How to Work with Interior Wall Trim and Molding

Whether in kit or strip form, decorative molding provides a trouble-free way to revamp a door or walls, or add a final touch of style to other surfaces around the home.

Walk into most DIY or large hardware stores and you find a wonderful array of attractive strip molding. Simple to apply, wooden moldings can transform an uninteresting door, plain wall or inexpensive piece of furniture into something really special.

Molding for paneling standard-sized doors is also available in kit form. The pre-formed panels come in a choice of sizes and styles, for example, Georgian or Victoria. All you have to do is attach the pre-assemble panels to the door with self-adhesive fixing tape of pins and glue.

Look out for small panel kits too; the panels can be used singly, in pairs or in groups to create a paneled effect on interior walls, bath surrounds, kitchen units and cupboards. You can also find panel kits with curved top sections which look very stylish.

Add molding as an attractive trim to shelf edges, or make up your own creative finishing touches for plain wooden furniture, fireplace surrounds or stair strings. You can add character and interest to featureless surfaces such as flush modern doors or built-in wardrobes.

Strip moldings in a variety of widths and shapes are sold mainly by the meter, though hardwoods are usually available in pre-cut lengths. Various types of wood are used; the most common and the least expensive is pine, which is ideal for a painted finish.

Most moldings are left unfinished, giving you the choice of varnishing, staining or painting them. If you are going to paint them, any knots in the wood must be treated with knotting, availing from hardware stores. It is easier to pain or stain the molding before it is fixed in place, unless you are giving it the same treatment as the surrounding surface.

You can attach strip molding in one of three ways, depending on its size, weight and the surface to which it is being fixed.

Contact adhesive on its own is adequate for fixing short lengths of thin strip molding or where using pins or nails may be difficult, for example, on hollow hardboard covered doors. The bond is instant, so make sure you position accurately.

A pinning and gluing method is usually best for fixing molding to woodwork. Use PVA woodworking adhesive and panel pins, which won’t show when in place. Choose pins that are twice as long and the molding is thick. Position the pins over the thinnest part of the molding and use a nail punch to drive in the heads below the surface. Put the punch over the pin head and strike the punch lightly with a hammer.

Hardened steel wall pins or oval masonry nails are best for fixing molding to solid walls. On hollow walls, nail into the studs (the framework within the hollow wall); knock on the wall and listen for a less hollow tone to find the stud.

To prevent splits in the wood when hammering in pins or nails, start the hole with a bradawl.

If you’d like to do a lot of paneling, or you can’t find a kit in the panel size you want, making your own panels from decorative moldings is a simple and satisfying task. For the best effects on a wall, fix the top strip of a large panel at picture rail height and the lower strip at dado rail height (about waist height).

The key to professional looking paneling is mitering the strips to a neat 45 degree angle to make the corners. To help you do this, use a miter box which is especially designed for this purpose; it has pre-cut angled slots in its sides which guide the saw, ensuring that you get a perfectly angled cut. If your first attempts are less than perfect, you can always fill any gaps with wood filler.

You will need:
Metal rule
Large sheet of paper
Pencil, scissors, masking tape
Plumb line and spirit level
Strip molding
Miter box and tenon saw
Flat piece of scrap wood
Sandpaper
Paint or other finish for molding
Fixing materials

1. Marking the position. Draw the precise panel shape you want on to paper. Cut out and tape it in place, using a plumb line and spirit level for accurate positioning. Stand back to gauge the effect before marking the position.

2. Calculating amounts. Measure all round the panel shape and add extra for wastage. If you are buying molding in pre-cut lengths, check that the joins will not occur in the middle of a panel piece. If necessary buy extra.

3. Measuring and marking. Measure one side of the panel and mark measurements on to the external edges of molding. Anchor miter box on a flat surface and lay scrap wood in the base. Put the molding flat side down on the scrap wood, lining up the mark with one of the slots in the miter box, making sure that the cut is angled in the right direction.

4. Cutting the first miter. Line up marking against the right hand slot of the miter box. With the molding held securely in place, saw firmly through the molding into the scrap wood beneath.

5. Cutting the second miter. Line up the marking against the left hand slot on the miter box and saw cleanly.

6. Making up the panel. Paint, stain or varnish the panel and leave to dry. Butting mitered corners closely, fix molding in place. If necessary use a little wood filler at corners.

If you don’t have a miter box and still want to put up a decorative panel made for strips of molding, look in hardware stores for decorative wooden blocks. Position the blocks at the corners, and butt the straight-cut lengths of molding against the edges. Look out for decorative carved molding to compliment the corner blocks.

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