Corner Block
Adding classical style to the casing of a door or window, the corner block is easy to install and easy to look at
A corner block is a square piece of wood placed at the corner of vertical and horizontal trim pieces on a door or window. It can be plain or carved with an intricate design, and it makes the job of fitting the casing easy, because only straight end cuts are required. (The casing is the trim that covers the seams where door jambs, windows or wall openings are placed.)
This corner block is easy to see. The unpainted, square wood block in the corner has a circle detail carved in it. The casing is painted white and has fluted details carved in it that look like grooves.
At the turn of the century, corner blocks were used as a decorative element. They were often carved with bull's-eyes, flowers, rosettes, stars, shellfish or ripples.
Corner blocks are used on all the casings of this bedroom.
Casings replaced post and lintel construction, which was composed of large visible squared timbers that supported window and door openings. When stud walls began to be sheathed in plaster, casing became a necessary trim.
Corner blocks simplify casing installation, because only straight cuts and measurements are needed for the vertical and horizontal boards.
Sometimes the detail of the corner block is repeated at the plinth, which is the base of the door casing.
Using glue and a pneumatic nailer is the easiest way to install a corner block. This original corner block in the upper left adorns a room with raised panel doors and a fluted casing.
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