# Architrave mitres opening up??



## blakewil (Jan 17, 2010)

I recently completed a fixout for a home and when the painter got there, a few (3-4) of the architrave mitres had opened up about 1mm to 2mm. Enough to look abit dodgey. I glued and nailed the mitres. Does anyone know why this may have happend I'm thinking that the timber may have been a little bit moist. Any replys are appreciated.


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## Just Bill (Dec 29, 2008)

Assuming outside miter, if they were nailed/glued, they should stay tight. What kind of glue??


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## joesdad (Nov 1, 2007)

Definitely sounds like the wood dried out a lot. What kind of wood? I've trimmed windows and doors, had them painted and the miters remained stable until after the first change of season, and then have noticed some gapping, but not in the entire house. Sometimes the only offending miters were close to a fireplace, heating supply vent etc.


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## Julian the woodnut (Nov 5, 2008)

The inside corners of miters open up when the wood shrinks as it dries out in the dry winter months. I just went over to a job I did about 4 months ago and the door casing miters all opened up a bit on the inside corners. Luckily it was a painted job so after a quick touchup with some spackle and paint, it looked perfect. This lumber had been in the house for a month before installing so it had a chance to acclimate, but that didn't matter much I guess because the condo doesn't have a humidifier so it was as arid as a desert.


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## blakewil (Jan 17, 2010)

*Mitres*

The timber is Maple. I used a 'selleys' interior polyurethane glue. There were only three offending mitres in the house so it wasn't to bad because it was all painted finish however I was just curious to see why it may have happend. Thanks for all your replies.


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