Trimming Out a Door

[Chris Padilla]

Just looking for some advice. I have three interior doors to trim out and I was wondering about some tricks of the trade to getting nice tight miters and a nice reveal.

What do y'all like to do? Start with the two sides and then fit the top? Do you just cut the sides at 45 and then work to fit the top piece?

SWMBO picked out some baseboard to use as door trim so it is a little thick at 3/4" but that is what she wanted so.... :)

Thanks!

[Tim Sproul]

My only advice to offer is to biscuit or otherwise reinforce the miters. Even with MDF, they will open/close with the changing seasons unless you tie the miters together.

[Glenn Clabo]

Chris,
If you are going to paint it…caulking is the carpenters’ best friend. Real close is fixable in this case. I still like to get it right first but I’m not making money on it anymore.

I think the best advice I got back in the day was to make a couple of test pieces so you can test the fit before you start chopping the final ones. Cut four pieces…one or so feet long. Make “perfect” left and right side angles. This will let you get a feel for what needs to be adjusted for the final fit. It puts a picture in your mind when you go to fit the final pieces.The door angle can be slightly off but I’ve found that the biggest problem is the flatness of the wall to door jam. Sometimes you need to back cut the trim to fit…if you can’t flatten where it will sit. If you are going to paint…sticking a shim behind the angle and trimming the shim then caulking works.

I like to put the top piece in first…and frankly I think it’s because it’s the way I was taught. Measure the distance…allowing for your preferred reveal line. Then you can mark the sides without measuring. That thing with all the marks on it always gets you in trouble. I’m sure it can be done in reverse…and others would argue that’s best. I also like to use a plane to adjust the angle and back trim.

The best invention…nailers. It cuts the install time by a third.

[Peter Pedisich]

Chris,

In the past I have measured for the 3 pieces, biscuited them together and when the glue dried I took the whole door casing assembly (left, top & right) and nailed it on starting at the top and if you have to pull the bottoms of the side casing in or out to keep your 3/16" reveal it's not a problem.
Collins miter clamps help...or try www.miterclamp.com (http://www.miterclamp.com)

Good luck,

Pete

[Dino Makropoulos]

What do y'all like to do? Start with the two sides and then fit the top? Do you just cut the sides at 45 and then work to fit the top piece?

Thanks!

1. Cut the top piece first at 45% and allow for the reveal. Don't nail it.
2 Nail the sides temporarily using only one nail at the middle on each side and allow for the reveal.
3. Put the top piece over the legs (side pieces) and scribe the legs to match the top piece (header)
4. your side pieces may not be 45% but they will match perfect.

You can trim the whole house without the use of a tape measure.
Measuring for trim work is the guarantee to a bad job.
Good luck.
YCF Dino

[Jim Becker]

Chris, I do it similar to Dino's suggestion, but since my trim is all painted...Glenn's comments ring true!!

[Nathan Hoffman]

There is a good article on this at fine homebuilding's website (taunton.com) under the 'interior finish' section that I have found useful when trimming out my own house.

[Scott Parks]

This reminds me of the saying "there's a thousand ways to skin a cat." If I was starting from scratch and going for perfection, I'd also build them first with biscuits. But when I'm putting trim back up that was taken down, and/or replacing peices, I do it Dino's way. He's right, you can't hardly measure them. Scribe...

[Steve Clardy]

I start with the left upright. Cut the 45 and install. Cut the top, both ends. Nail your first miter, moving the top piece aligning and nailing. Then cut the other upright. Fit the miter, nail at top, and align and nail that upright from top to botom.

[Chris Padilla]

Cool...I should mention that these pieces are painted. In fact, I sprayed them yesterday (ultra pure white) as the wifey likes a sprayed finish. Thanks, Everyone...not sure whose method to go with but I like the idea of biscuited corners. The trim is finger-jointed softwood (I think) from Princeton Classic Moudlings.

[Peter Pedisich]

You could do it Dino's way and use biscuits, best of both worlds. The biscuits really do keep the miters together in a climate like I live in with wide temp and humidity swings.

[Alan Mikkelsen]

OK, I do this a bit differently. I measure everything, allowing for a 3/16 inch reveal, since I have a guage at that thickness. After cutting my pieces to 45 deg, I place them on a flat surface, usually a sheet of hardboard. Then I apply a heavy duty super glue to one side of the joint, spray the other side with an accelerator, and then hold it together for a count of 20. Do the other side the same, then pick up the glued together frame, walk up to the door and nail it with a pneumatic nailer. I use a guage to help make sure the reveal is right, but it literally only takes a few minutes to do all this. The glue is from Fast Cap, and called 2P-10, for two part, ten second set. It really holds! Even comes with a debonder, although I haven't used it. Hope this isn't too confusing.

[Jamie Buxton]

I've never quite figured out why "the only way to do it" is with mitered corners. It is possible to do a perfect miter, and it is possible to fasten it together in a way that doesn't gap. However, it is really much easier to use a 90 degree butt joint at the top. That is, the top casing extends past the outside edge of the side casing, and the top of the side casing is cut at 90 degrees. You can make this design visually simple, or you can make it more elaborate with mouldings and such. IMHO, this approach generally looks better, as well as being easier to build.

[Chris Padilla]

I tried to sell my wife on using those little square corners for each joint that way making my life easier but she want the mitered look and the style/cut of the moulding will look nicer since it'll "flow" around the corner with a miter versus anything else.

[Don Baer]

I'm with Dino and Jim on this. Do the side first then the top I usualy make the top a little big are first then I trim it down until I get the fit right. Your weather in San Jose if pretty temperate so I don't think you'll have problems with the wood creeping.