Hi,
I’m installing 5 inch casing in in a foyer. There are several areas where the baseboard meets the front of the casing. The casing has a flat area were the baseboard would meet, but should a plinth block be used instead? Is there really a right & wrong way to this?
Thanks,
Rich
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Replies
The plinth block serves the practical purpose of not having the baseboard (including cap and shoe moulding be proud of the door casing. Beyond satisfying that problem, the use of plinths is an aesthetic matter, which raises several questions:
The first thing that I wonder about is how the other doorways are treated in the rest of the house? Consistency with the whole scheme is important.
If you are planning your own trim for the rest of the house, the plinth can either be a version of the casing which projects further out or a different profile ( less contoured, usually) that acts as a pedestal for the casing. This subtle difference effects how dominant the baseboard design is in the moulding scheme. When deciding to use plinths or not, I look at how all the horizontal elements (baseboard, chair rail, picture moulding, crown) will go with the vertical casing of doors, windows, and mill work. Depending on the look, plinths can either help with tying the design together or seem too clunky and overstated.
Hi,
the rest of the house has a smaller casing ( 3 5/8) with no plinth blocks. The foyer is a little more formal, so I went with a little bigger casing & base. I don't think it really looks to bad without the plinth blocks, but I didn't know if there was a "unritten rule" about formal areas with big casing & plinth blocks.
Thanks Rich
In my home, an old Victorian, 1900, I have plinth blocks only in my entry way and two front parlors. The rest of the house has the door casing all the way to the floor.Coming to you from beautiful Richmond, Va.
PaineB said it really well. I don't think there are any writen or unwriten rules about plinth blocks but there are certainly guidelines. Going with more substantial trims in a formal area is done all the times so putting plinths there and not the rest of the house is not uncommon. It all boils down to esthetics so it's a judgement call from you and/or your client.
I hope Piffin would drop in to give us some writen guidelines.
In some cases if the base is too thick I have chamfered it back on my chop saw,(I first demonstrated the appearance on a piece of scrap to the client)
Scribe once, cut once!
If you're going to use the plinth's would you also use rosettes at the top of the casing? They kinda go together I guess, but my house just has ol' 356,dont need no plinth wid dat.
Mikey
Having plinths with rosettes is more of a Victorian thing, many a house before the Victorian era with plinth. got some pictures around here of a 1840's house with plinths.
Doug