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Remodeling Flooring Design Dilemma

Baseboard to Casings transition inquiry

6 years ago

Hello everyone, I have a question about my new home that is currently being remodeled, basically from the ground up. Last weekend our GC and his team installed our baseboards, but when we stopped by to inspect their work, we noticed the way they installed the baseboards and door casings looked a little funny. I cannot determine if this is the standard procedure for installing baseboards and casing. I have attached a few photos to show everyone what I mean.

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PRO

PPF.

6 years ago

I would have cut a piece out of the base creating a tongue to slide into and fill the gap.

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Comments (17)

hummingalong2
6 years ago
Did you chose that style of very plain baseboard?
Patrick T
Original Author
6 years ago
Yes, we did. Also, the size of the baseboard is 5.25" approximately and the casings are currently 3", but we expected them to be 2.5"
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User
6 years ago
What else could they do?
Patrick T
Original Author
6 years ago
We were thinking of having the casings cut to 2.5".
matthew wilhelm
6 years ago
they are using 1x3. 2 1/2 not standard casing. if you lost another 1/2 the gap to the wall would look odd. the door frame is just close to the wall thats all
Patrick T
Original Author
6 years ago
The problem is that the baseboard is hitting the casing. We were expecting it to lay flush.
cpiehl
6 years ago
I think the baseboard is supposed to lay to the side of casing instead of running into it
User
6 years ago
The problem is that the location of the door does not allow the size of the moldings that you want. It’s a design failure. You didn’t think it through before “upgrading”.

If you don’t get design help before remuddling the rest of the house, you are going to end up with even more design oops.
cpiehl
6 years ago
Can he just cut down the door casing to accommodate the baseboard?
cpiehl
6 years ago
Does the GC typically offer the correct measurements for improvements?
User
6 years ago
The GC does what the designer specified. In this case, you are attempting to act as the designer without the knowledge to do so. GC is hardware. Designer is software.

Hire a designer.
Chris D
6 years ago
Or, if this is situation only occurs in one or two locations, Just rip the casing down enough so the base board can terminate at the corner properly. Also, for being simply 1x stock, they don’t look flat against the wall.
palimpsest
6 years ago
The other option here would be to use casing that was a little wider and scribe it to fit the wall so there was no small gap at all, and the baseboard died into solid casing.

That gap will always be problematic. You won't be able to paint into it, and you will probably get cobwebs and other stuff in the gap, because insects will be attracted to it.
cpiehl
6 years ago
Yeah, we asked the GC for the measurements and he told us 3 for the casings, but the originals were 2.25. He told us not to worry about size of baseboard. Expensive mistake.
ms72
6 years ago
You could use plinth blocks at the bottom of the door(s) and have the casing and baseboard butt up against them. Make the blocks have enough of a "reveal" around the casing that they should eliminate the gap. This is really the only solution when the casing has a complex profile and would meet the baseboard at a corner, unless you have some way of cutting/routing the "negative" of the casing's profile.
Eric
6 years ago
Looks like bad install IMO. It would look much better if it was fit into the casing rather than just butted up with a gap, which they will surely fill with caulk. I’d inspect other parts of the trim work. Gaps in anything? A quality finish carpenter will make sure that it transitions best as possible. This is poor finish carpentry.

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