Internal Mouldings - The Finishing Touch
21-03-2008 - Building Contractor - March - April 2008
At the entrance of the home the door frame trims catch an eye, then your eyes extend further as lighting gives contrasting shadows on furniture, ornaments and skirtings. From this moment on you now know what feel the home is going to have, federation, classic, or modern.
Internal mouldings are critical to a room as they not only hide cavities around doors and windows they dress a room, just like a lady with or without make up. Turn simple doorways into grand entrances. Make cramped rooms into free flowing spaces. Choose sleek lines for a contemporary feel or go decorative for a more elegant look. Designers these days are making internal moulding a feature as clever lighting is pushed onto them to create an overall framework for your home, therefore the quality of the painted finish of the moulding becomes more important.
A high ceiling lends itself to having bigger mouldings to maintain a balance as you would never notice a smaller or bland moulding. Also a smaller moulding on a large wall would not throw much of a shadow to offer contrast to the wall, as this is what many people are after with federation style homes. More modern contemporary home designs have opted for recessed ceiling which throw a shadow towards the outside edge of the rooms. Most home owners are just after a little detail as this is a low cost part of the home but it gives a personal touch.
Skirtings or base boards serve as a trim or finishing moulding where walls meet floors. Apart from adding a stylish visual look to your room, they protect walls from everyday wear and tear especially when children are involved.
Given the range of applications throughout a house, you need to understand what products are available. As you have ceiling trims, architraves, skirtings, base board's wet areas and high traffic areas, therefore product selection has become important.
What is needed from a moulding?
After talking to a few tradies it was quickly pointed out that die final painted finish of a moulding is most important as a happy home owner pays their bills, followed closely by ease of installation, this being good cutting properties, nail-ability and does not chip when rebated for hinges. Producers of moulding have strived to meet these requirements but most have fallen short one way or anodicr.
What's available on todays market?
The most common internal mouldings found in the today's market are, finger jointed Radiata pine, Meranti, Maple, Northern Fir, MDF and Australian Hardwoods.
Finger jointed Radiata pine has been around for many years and has been installed in many Aussie homes. Finger jointing offers long lengths which aid installation time as it limits joins in a room and the pine is drawn from plantation grown forests, which is great for the environment. The biggest down side to finger jointed product is that once painted up with the finish coat you can regularly see finger joints if light is reflecting off them. Pine is a softwood and maybe prone to damage in high traffic areas, also do not forget most finger jointed pine mouldings will need to be primed once installed adding to the time it take to complete the fit out.
Meranti, Maple and Australian hardwood have also been used for years but arc losing their popularity as their average lengths are becoming shorter due to the timber resource. Once installed they may be prone to some tannin bleed through the painted surface. This brings down the finished appearance of the moulding once painted as nobody want to see brown spots coming through the paint.
Medium density fibreboard (MDF) mouldings remain very popular especially as they are offered pre primed for quicker installation times and some brands offer moisture resistance. (Note you can purchase unprimed if required). Most MDF Mouldings come with guarantees that cover warping and splitting as they are made up of pulped wood fibre pressed back together. When installing MDF be careful of nail placement when you get to the end of the boards as they may split. Many home owners went away from MDF moulding once the media made all consumers aware of the formaldehyde levels in the adhesive used, this pushed manufacturers to create an eco friendly MDF which has been received well. When cutting MDF, ensure your blade is sharp and you cut through the face of the moulding to prevent it furring up.
Northern Fir is a relatively new species to enter the market in recent times. This Chinese grown plantation species has a natural resistance to termite attack which is excellent for the aussie homes. The northern fir mouldings were very interesting to investigate as various distributors offer different primer arrangements on the same substrate. The knotty northern fir substrate has been finger jointed and/or laminated to the required size and profiled to the desired shape. The profile shape is coated with gesso which is used to fill any hole and hide finger joints to give a smooth finish, the thickness may vary from brand to brand depending the parameters set, then primed and sanded and may also be buffed. From what I can understand the gesso is the most important part of these mouldings as this gives a smooth flat finish, but if it is too thick it may crack or cut as it sets hard.
When it comes to the installation of a moulding, contact your supplier and get your hands on the installation instructions especially if it is the first time using a specific moulding or if you have not used it for a while as the installation instructions may have been modified since your last use. And remember you can try before you buy if you arc not familiar with a product, just ask in store for a sample.
Most suppliers now have environmental policies to accompany their products, ensuring they minimise damage to the environment. These policies offer comfort to the home owner as they will know they are selecting the right product for the job.
What to investigate when looking for a moulding?
- Painted Finish
- Paint-ability
- Moisture resistant
- Fase installation
- Pre primed? What is the primer?
- Meets Australian standards
- Offers a profile the home owner wants?
- Environmental policy, Plantation grown?
- Manufacturing origin
- Lengths available
Building Contractor - March - April 2008