The trim, casing, and sills are all in. There’s so much more to it than I realized!
We didn’t want the quarter-round on our baseboards and that created a number of logistics challenges – nothing unsurmountable but a bit different than business as usual. Without the quarter-round or some sort of “shoe”, the hardwood planks need to be cut with more precision. Minimalism is not forgiving of shoddy work. The hardwood floors also needed to be finished before the baseboards – again because the shoe isn’t there to hide the edge.
The baseboards are also being attached to drywall and here lies another problem. Drywall of any notable length – once installed, taped, and primed – will have some curves, sags, or other imperfections that make it less than perfectly flat. If you install the baseboard tight to the drywall, it’ll look good against the drywall but it will look bad against the floor – especially in areas where it is running parallel to hardwood floor planks and there is a visible straight line that it should be running parallel to. That said, this is apparently the conventional route.
Our builder, Chris, actually shimmed the baseboard so that they would be perfectly straight and then plasters the wall to match the baseboard. When done, you don’t realize why it looks good, but you know that there’s something special. And now that I know the trick, I know that I can look down a long hallway under direct lighting and appreciate how straight and true the wall and baseboards are. They also cut a small groove into the top of the baseboard so that the caulk has a channel and will be able to expand/contract more without showing a crack. Who does that? Probably not many builders. But those are really the details that make a custom house special.
Door casing has its own similar details that a layman like myself doesn’t typically notice but subconsciously knows is somehow better. Tighter. More “put together.” Chris walked me through each location and pointed out how the casing needs to relate to the rest of the trim. In some areas, door casing needed to be cut down so that trim could run into the space between it and the wall. Again, many builders would probably just install all of the casing with the “default” width and run it right against the wall. Pre-renovation, there were a number of areas where we looked at the baseboards and scratched our head about why it ended the way it did. By customizing the door casing, the baseboards make so much more sense. And look so much better.
Finally, the sills are installed everywhere. Most have been in place for a few weeks now but it’s nice to see them all in place. The design I made turned out quite nice if I say so myself.
