# Moisture content of baseboards



## thermanson (Jun 29, 2010)

I am a DIYer fixing up a home we are plan on living at for 20 years or more. I am putting in new baseboard through out the house. I do not want to use stock molding and have decided to make my own by routing some simple, clean angles. 

I am pretty skilled with a saw and my angles are good, however I'm concerned about installing trim in the summertime as it is fairly humid here in Wisconsin. What can I do to ensure that my joints will stay tight for years to come? Most of my walls are broken up with registers/cold air returns so I don't really have any long runs that will require joining multiple boards. I'm really just concerned about butting up to the door jams. 

For all the door trim I used poplar and finished them last winter. Now poplar has gotten quite a bit more expensive. Can I use aspen instead? Will aspen route well? The trim will all be painted when finished.

Thanks for any help


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Aspen routs OK. Long runs of moulding don't usually have movement in their length. Since you are painting, you could prime most of the wood. For connective joints use scarf joints and where they butt to door casing make them fit. When you're done, just caulk any gaps and then touch up with paint.


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## buchhakj (Jul 7, 2010)

wood expands across grain not with it, so length shouldn't be a problem. like stated above since your painting it your have alot more ways to conceal spaces and mistakes.


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## Just Bill (Dec 29, 2008)

To address the main question, moisture. Once you have the milled product, leave it in the rooms where it will be installed for several weeks. It will acclimate to that room.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

Just Bill said:


> To address the main question, moisture. Once you have the milled product, leave it in the rooms where it will be installed for several weeks. It will acclimate to that room.


As per Just Bill, but if you have access to a moisture meter you can check the wood in the rooms where the trim is going to be applied, and once the trim pieces match the surrounding wood you should have no problems. In theory, they will expand and contract at the same rates. There will be some variance for different wood species.

Gerry


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

As stated above, wood expands along the width. Therefore moisture is not a problem for your specific project.

Just lay in the molding and do not worry about moisture content or letting the wood "acclimate" for any period of time.

G


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

GeorgeC said:


> As stated above, wood expands along the width. Therefore moisture is not a problem for your specific project.
> 
> Just lay in the molding and do not worry about moisture content or letting the wood "acclimate" for any period of time.
> 
> G



I don't think he's too worried about the moisture content. The thread is over a week old and he hasn't responded.


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## thermanson (Jun 29, 2010)

Thanks for all the advice. I have been monitoring this thread and you're replies have been invaluable.


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## woody woodturner (Jul 9, 2010)

you must seal both sides of the timber if you dont you will know what a boomerang looks like first hand


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## dmiller (Oct 19, 2011)

*trim, Humidity and cope*

Consider,

I live in the wet part of AR I perfinished and coped the corners when we built our houes 30 years ago. My trim is either ash air dried in OK and/or native AR cypress.

Prime the back side of the trim, cope the corners and finish in place. 

Dr. Dee


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