A few questions about replacing molding in condo...

[craig]

I recently purchased a condo in a downtown building that was converted to condos. One of the first improvements that I would like to make is to replace the molding (base and casings) in the great room and the bedroom. Currently, it has that very cheap-looking plastic stuff. I would like to go with a nice pine molding that is painted white. I picked up a book that describes how to tackle a job like this, but I still have a few questions that I thought I would post:

1. I am pretty sure that the interior walls in the condo use metal framing. How is molding (or anything else for that matter) nailed into metal framing??

1. Because the floors are concrete covered in laminate, I notice that floor along one of the longer walls in the great room is not perfectly straight, but tends to curve a little bit. Will it be possible to get wood molding to conform to a slight curve? Also, will white molding with darker walls tend to accentuate this curvature?

2. Is it preferable to add a shoe to the base, or not?

1. I was planning on tackling this job using nothing more than a mitre box, back saw and a hammer and nails. Does that sound reasonable? Its a small condo (800 sq ft), so its not a huge job.

2. One last question....there is a wall that divides the bedroom from the great room that does not go all the way to the ceiling (11 ft ceiling, wall is probably 8 ft). The wall is perfectly flat on top. It kinda looks unfinished as it is. I was thinking of adding a flat shelf along the top of the wall that is wider that the wall by about 1 inch on each side, and then puting some crown molding along both sides under the shelf. Does that sound like a reasonable idea? Are there better approaches that I should be considering?

Any insight or tips is REALLY appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks!

[Goedjn]

You could glue it up, but that means not being able to get it off again without destroying the sheetrock. Since you're going to paint it anyway, you could countersink screws, and just fill over the heads.

I think the traditional solution is to put wandering jew or some other cascading vine up there, to hide the top of the wall. Failing that, yes, some sort of capital would make it look better. Is it too far from the ceiling to put lights up there behind the molding, and bounce them off the ceiling?

[craig]

Actually, the lights idea is interesting. I will have to think about that.

Thanks for your > >1. I am pretty sure that the interior walls in the condo use metal

[frank megaweege]

I replaced most of the base molding and door trim in my house. I started with a miter box, hand saw, hammer and nails and plenty of good intentions. After the first couple of hours I gave up and found a power miter saw I could borrow. It was so much nicer. A couple of days later I bought a compressor and nail gun. Heaven. If your time and sanity are valuable to you then buy, borrow or rent these tools.

[Don Hard]

If your condo is molding, there must be a water leak. Mold can be harmful to your health. Call the building inspectors immediately.