Does anybody have a written spec. that was used in their builder's contract, that fully describes your interior trim? Or did you use a drawing?

My window and door casing is all 1 1/6" thick. The baseboard is less than that, but I'm not sure how thick it is.

My guess from that pic is a 3/4" overhang, but could be less. Why don't you try doing some scale drawings to help see what looks right to you?

Pinktoes - Did you have any luck with your trim? I am after teh same Susanka look and struggling with how to explain what I want to the carpenter. Any suggestions on where you ended up with yours? Thanks.

My building supplier found a trim that fits the prairie style nicely. It is made already, rather than made on site. If you click my link, you will see a photo of it. I didn't get the specifics on the product, but did decide to go with it. If you are interested, I could get the details from my supplier.

On another note, are you going to use a headband like Susan talks about in her books? We are going to use it and decided on a 3-1/4" width. It was difficult to decide where to place it on the wall, but we went with the lowest opening and sorted out what looked good from that.

Here is a link that might be useful: Window trim

moissy: I got tons of info, pics, and a guy actually used Sketchup to draw an example for me. All that on one of the pro boards elsewhere. What I decided on, in collaboration with that group who has a lot of experience with period style trim, is for door and window side casings to use 1 x 4 stock (actual dimension 3/4 inch thick x 3 1/2" wide. Then top casings of 5/4 x 6" stock (actual dimensions 1" thick x 5 1/2" wide. Top casing extending 1/2" out to the sides beyond where the side casing ends. The latter detail DH and I decided only after actually placing boards in various configurations to see what we liked.

The use of 5/4 stock for the top casings results in a slight reveal where the side casings join. That 1/4" difference in thickness is just enough.

The window casings also will have a stool under the windows. It is 5/4 stock and each end projects 1/2 " beyond the side casings. Stool is 1" high. Below the stool is an apron of 1 x 4 stock (actual sidth 3 1/2").

All are butt joints. We're doing a more contemporary look in the house. If we were replicating a period style we'd probably make everything wider. No headbands. Our ceilings are only 9 feet (8 in kitchen) and we don't want to stop the eye below that. It's all to be natural wood, probably maple, no stain, just lacquered. Very, very simple.

Finally, we've figured it out. That was a night and a day!

Minnt - Thanks for the info. It's great that you were able to get something already partially assembled. Saved time, I'm sure. thanks for offering to get me the info. I think we are set here in that hubby's friend is a trim carpenter and can do this kind of thing thankfully. I don't think we are going to do the headband.

Pinktoes -- Thanks for the specs. We have a similar house to you - mainly contemporary and 9' ceilings. I had originally planned on painting trim white and just got this idea about the Susanka trim and staining and totally reversed myself. DH is happy - he loves the real wood and we have been trying to calculate overhang and reveal. Your info is so helpful. We had lunch today at a restaurant in an old house that had butt joint trim and I was up and walking through the place trying to look at headboards, baseboards, etc. Can you say obsessed?? ;.) What are you doing for your baseboard?

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!!

moissy: you wouldn't like my baseboard; no one does but us. We're old; getting older and more tired by the minute, and I do and plan to do the housekeeping. So, I want EZ to clean. I read a couple of books by professional housekeepers and they recommended a clamshell profile on the baseboards; it sheds dust at the top edge.

So, keeping it modern and holding down costs, we'll use stock trimboard 1 x 4's. They'll get narrowed by the reduction for routing down the clamshell profile. Probably ends up at the 3 3/4" width, same as you see in most modern or midrange spec houses. (Although, if you want really contemporary, I'm seeing 2-inch wide or NO baseboards!) It gets the derogatory name "ranch casing" too. We also considered a simple quarter-round-over profile, and might still do that, depending on how the side casings of the doors sit against the clamshell baseboards when we get our hands on that and can see it.

On the advice of some of the pro woodworkers I got Robert Lang's book "Shop Drawings for Craftsman Interior: Cabinets, Moldings & Built-Ins For Every Room In the Home." (from amazon.com) He shows baseboards in the 5 to 6 inch range, and taller, of course, for that era. Profiles are hard to describe, but some look similar to traditional Colonial ones. In one of Susanka's books she showed a new Craftsman style bungalow with baseboards 7 1/4".

Get a short ruler to carry in your purse for making those casual, discreet measurements. I've gotten flagrant in places other than confined public places. I carry a 25" long retracting measure also. Whip it out, and say, "I love your xyz. Would you mind terribly if I measured it?" People (other than architects who think you're stealing their creative ideas) are flattered. LOL!

I never give a thought to the thickness of the interior trim till it's time to order it. It's not like there's a lack of space for it to fit.

Width is another matter. On all openings that may be tight, I try and provide room for the trim by adjusting the plan on-site. I've seen too many mangled trim jobs that existed only because the builder/designer never thought that far ahead.

Pinktoes - You are cracking me up. DH and I are also building for the Golden Years -- everything is wheelchair friendly and one-story. So low cleaning is right up my alley. When I went to visit a sawmill and see what profiles were available, there were only two that I considered. One was the quarter-round and the other was RANCH! Everything else was too curvy for me. Can't thank you enough for sharing your research!!!

moissy: you're welcome. Good luck!

PinkToes? Are you still out there?

I am greatly intrigued by your research on professional housekeepers to ease the cleaning in your own home. Do you happen to remember the titles, authors or anything that might lead me to similar research? I never thought of looking at building from that direction - wonderful idea!!!