# Door & Window Trim / Casing Overhaul Help



## lohryx5

Currently doing a number of renovations in our house...everything was original to when it was built in '84 and needs serious updating. We've worked our way through most of the downstairs, and now it's time for me to move on to the door and window trim.

My walls are 8' high, except for the living room which has a high vaulted ceiling (18' wedge shape). I'm going with 5 1/4" baseboards like what I put in the half-bath I finished and it looks great.

I've posted some pictures below of the current trim. Whoever installed it didn't miter the corners enough to fully close any gaps and the paint job looks horrible. I'm pretty sure the trim was previously stained with a coat of poly like all of the trim upstairs before they painted most of it white. Additionally, no caulk was used on any of the trim and some of the door and window do not appear to be flush with the drywall, forcing the trim to not sit completely flat. All of the trim is 2 1/4", except for the back door which, for whatever reason, they used 3 1/4" and poorly notched around the fireplace mantel.

Anyway, I want to go with a nice, white Craftsman style (or is it Arts & Crafts) door and window trim. I'm just having some trouble determining the proper dimensions because most of my doors and a couple windows are located in odd places, often close to a corner or up against the fireplace mantel. I would like to go with 3 1/4" trim everywhere to maintain consistency. If I do so, I know I will have to replace all the window stools so that there would be a wide enough horn on both sides to accomodate the increase width of the side casings.

I know the trim for the doors and windows have to be the same or else the top edges will not be even and it might look odd. I also constructed and drywalled a passthrough between the living room and dining room that I would also like to trim out.

Should I just suck it up and stick with 2 1/4" or can I go with 3 1/4" and just trim where necessary for the stiles and headers to fit? Would it be a better idea to keep things simple and use flat stock maybe with a backband of some sort around the outside edges? Appreciate any and all input and advice.

Thanks,
John


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## lohryx5

Here are some pics of the new passthrough I built and some of the windows. Sorry for some of the poor lighting.


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## lohryx5

And here are some examples of the style we like.

None of these are my pictures.

By the way, I don't have to have plinth blocks at the bottom of the door trim, do I? I don't really like the way they look and prefer the straight, flat stiles. Basically, we just want a nice, clean look.


And here is a video that shows a pretty simple way of making this Craftsman style window trim (it's in 3 parts), and he also has a 3-part video for doors as well.


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## lohryx5

And just a handful more of inspiration examples.

A couple show flat time with a simple back band, and one with a roman ogee backband.


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## lohryx5

Does anybody have any advice or input? I'm still having trouble deciding what width I should go with for the door and window casings. I can't put the baseboards in until I at least figure out what I should do for the doors since the width of the casing will affect the baseboards. I'm still thinking the window casing width is going to dictate what I have to do for the doors. :icon_confused:

Appreciate any and all input. Thanks!


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## TimPa

the trim is going to be a combination of your personal preference, your skill level, equipment availability, and money. As you see, there is a multitude of trim styles and methods, wood species, etc. take more time studying them. 

you can see in the one example you could use narrower (2 1/4") for the vertical trim, and cap off with wider stock - saving your stools.

generally, whatever style you choose for the windows, use the same for the doors that are in the same room. looks better imo.


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## lohryx5

Thanks a lot for your response, TimPa. I hadn't even thought about using a wider frieze board to cap it. So basically something like the pics below (examples I've found online) where I could stay with 2 1/4" on the sides and then maybe 3 1/4" or so on top. That's a pretty good idea. I think you're right that I would have to use the same dimensions for the doors. Although 2 1/4" looks kinda puny for the doors, perhaps the wider cap will improve the overall look.

By the way, do you know what the standard dimensions are for casing with ceilings that are 8' tall? I've heard that casing should be about 50% of the baseboard height. Going with 5 1/4" for my baseboards would get me just over 2 1/2" for my casing, which is closer to 2 1/4" anyhow.


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## TimPa

I don't know of any standards, I trust my eyes to tell me what's pleasing. I would think you could go 1/2 - 3/4" wider on door casing and it be hardly noticeable, if you wanted.


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