# Doorways trim questions



## TrimNovice (Feb 9, 2013)

Hi,
I am a newby to trim. I have done crown molding, chair rail and base molding successfully in my previous house. Its been 6 years since we moved to our new house and I felt like it is time I did some trim work on the house as the builder did not do any, other than baseboards. When I started looking at the huge door passages we have to the main entrance in the foyer and the dining room, I am stuck with a dilemna. Here are the questions I had and I did not know who to turn to.
1. Should I trim both sides of the doorway with the same level of trim ? If not, what minimum trim is required without leaving it unfinished looking.
2. The wall on both the ends of the doorway is really narrow (7 1/2"). Do you think that I could possibly put in a molding there and have room for the crown molding topper on the molding. Please see attached image as to what I am planning on doing
3. Can somebody break down the peices I would need for building the molding shown in the image and help me out with selecting the molding pieces. Drawings would be highly useful
4. Also, I plan to do recessed boxes on the inside of the door jamb which has the 15 1/2 inch. would you recommend me doing the same on the narrower jamb of the main entrance (9" wide).

Your help is highly appreciated. I have attached the layout drawing of the foyer and the dining for your reference. Thanks in advance.


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## TrimNovice (Feb 9, 2013)

I have figured out most of the questions. The ones that I still dont have an answer to are
1. The clearance between the front casing (5 1/4" ) and the endge of the wall is only 3 1/2". If I use a crown molding of 5 1/2" the edge will extend out by 4 1/2 inches or so with a 45 angle. Is there a way to reduce the angle and still finish it off.
2. Can the opposite sides of the same wall have two different types of moldings. Is this done or will it look real odd ? 
I would really appreciate if somebody can respond to my queries. Thanks in advance.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

TrimNovice said:


> I have figured out most of the questions. The ones that I still dont have an answer to are
> 1. The clearance between the front casing (5 1/4" ) and the endge of the wall is only 3 1/2". If I use a crown molding of 5 1/2" the edge will extend out by 4 1/2 inches or so with a 45 angle. Is there a way to reduce the angle and still finish it off.
> 2. Can the opposite sides of the same wall have two different types of moldings. Is this done or will it look real odd ?
> I would really appreciate if somebody can respond to my queries. Thanks in advance.



#1. Don't know where on your drawing the 5¼" or 3½" areas are.

#2. Opposite sides can be trimmed differently. It's a line of sight thing. Two different rooms. Of course it would be nice if it all matched though.











 







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## TrimNovice (Feb 9, 2013)

Thanks for your response. I am planning on using fluted 5 1/4 " casing at the dining and foyer entrances. Using a 1" thick jamb, the space available for the casing and the crown molding jutting out would be 8 1/2" (currently shown in the drawing as 7 3/4" and 7 1/2").


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

The measurement for the miter return is equivalent to the projection of the molding, this will depend on what molding you want to use. To gain space, you can use side casings that are less wide. You can figure all of this by drawing it out on something to full size. Changing the angle won't return 90 degrees in a straight miter cut. You can use the sum of 90 to turn a corner but it gives a different look without much space savings but maybe enough in your case.

In normal houses, there isn't a lot of additional space to the sides of doors unless it has been planned for wide trim and that often means wider hallways and doors moved out from corners as they go into rooms. 

When drawing the full scale layout, start with the available space and work backwards from that. The mitered returns on the top head casing have to fit in that space. Work from that back to the width of the side casings. The larger the crown molding, the more projection. You can still get the look with smaller crown, which will save space.

Here are some options for cutting mitered returns, the 22.5 degree cuts on the green molding will save a little compared to a 45.


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## TrimNovice (Feb 9, 2013)

This is wonderful. Thanks for the idea. Can I trouble you for some detailed photos of some built up cornices (head pieces) which would look grand, but would not require lot of space in the sides. Please bear with me as i a really new to this and am just learning. If you dont have photos with you, it would be great if you can point me to any online resources which show enough detail helping me to build up the cornices. Thanks. Also, what are good places to purchase the specific moldings online/or retail business. Home depot has very basic stuff and a local supplier also has very limited type of moldings.


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## Hammer1 (Aug 1, 2010)

In some cases this type of trim is a custom job, meaning you make your own moldings. In other cases you can use a wide variety of ready made moldings. It's up to you what you like for a look and how much you want to spend. A lot of my pictures are on 35mm or slides and not on my computer but here are a couple ideas that may help.


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## TrimNovice (Feb 9, 2013)

This is very helpful. Thank you very much for your input.


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