That's what it's for, to protect edges that get a lot of abuse. A lot of the trim damage you might see today is because builders use pine instead of poplar.

Oak, stained and urethaned, suffers the least damage of commonly used woods. A bit pricey though.

I love nice trim and baseboards because it dresses up the house. Grew up with them because we lived in old New Orleans homes with 12 ft. ceilings and big baseboards and trim were the norm.

I grew up in a brand new post-WWII tract house built in 1949. We had "modern" trimwork: 3 3/4 inches wide. I have it in my existing no-particular-style tract house, built in 1989. It is wide enough to catch all the digs, protecting the sheetrock. Functionally, it's all you need. The rest depends on the style house you plan to build (contemporary styles don't generally have wide trim); what you like; and whether you want to spend a few extra bucks for trim.

Functionally, one thing to remember with wider trim around windows and doors is to make sure the plan allows space for it in corners. If not, the finish carpenter will have to cut it down to fit there, which can look odd and cost you $.

It's your house; you write the rules. You will, of course, consider resale.

I like big baseboards. I also like locating all the outlets (and other items like telephone, network, central vac) in the baseboards as it gives the wall a very clean look.

anthem, I've never heard of that. I've read that some people put their outlets and high on the wall so they are easy to access, rather than having to bend over. Do you have photo's of the outlets in the baseboard? It makes perfect sense especially if the baseboards and outlets match in color. Thanks for that tip.

We did 7 1/4" baseboards and 3 1/2" window/door trim. All painted white.

Here is a picture where the electric is in the baseboard. The blue masking tape is covering where the electrical outlet has been installed. This is before trim/wall has been painted. It's more work for the trim guys and you do need to have baseboard larger than the standard baseboard that you see these days - but its a very elegant and clean look.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1452155}}

Outlets in the baseboard were common in older period homes.Like a lot of homes these days, some of those values are being incorporated in builds and back to traditional practices.

Nice trim work,anthem!

Here, they stopped putting outlets in baseboards in the 1930s.

I like the vintage look. But I don't know if versimilitude is worth bending over that far!

C'mon Worthy, not being the sharpest twist drill in the index box, how about easing up on the $100.oo words and simplify for dummies like myself! What the heck is that v-word?

I don't work cheap!

Actually you should get your money back. If I remember correctly (since I've been corrected before for using that word), it isn't spelled the way that worthy spelled it. I think he's missing a letter in there :-).

Baseboard electric is no longer done anywhere near as often because the time it takes to zip out a hole in drywall is much less than it would take to route out something in the baseboard. The difference is pretty significant in time during the trimout phase.

The funny thing about 'vintage' is that yes it was something that was done in years gone past but not an era that we're really going to copy. Basically I mean, most houses we're looking at influences from Federal, Georgian, Colonial, Tudor, Victorian, or elsewhere (European, etc). However, electricity is a fairly recent discovery and didn't exist back in those days - so the similarity isn't to an era of architectural significance. .

Getting back to bending over. My take is how often does one actually plug into an outlet during a week ? it isn't very often in my experience. I prefer moving things to baseboard whenever possible. Unfortunately not all things can go there so there are still other wall penetrations (security, etc).

Have to disagree about architectural signifigance as my grandpas builds in east san diego always had base board receptacles with much hand carved woodwork and without concern for the time taken to notch out the trim.It was slow going in those days, but with the onslaught of indoor power,came a new revolution of incorporating these electrical outlets into the design of the build,meaning trim work.These were the days of solid wire/insulators/screw in fuses.

The difference between a craftsperson and an also ran is that the craftsperson is willing,(and gets paid for),to take the time to incorporate things like cutting receptacles into trim without being cry baby sallies about the time spent.Rare these days!

he's missing a letter in there :-)

Indeed. Little "i" ran away. But there's no "edit" function to put him back where he belongs. :-(

Late Victorian and Edwardian homes were often built with electricity as a standard feature. I am hoping to build one in a similar style; I was looking forward to putting in two button electrical switches. Now, I have to ponder receptacles in the baseboard too.

I took this photo of a period repro home going up not far from me. I mean to get in and see how faithful they are to details. (Also, post better pics.)

Everything Old is New Again

Awesome house,worthy. From past pics of your builds, you build a fine home.We have a builder friend who wants to get back into traditional repros.Those push button light switches were fine in their day. Haven't seen any in new work, but im sure someone out there is bringing them back.