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Thread: Installing Trim

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Oskaloosa Iowa
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    270

    Installing Trim

    I have 70' of this top cap molding to put on in a house remodel. It goes on top of the 3/4 base with the cove on top down to 1/2" thick.
    The base is already installed.
    It goes on Plaster/Lath walls.
    Is a 18ga 2" enough to hold it on...nailed on to the studs ?

    Thanks

    20190311_122359.jpg

  2. #2
    2" is plenty especially if you are sure to get it in the studs. FWIW that is all I have ever used and none of mine has fallen off yet.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
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    Tasmania
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    2,162
    Yes, 2 inch nails will be fine. If in doubt about where your studs are, find and mark them before installing the trim. This means if you are in any doubt, you can tap a spike through the plaster and confirm you have solid timber and the minor damage will be covered. Cheers
    Every construction obeys the laws of physics. Whether we like or understand the result is of no interest to the universe.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Lomman View Post
    Yes, 2 inch nails will be fine. If in doubt about where your studs are, find and mark them before installing the trim. This means if you are in any doubt, you can tap a spike through the plaster and confirm you have solid timber and the minor damage will be covered. Cheers
    Yes sir, I always mark the studs before I start. This is good solid advice and I use a stud finder. If the wall is not to be painted I put painters tape on it to mark on that.
    I have always found it funny or maybe strange is a better word, with so many things standardized in the construction trade that we cant agree to start our 16" centers on the left or right of all walls. Think of how easy it would be if every framer started his 16" centers on the left of every wall ever made.......I don't know why, but every wall I check is done differently.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    Oskaloosa Iowa
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    Thanks for the advice. The walls will be painted and finish by time I install the trim

    Old house's are even worse for stud placement. This is our house...most of the time I can locate the nailing location on the base board.
    Nail head that is painted over and most of the time is in the stud.

    I saw a stud finding trick the other day....some guy took a strong magnet and was finding the nails in the studs...seemed to work for him.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
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    North Prairie, WI
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    Quote Originally Posted by Martin Siebert View Post
    Yes sir, I always mark the studs before I start. This is good solid advice and I use a stud finder. If the wall is not to be painted I put painters tape on it to mark on that.
    I have always found it funny or maybe strange is a better word, with so many things standardized in the construction trade that we cant agree to start our 16" centers on the left or right of all walls. Think of how easy it would be if every framer started his 16" centers on the left of every wall ever made.......I don't know why, but every wall I check is done differently.
    That wouldn't work when you go to the opposite side of that wall... It would start on the right. (Just stirring the pot a little.)

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Deep South
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    3,970
    I saw regular crown molding come loose from a Habitat for Humanity house I worked on after it was installed with an 18 gauge nailer. It could have been short nails or it could have been bad technique but i wouldn't do it. I would use a 15 or 16 gauge nailer. Why take a risk?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
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    SE PA - Central Bucks County
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    65,675
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Burke View Post
    Thanks for the advice. The walls will be painted and finish by time I install the trim

    Old house's are even worse for stud placement. This is our house...most of the time I can locate the nailing location on the base board.
    Nail head that is painted over and most of the time is in the stud.

    I saw a stud finding trick the other day....some guy took a strong magnet and was finding the nails in the studs...seemed to work for him.
    Mark the stud locations with small pieces of blue or green painter's tape...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Location
    Vancouver Canada
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    If, for some reason I can't find the studs, I fire my 18 (or the 16, depending on the type of wall covering - I ave lathe and plaster) and I "X" my nails ie. angle a few degrees left, then a few degrees right, within 3" of each other.
    Intersting that the walls will be painted first. May be a regional difference. My painters prefer to finesse the trim and paint/stain when the walls are being coloured.
    Young enough to remember doing it;
    Old enough to wish I could do it again.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Oskaloosa Iowa
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    This molding is on the base so even if its not like a rock...its not going to hurt to much. It could almost just sit there.
    I take the top molding off....take the OLD wall paper off and skim coat the old plaster walls back to smooth.
    Then prime/paint them...then install the NEW top molding back on. I have a local molding maker that has a knife cut for the new molding
    It saves sanding time, tape off time... and looks so much better than the old molding.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    Quote Originally Posted by Aaron Rosenthal View Post
    If, for some reason I can't find the studs, I fire my 18 (or the 16, depending on the type of wall covering - I ave lathe and plaster) and I "X" my nails ie. angle a few degrees left, then a few degrees right, within 3" of each other......
    2nd this. We used to call it chicken tracking. Works very well, especially with wood lath.
    Stand for something, or you'll fall for anything.

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