Plinth blocks & baseboard??

[Al Lupone]

I am using 7/8"x3 1/2"x6" plinth blocks at the door casing bases. The ??? I have is should I also use plinth blocks at the corners? Should they be full size or split in half? What height should I make the oak baseboard. I am putting a small ogee on the top edge. Should I use blocks at the corners? Or just do the usual miter & cope?

The top of the doorways & all the widows are picture framed with rosettes. Here is a pic of my bay window. Since this is an 1874 house, there is not a consistent angle anywhere.


Thanks for any advice.
Al

[Jason Roehl]

It's totally a personal preference whether you use corner blocks. For inside corners, you could make them up to 7/8" x 7/8" to match your plinth blocks, but then any outside corners would need to be twice that in each dimension (with one-fourth of the block removed to make it L-shaped looking from the top). Whatever size you pick should be a little thicker than your base.

For base, you want it to be a little shorter than your plinth blocks. With 6" tall plinth blocks, something around 4.5-5.25" would be appropriate. And, if the plinth block is 7/8" thick, base should be somewhere between 1/2" and 3/4" thick (1/2" is probably a little too thin).

[Bill White]

Seems to be a little too much for my taste. On the other hand, if ya want 'em.......
Bill

[Don Bullock]

The corner blocks are typical of Victorian houses. It might be a good idea to consult some books for the period and style of your home before you go too far with your molding projects. You can also use some of the original molding in the home if it still exists as a guide. Correct molding details can add a tremendous amount of money to a home's value while incorrect molding details can have the opposite effect.

[Al Lupone]

Through the years the whole house has been gutted out. Nothing original left. It's not a fancy house. It's a mansard which was the run of the mill house back then. I may offend some people, but when I hear "They don't make them like that anymore!", I say THANK GOD!

Current molding now is all natural oak. You can't really see it in the foto, but the casings have a bead run down each outside edge. All that is left is about 85' of base board to be done. Hence, my ??'s.

Last night I made up a bunch of different height samples. I think the 4 1/2" looks good. It makes the blocks stand out from the the run of the base board. Sort of like the corner towers on the old english castles. Now I just have to make up my mind on the corners. Block or miter-n-cope. Have to make up some more samples & see what looks best.
Thanks for the replies.
Al

[Larry Edgerton]

It's totally a personal preference whether you use corner blocks. For inside corners, you could make them up to 7/8" x 7/8" to match your plinth blocks, but then any outside corners would need to be twice that in each dimension (with one-fourth of the block removed to make it L-shaped looking from the top). Whatever size you pick should be a little thicker than your base.

For base, you want it to be a little shorter than your plinth blocks. With 6" tall plinth blocks, something around 4.5-5.25" would be appropriate. And, if the plinth block is 7/8" thick, base should be somewhere between 1/2" and 3/4" thick (1/2" is probably a little too thin).

Ditto on all. I will add that I do not personally like blocks on the outside corners, I think it takes away from the flow of the room. If you have an old house or bad drywall the blocks on the inside corners can speed up base a bit.

[Michael Pyron]

cope em....plinth blocks are meant only for use on doors IMHO...their use prevents the problems of possible interactions between the casing and baseboard (like them being the same thickness and wall problems making the base stick proud of the casement, and other things that would make the base be proud which in general looks crappy)...

[Al Lupone]

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate all viewpoints. I made up a couple of test corner blocks out of 2 x 4's. Also made up several test miters with a range of angles.

Realized that several of the outside corners were made out of vertical drywall with the tapered edge in the corner. That left the run of the wall proud of the corners. Even planing the oak down to 5/8" wouldn't allow me to pull into the corner. Plus the miter would be under stress. The corner blocks solve that problem. After seeing them in place though, I do agree the miter does give a more pleasing look with the unbroken run.

Another problem I discovered is that the longest wall(13'5") is off level by about 1 1/2". The far end is an inside corner meeting up to baseboard heat. The near end is an outside corner. Going to have to play around with it. I wonder if I can shade the run about 3/4" & just scribe the rest to the floor. This is a wall that all the entertainment stuff will be on. So it won't be really visible.
Al