So, this is a tract house (mine), aka Sow’s ear.
I want to make it into a Silk Purse, or being more realistic, a polyester purse.
I want to replace the baseboards and door casings throughout. I also want to use plinth blocks and rosettes on the doors and windows.
The ceilings are 8ft.
The central hallway (actually the only hallway) is only 7 feet high due to the central A/C ductwork running down the middle of it.
Because of the low ceiling there is only enough room on the hallway side for doors (to bedrooms and bathroom) to have 2-1/4″ casing at the top, with 3/8″ to spare, (for the rosettes).
There is at least 6 inches between doorways, so casing width and plinth blocks on the sides is not a problem.
I plan to use:
Baseboards 4-1/2 x 9/16″ FJ pine
Casing 2-1/4 x 5/8″ FJ pine
Plinth blocks 2-3/4 x 6 x 7/8″ pine or poplar
Rosettes 2-3/4 sq x 7/8″ pine or poplar
(All of the above will be painted)
There is one problem that is obvious : the front [entry] door is so close to the wall that 2-1/4” casing will just barely fit on that side, and still allow for 1/4” reveal of the jamb…and I really do mean barely.
So I think that eliminates plinth blocks and rosettes for the front door.
There are no other doors in that room (the living room); open doorways leading elsewhere but no doors.
But there is a 5’ x 5’ picture window that I wanted to put casing around and the rosettes at the corners, as I plan to do for all the other windows in the house.
So my question is: should I eliminate the rosettes on the front window, because the front door won’t have them (or the plinth blocks), or should I keep them as planned?
Bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, dining area, all have more than enough space for the casing and blocks and rosettes.
Any other advice, or warnings, will be appreciated, and Thanks in advance.
(To forestall the question about why I am using wood and not MDF for casing and baseboard, all I can say is: I don’t like MDF for trim work.)
Replies
Sow's ears and silk purses are each unique.
Great beauty has small flaws to accent and contrast the perfection.
You can enjoy the process, decisions and results.
Would like to see photos of the result.
You don’t show what the trim looks like, but
Shave a bit from each edge of the casings and the 4 edges of the rosettes and 2 sides of the plinth blocks. If you can afford even an eighth times 2 and nobody stands and dwells on that door……
“[Deleted]”
OK, I follow you about trimming the casing .
If I still don't like the way it looks, and decide only to use casing on the door, I'm leaning toward leaving the rosettes on the window, because people do look AT a window as they look out. So at least the window will look nice even if the door doesn't look as nice.
Attached is a pic of what I want to use.
I'm undecided about the plinth blocks (for the rest of the doors) whether to go plain or fancy, and the rosettes (note the bevel edge) but the dimensions are what I put in my first post. Plain plinth blocks would be easy and inexpensive ... just cut poplar or pine board and [maybe] bevel the edges.
I did that at my parent's house (rosettes, "fancier" trim, etc.) and it looked great. I also recall one or two doors as you describe and in one case, I cut the rosette in half and it actually looked good (like it disappeared into the corner). Choose consistency of expectation (e.g. one would expect a rosette there even if someone put the door too close to the corner!)
I'll give it a go. I won't permanently attach the block pieces (the blessings of 2-sided tape) and see if I like it after living with it for a while. If I do, I'll make it permanent, and if I don't I'll go with casing only (on the door).
As I said, I'm leaning toward leaving the Rosettes on the window. But that will probably be done with tape as well.
Sometimes, despite pictures and even a good imagination you just never know how something will look until you actually see it for real.
It might really have to be "both full trim, or neither" (just casing).