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gap between outside edge of casing and wall

MarkVillalobos | Posted in Construction Techniques on May 4, 2012 12:57pm

I am rehabbing a building that I just bought and the previous owner hastily installed new casing around the windows such that there are pretty big gaps between the outside edges of the casing and the drywall.  How do I close this gap without taking off the casing and bashing the drywall/plaster or removing the casing and adding wood strips to the back?  There has to be a way since I had Feldco install some windows on another building and they left substantial gaps(1/4″) between the casing and the wall and I couldn’t imagine them doing this unless there is a common remedy.  On that building I used joint compound to fill the gaps but then I had to sand the area a million times and then paint.  I dont have the time or money to do this to 20 windows.  I have considered trying to fill the gaps with caulk but it looks awful and amateurish so that is not an option.  What is the best way to do this?  

Mark

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  1. calvin | May 04, 2012 06:10am | #1

    Mark

    no disrespect, but if you don't want to do what needs to be done to correct or mask the problem-there's not much to suggest.

    Redo the whole thing.

    Add fill strips to the back of the casing.

    Apply masking tape in a straight line on the drywall, straight back from the back edge of the casing.  Use urethane caulk (not easy, very hard to work with) to fill the void, peel the tape away leaving a straight line.

    Call a good carpenter.

    Call a good painter.

  2. DanH | May 04, 2012 07:25am | #2

    Gaps such as you describe are not uncommon in old, rehabbed buildings, since the window jambs were intended to serve as plaster stops, vs being sized for a precise 1/2" of drywall.

    In a house we rehabbed in Cedar Rapids we used a router to cut down some jambs to be flush with the drywall (while others required shims to bring them out to flush).  The other option is to add shims to the edge of the trim.

    But it's rare to get a perfect fit, especially with uneven walls or with narrow trim where you can't "cant" the trim slightly to meet the wall -- there are likely to be spots where there's a gap of 1/4" or so.  For those caulk is the answer if it's painted trim, though that's not a good solution for stained trim -- you pretty much just have to leave them.

  3. sapwood | May 04, 2012 11:11am | #3

    Probably an ugly solution... but easy

    Nail on a narrow strip of additional casing. Sort of like a shoe molding onto bast trim. I've never seen this done and there's probably a good reason for that. 

  4. calvin | May 05, 2012 07:42am | #4

    Hack method...............

    caulk 1/4" gaps....................

    ingenious method of turning poor laying  turn of the century (no, not this one) trim into looking good?

    Straight line masking and urethane caulk.

    1. IdahoDon | May 05, 2012 02:02pm | #6

      I've worked on a lot of old houses and I've caulked some wide gaps in existing work, and will do it again in the future, but normally it's for hack work from another guy that the clients are emotionally attached to, or that they are super proud of if they did it themselves.

      Unlike some finish carps who think any gaps in the trim means it's hack work, I think it's hack work because almost nobody puts in the time required to detail the wide filled gaps to the point they look good when painted. To get a good finish on the trim it takes a lot of screwing around with that 1/4" gap that's been filled, even with polyurethane caulk.   I've never seen or been able to produce a good base for finish on one coat of caulk of any kind - more often than not it turns into sand wood, scrub dust and crap from gap, prime, caulk, prime, caulk, prime, sand small bits of excess caulk off wood, caulk, prime, spot fill, prime. 

      That is not saving much time over popping the trim, gluing on a wood rip to fill the gap, sanding the edge and reinstalling it.   If there are 1/4" gaps there are probably also crappy reveals and sloppy corners so that needs to get fixed as well.  When some things are crap, there is normally other crap work to go along with it, so I'd bet that once the trim is pulled there is poor sealing/insulation around the window so I'd have to fix that as well.

      1. calvin | May 06, 2012 08:33am | #7

        Well, we probably are in agreement.........

        The goal is a good looking job.  Achieving it can be done in several ways. Sometimes the result of a thin wallet.

        1. IdahoDon | May 06, 2012 12:20pm | #8

          This post has brought back memories of the really uneven walls that I've run across over the years and I shouldn't be so hard on caulking to fill gaps, especially with the better products we have now.  I am reminded that installing base on uneven walls I'll let base float over depressed areas on purpose- sometimes 1/4" -  and good caulking is my prefered way of handling those gaps.

          Having said that, I dont' think we mentioned anywhere, that the caulking we're talking about isn't just running a finger down the joint with a big flared out shape, but using a good putty knife to get a flat surface with a sharp inside corner that looks like wood, not like a sloppy caulk joint. At least for me, once the caulking filling the gap looks flat then only then will I use a painters caulk to add a very small flair to smooth out the inside corner and match that normally added to trim. ....and when I mention priming I'm not talking about slopping on a thick latex primer with a brush, but spraying something like kills in a can or something similar from zinzer to simply even out the surface color so it's easy to see how much and where the next layer of caulking needs to go, and ultimately it's a relief when the primer looks smooth and even and ready for paint.

          1. kathyannreddeer | May 26, 2014 01:03pm | #15

            Products used?

            What filler and caulk are you recommending?

            thanks,

            kathy

  5. florida | May 05, 2012 09:18am | #5

    What's your goal in rehabbing? if you plan to flip or live there I'd pull it all off, add jamb extensions and reuse as much of the trim as I could. it really wouldn't take an experienced carpenter as long as you might imagine and would look good. The problem for you from a buyers perspective is that details count. If I'm looking at your house and see poor work on the window trim I'm going to assume that the work is poor where I can't see it. 

    It it's going to be a inexpensive rental I'd break out the caulk gun and tape and caulk the gaps.

  6. MarkVillalobos | May 06, 2012 11:45pm | #9

    For this building there are short and long term goals.  In the short term, the building needs to be ready and welcoming for renters,long term I want to respect the age of the building (built less than a decade after the chicago fire) and eventually restore as many of the period details as I can.  Right now I just want to fill the gaps to cut down on the draftiness without spending all my time on one facet of the rehab and without it looking too much like a quick-landlord-fix.  The previous owner didn't really think when trimming out the windows: he used flat stock instead of actual casing (so the pieces have no relief cut in the back to make them hug the walls better); he didn't caulk any of the joints between the window stops, stools, and casing; and he used knotty pine so the knots will probably bleed through any paint unless I first seal them with shellac.  

    I guess I 'll just try to do my best with the caulk and tackle one room at a time when I have the resources to replace all of it with period correct trim.  

    thanks

    Mark     

    1. calvin | May 07, 2012 05:15am | #10

      With this added info...........

      You could fabricate a back band trim that will make up that gap difference.  You might get lucky and find something already made that would have a deep enough return to hit the wall.

    2. DanH | May 07, 2012 07:51am | #11

      If you want to cut drafts you need to pull the trim and foam the space between window and framing.  The trim should not be expected to do this job.

      1. IdahoDon | May 07, 2012 10:51am | #12

        Poorly installed knotty pine that leaks air like a sieve?!  No way would I spend time saving that stuff - pull it off, seal the window and even if you used cheap mdf trim you'd be better off.

  7. alstevens | Mar 29, 2014 03:29pm | #13

    adding a shoe moulding sounds great, i think it would look good

    great work. great advise.

  8. DoRight | Mar 29, 2014 07:54pm | #14

    Grout?

    I once saw grout used to fill a gap behind a STAINED chair rail.  It look great!  Not sure if it was sanded grout or no..  For some reason I think it looked better than chaulk.

    Anyone seen this done?  Thoughts?  Pros / Cons?

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