Base board / mouldings

[b_m_hart]

Working away at my kitchen remodel, slowly but surely.  I'm trying to figure out just how to get my base board trim / chair rail mouldings to match up nicely.  NOTHING in the place is square, and things "move" at weird points.

My question is, given a generally "wonky" area to put up trim moulding, what's the best way to handle it?  Find the one piece that's level / square / (the "best"?), nail it in place, and work from it as a reference?  Or is there a better way to handle it?  Any / all advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Eli]

Can you work off windows and door frames? Failing finding anything that's actually level, I usually go for what looks good by eye. Whatever you do, be consistent.

Lasers or chalklines help a lot.

 

[dirtydeeds]

b_m

second fix (trim) carpenters work on the basis that there is no such thing on this planet as

a square corner, a straight line or a level floor/ceiling, nor are any walls vertical

and there is no such thing as a 45 degree mitre, essentially you are working in 3 dimensions

trim carpentry is the art of tricking the eye into seeing straight lines and square corners where they dont exist

in a kitchen the SINGLE most important thing is that the worktop (countertop) is horizontal the whole way round the room

the wall cabinets must be paralell to this and the bottom of the base units (by default) are paralell

i worked in an old farmhouse kitchen where the floor sloped (unevenly) a total of 6 inches

settlement and various extensions over 400 years had taken its toll

i very nearly learnt an expensive lesson

all undermounted kitchen appliances, wine coolers, small washing machines, dryers and small fridges are designed to fit under standard countertops (here the top is generally 930mm) above floor

do not forget this when designing a kitchen in such a place, your appliances might not fit

what you are aiming for is that the main working area (hob, food prep, undermounted ovens, sinks and diswashers) are at the standard working height

the rest of everything else in a kitchen (as in all trim carpentry) is done by eye

there is only ONE real exception in trim carpentry

door linings must be vertical and the heads horizontal, you scribe the bottom of the door to match the floor

HOWEVER if the building is listed/historic in some way or in a special conservation area

in which case you have to deal with out of square door linings

in this case the door is cut to suit the lining, regardless

 

[Tinker]

I was never a carpenter other than to help out friends or other contractors during the slow winter months.
As a mason contractor who was often called on to work in very old houses, i often ran into situations where you just threw away your levels, plumb bobs, squares and anything else used in general layouts except my folding rule.  One learned how to make it look right.  With stonework, it was not much problem.  you just nibbled away on each stone until it looked right.  Brick work, you worked the joints.  a hair thick on one end and a hair thin on the other end.  We had brick rules that we used for coursing.  One end might be at #8 (mortar joint thickness) and the other end might work out with a #6.  When you got to hearth height/or ceiling height, depending on situation, you would end up level if you worked your coursing right.

One time, I was working on a new house (under construction).  the raised hearth of the fireplace was to be about 12 feet across.  There was to be an 8" brick facing for the fireplace with a prefab wood mantel surrounding.  When I started laying out, i discovered the floor was 1-1/2 inches out of level from one end of the hearth to the other.  I figured out my coursing so the top of the fireplace would be dead level (almost  I actually was only able to get it to 1/8" inch out of level at the top. I could not fake it any other way, as the walls were nearly plumb. How they got the corners to work out, i never tied to figure.  The house already had sheetrock on walls and roof on the top. I forget what level I had the hearth coursed out to.  It was impossible to get it level, but i managed to get everything close enough that there would not be any altering of the mantel other than the 1/4 round molding placement along the bottom.  As i was finishing up the face brick work, the developer walked in and told me the hearth was out of level.

"The top of the face is out by 1/8" as well" I told him

Tear it down and start over.

Aw, Come on.  Are you really going to make me tear it down.  It looks fine and when your carpenters finish with the mantle, nobody will know the difference.

I need perfection.

Well, we have two alternatives

What are those

Tear down the house first, or call the building movers to raise one end

Are you crazy

I little. But so are you.  your carpenters have the floor two inches out of level from one side of the room to the other.

He turned a little purple, but decided to let it go.

That was one of the very minor problems i ran into with that builder.  The next job he asked me to look at, the foundations were 4 ft off from the plans and he wanted me to build a four fireplace chimney on the concrete floor without drilling inspection holes to exactly locate his footings.  I had had enough and walked off the project when he would not allow for my inspection.

As far as the visual stuff, with a good eye (artistic eye) you can make it look great. i used to thrive on such chalenges
Tinker