The progress on the new front door continues. In my previous front door update, I’d mocked up a couple of images of what the trim might look like, including a few curves. We put a couple of pieces up there, taped out a few curves just to be sure, and rather than having just a touch of whimsy, the curves made the whole thing look affected; it became a parody of Disneyland, rather than just a subtle homage.
So we backed off and went with straight. We were initially going to do a straight joint across the top, but as I sat down to cut the joint I thought “why not?” and slapped a dovetail shape in there. I believe we’ve got enough slop in there to deal with grain expansion, but I do regret not insetting that a little bit more so that it doesn’t get lost in the joint on the side.
The wood is Brazilian Redwood, also known as Massaranduba, that we got from the surplus bin of a local high end deck lumberyard. The side rails for the porch will be made of the same materials.
When I was tearing off the old trim I had some reservations because of how far I thought this process could snowball, but my neighbor not only gave me encouragement, but delivered a ladder that fit the front space better, and a Sawzall, just in case I needed it. I didn’t, but that gave me the encouragement I needed to really get medieval on the trim.
Attachment was done with a Hitachi brad nailer (“Brad Nailer” sounds like an Owen Wilson character, doesn’t it?) that I borrowed from a friend, I have a little technique to learn, because I have to set two of ‘em manually, but wow that’s a different world from swingin’ a hammer by hand.
similar entry at my personal blog.
-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/
3 comments so far
MRTRIM
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743 posts in 5539 days
posted 05-14-2008 12:17 AM
looks good dan , them nailers are easy to get used too arnt they ? lol
Dan Lyke
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331 posts in 5539 days
posted 05-14-2008 12:47 AM
Yeah! I realize I’m only a decade or two behind the bleeding edge, but especially with hardwood it’s amazing how nice it is to have one trigger press and the nail’s in.
Even nicer ‘cause standing on the step stool up in that little cupola, hammering is really really loud. I foolishly didn’t wear my hearing protection when I was doing demolition, until my ears started ringing. We didn’t get to putting the trim up ‘til Sunday evening (I’m going to have to get a picture of this in twilight now), and I was okay with 20 pops from the nailer to get the project done, but in deference to my neighbors there’s no way I’d have started hammering that late.
Looking at the pictures reminds me I need to take another pass at the knots and figuring with a pore filler (and color it darker this time) before I get the rails in place.
-- Dan Lyke, Petaluma California, http://www.flutterby.net/
Kaitlyn
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66 posts in 519 days
posted 03-30-2022 06:02 PM
Thanks for sharing the concept and ideas on what to do with Front Door Trim. bentley oil change cost I have read the entire article where you have suggested the ideas for using the baseboard. It was amazing and interesting.