  15-ga. finish nails. To avoid stressing the frame

  joints, have a helper tilt it up and hold it atop

  spacer blocks as you nail it. The 3⁄4-in. MDF

  panels are best routed in several passes to avoid

  frying the router and scorching the panel edges.

  Once you’re done routing, sand the panel edges

  lightly and nail them to the wall, leaving an

  even gap all around, between panel edges and

  frame elements.

  Although you can use any type of stock mold-

  ing to cover the gaps around the panels, a shaped

  molding adds visual interest and has a traditional

  feel— bolection molding has a nice profile and a

  rabbeted back edge that seats neatly against

  frame edges. Cap the top of the top rail with

  molding, too, to cover the slight gap between the

  frame and the wall.

  After screwing the preassembled frame to the studs, insert shaped MDF panels, nailing them

  directly to the wall with 2-in. brads. Leave a 1-in. gap around each panel, which you’ll cover with

  stock molding.

  Finish Carpentry

  503

  18 Painting

  Painting is probably the most popular reno- Essential Prep Work

  vation task because its effects are immediate and If you want painted surfaces to look good and

  striking. For not much money, you can get a

  last long, the substrate—such as drywall, plaster,

  complete change of scenery and heart. If you

  and wood—must be stable and dry before you