Trim is never Square

Cowead

Hey I have a gerat question here I have a New Dewalt DW718 Miter Saw and when I use a Square to check the blade its straight when I check my Piece its Straight but when I go to install my trim its always off Now this is an 1890 home and I guess Where I am having problems is my baseboard trim on the corners its like the walls aren't level because its always tight on the bottom and gaped on the top or vice versa now my walls aren't exactly level on some spots and i think its because its on a new foundation and its settled and well its 120yrs old so what can I do to help ease this problem and having to putty every damn corner?

mae-ling

Because of mud build up no corner is truly 90,

Cowead

Ok so how do i Get my trim to look nice?

Daniel Holzman

If you want your trim to match the actual angles in your house, you need to measure the actual angles in your house, and construct your trim to match. So if you have a 92 degree angle, you build your trim to 92 degrees. You can measure the actual angle using a protractor, or you can use a sliding bevel gage (that is probably what most people do) and match your miter saw to the actual angle.

The other thing you can do is to prefabricate the trim by gluing/nailing the individual pieces together, then install the trim as a unit. This avoids gaps in the corners, but of course you have to make the measurements very carefully in order for this to work. You may want to purchase a book on trim carpentry, it will show you techniques for measuring, marking, and transferring to your saw.

joecaption

All good ideas, a simple way if you just do not want to stop and buy the right tool is to just use a couple of scrape pieces to test the fit before cutting the real trim.
I use a Starret 505-7, it tells me the exact angle to cut both pieces.
If you doing baseboards, you are coping the inside corner joints, right.

Cowead

NO I am not coping any corners I guess i have never been told to cope the corner and I have no Idea how to cope a corner lol

roasted

I had this happen with one particular room in my house. I have no idea if this is considered an acceptable solution or not, but I just ended up shoving some wood filler in the gap that was caused by the two pieces of trim not coming flush, let it dry, lightly hand sanded it down to make a nice smooth transition from one piece to another, and painted it. Looks perfect.

If this is going to be a more widespread issue than my one random example above that I ran into, measuring the corners as suggested above is likely going to be the easiest way to spend a teeny bit more time during the cut/prep stage to have the best possible finish in the long run.

joecaption

What type base are you installing? Got a picture?
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...trim&FORM=IGRE

Any trim with a roman ogee on it looks far better when it's coped, it hides the joint better and will not crack later and open up like a butt joint will.
If you just doing a flat trim I only make straight cuts and let one run past the other, never a 45.

roasted

With the trim I used, I had no choice but to use 45's, because otherwise the "one past the other" thing would look out of whack since the trim had a crown-like design in it.

joecaption

That's the type that's suppost to be coped.

joecaption

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...ners&FORM=VDRE

roasted

Ah, I see. I didn't fully understand what you meant at first. Even still, I didn't do that, but I'm quite happy with how things look.

mae-ling

to get the angles you can use 2 pieces of paper and tape them together in the corner, then fold in half to give you your angle.

or
Cut some baseboard say 12" long with different mitre's 43-45 etc. and test fit.

woodworkbykirk

for inside corners yes for outside corners still mitre them. im working on a house right now that a competitor did work on 4 years ago.. they butted the flat stock base at outside corners and it looks horrrible. any runs of base that have to be tied into are getting the old stuff removed so its properly installed. the end grain takes paint differently than the face. it will swell and be a rougher finish

notmrjohn

" 120yrs old" New houses aint so square neither.

For painted work caulk and filler. Some stained work too.

If you wanta show off craftsmanship, cut and test fit with scraps, cope all inside corners. That's why we got coping saws, Barlow knives, and sandpaper.. Dremel tool is handy too.

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