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I am working on a historic remodel of a 1930’s masonry and wood frame structure with a mix of plaster and drywall finishes. The project is in the finish stage, and the trim carpenters put me through the inquisition yesterday, trying to come up with a solution to the following problem:
The base trim is stained oak, a simple 5/8″ x 4 1/4″ profile, with a 3/4″ high base shoe and no cap. At studwalls with drywall finish, installation is no problem. However, many of the walls are either original masonry or new wood stud with a 2-coat plaster over stucco wire or wire lath (there are a lot of radius corners requiring 4-5 piece corners as well). I believe that the plaster contractor used cementitious plaster instead of the old-style gypsum plaster. In any case, the trim carpenters have tried every type of gun & nail available to attach the base, all with the same result – a curled-up little wad of metal; no penetration.
We discussed several options, including PL-400, and the final option was to try using light-weight Tapcon screws and prefinished wood plugs. I’n just curious what other options might come out of the vast pool of experience, from you trim aces out there!
We are finishing up drawings on the next project, which is a nearly identical building and will have many of the same problems.
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Hi Richard
Glue and screw a wooden (1/4 ply.)nailing strip around the perimeter of the rooms. Route out the required profile from the new base and glue it on.
Gabe
*Richard,I have a similar project involving trim in a conference room; one wall is cmu with plaster veneer. We will be installing a 2-piece built crown molding and new base-all in poplar. We will be installing by drilling 1/4" holes, inserting wood dowels w/construction adhesive, then nailing the trim into the wood dowels. We have done this on other projects with good results... hope this helps. Good luck!
*Richard,It's too late now, but next time have the carpenters install wood grounds (strips of wood behind where the base goes) before the plaster. The plasterer uses these as screeds to get an even plaster line at the base line.I like Gabe's idea about installing a substrate to the wall and then laminating the finished material to that. However, that means more time involved. If you can get your substrate thick enough, you may be able to shoot on the finished wood. With a 5/8" finished base and no cap, that may be hard to do. You would need at least a 1/2" substrate which gives you only a 1/8" veneer.A good painter may be able to hide the trim head screw holes good enough without having to use plugs. But then maybe not.Anyway, next time use plaster grounds.Good luck,Ed. Williams
*Hi Ed, hope things are good in the medium state of Texas.The reason we glue onto a substrate is because we sometimes do restoration work on estates and nails are a no no. We attach all of our trim, crown moldings and baseboards without any nails or the subsequent plugs.All trim is milled to "cap" these strips of plywood, corners are biscuit jointed and assembled prior to attaching to the walls.Different jobs call for different methods of attachment. Other projects that we do require pneumatic nailing and plastic wood fillers.best wishes,Gabe
*If you still want to use screws, try McFeely's Square Drive (they have a website, although I'm not sure of the address). They make square dirve trim screws with a tiny head you can fill like nailholes. Give them a try if you'd like.
*An old method I've seen in the UK in several houses of pre-1850-1900 vintage for attaching skirting board without visible fixings (baseboard is the US term, yes?) is to use slot screws, and knock the boards down into place. The screws go into a timber ground as others have described. And in this case most of the skirting boards are pretty fancy, about 300mm+ tall, and built up in sections. Pretty hard work to get right I imagine. Just a thought. Sliante.
*Gabe,All is fine here. Hot already, but medium. (Soon to be "Well Done")Hope that the Canadian summer passes you well.Is there an adhesive that y'all use that sets up quicker than regular panel adhesive? It seems that the regular stuff needs to be pressed into place for a period of time before we can let it go. I've never had to deal with this situation, but probably will before my life is said and done. It seems that with long runs of base and crown, I am at a loss as to how to hold them in place while the glue sets up.What's the trick?Ed.
*Hi Ed,Don't tell anyone the secret but we use contact cement.Weather great, lost 2 hours of working time in 3 weeks due to rain.Project 1 week ahead of schedule as a result.Gabe
*b TVMDCI used Hot Stuff CA (Cyanoacrylate Adhesive). They have several viscosities including Gap Filling which I used for a ton of curved base and rounded corners. With the "Kicker" spray, it sets up mighty fast. Really good at glueing your fingers together, too!
*one of the old tricks we used was to drill a 3/4 to 1 inch hole and drive in a bung.. say every 16 inch OCthen we cud use regular finish nails into the bungs..we also had a lot of luck with the contact cement...
*Contact...........excellent.Thanks,Ed.
*Bill,What's "Kicker" spray?Ed. Williams
*b TVMDCEd,Zip Kicker is a blend of Aliphatic Solvents and Amines which accelerate the cure of CA's. Normally I put the CA on one surface and spray the other. Sets up in under a minute.
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I am working on a historic remodel of a 1930's masonry and wood frame structure with a mix of plaster and drywall finishes. The project is in the finish stage, and the trim carpenters put me through the inquisition yesterday, trying to come up with a solution to the following problem:
The base trim is stained oak, a simple 5/8" x 4 1/4" profile, with a 3/4" high base shoe and no cap. At studwalls with drywall finish, installation is no problem. However, many of the walls are either original masonry or new wood stud with a 2-coat plaster over stucco wire or wire lath (there are a lot of radius corners requiring 4-5 piece corners as well). I believe that the plaster contractor used cementitious plaster instead of the old-style gypsum plaster. In any case, the trim carpenters have tried every type of gun & nail available to attach the base, all with the same result - a curled-up little wad of metal; no penetration.
We discussed several options, including PL-400, and the final option was to try using light-weight Tapcon screws and prefinished wood plugs. I'n just curious what other options might come out of the vast pool of experience, from you trim aces out there!
We are finishing up drawings on the next project, which is a nearly identical building and will have many of the same problems.