Moldings

[Harlan Messinger]

I'm replacing the narrow, plain casings on a couple of bedroom doors with wider, contoured ones. The replacements came primed, but it looks like they need another coat because scuffing reveals some of the wood underneath. I've got questions, if any of you can help!

1. I'm trying to decide the order in which to paint and hang the moldings. If I paint first and then hang, I figure I'll have to fill in over the nails with with wood filler, then spot prime, then spot paint. Will all the follow-up spot painting stand out? Or I can hang them as is and prime and paint them on the wall. I'm also thinking that if I paint first, then when I get them on the wall, unless the edges of the molding are absolutely flush there'll be a noticeable gap between the wall paint and the molding paint (which are different colors).

1. I noticed that the old moldings were held in place by both finishing nails (into the drywall) and staples (into the wood framing). Is that necessary? Can I use nails in both? I don't know how to countersink staples. I wasn't planning on the expense of renting either a nail gun or a staple gun.

2. I found metal wafers inserted into slots in the corners to join adjacent moldings. Is that necessary?

1. Am I likely to need to apply caulk either between the moldings or along their edges? If so, then does that make "paint after" the answer to question 1 above?

[Eric in North TX]

Damned if you do Damned if you don't, if you paint first you always put flaws in the paint assembling, if you paint afterwards you always get some on the adjacent paint, it even creeps under masking tape.

You can do the corners with nails, but splitting is a risk, you normally have to do something, as the miter can be perfect but there will be misalignment on the line of the face.

See 2, you have to do something if you want the face of it to be even.

If the chalk is a paint able sort, then it still is either or, if it is a color that is ok to show and it will stay that color, it will be done last and again; see 1

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Either can work, but painting first is usually the fastes adn least messy. The touch up won't show and yes, they will have to be touched up. Still better than cutting in 40' of molding though, IMO.

Nails works. Staples are OK if you have a gun, but not necessary. You may want to consider buying a smal pancake compressor and gun though. You'll be amazed at how often you can use a small compressor around the house. Porter Cable has some kits. While I despise cheap tools, I'm told the Harbor Freight nail guns are quite good for the money.

No, but they do work. You don't want to nail too close to the edge or you can split the wood.

IMO, caulk is a cover-up for a poor trim job. Take your time and do it right. Assume that your corners are not perfect 90 degrees.

[Phisherman]

Here's what I did. Primed the bare wood moldings then painted them on all sides. It's much easier/faster to paint them off the wall. Then I installed the molding, filled the nail holes with glazing compound, caulked, then painted the entire molding again. You will need to wait

2-6 hours for the caulk to cure before painting. It's very time-consuming painting the molding adjacent to another color wall. I've never used staples. Biscuits or plates are not necessary, but they do help keep the corners in alignment. You can get the same effect by cross nailing.