Trim Molding Types
Also see:Back Band: a small molding profiles often used to wrap the outside edge on door and window casings. These moldings have a rabbet cut along the back and can be used to trim edges in many applications including paneling and shelves.
Baseboard: a wide board installed between walls and flooring. Baseboards range from about 2½ inches up to 8 or 10 inches and should be chosen based on the size of a room and ceiling height using smaller pieces for average sized rooms and larger pieces for rooms with high ceilings.
Base Cap: a small molding profile used to trim the top of a baseboard. With many different profiles available these can also be used as accent moldings when building stacked trim for crown, chair rail and casing applications.
Base Shoe: a small, pliable molding used to cover the small gap between baseboards and floors. The pliable nature of the strips makes this molding useful for hiding irregular flooring.
Brick Mould: a thick molding of about 1½ x 2 inches used to trim the exterior on doors and windows. The thicker wood helps to blend the jambs with brick exteriors. These moldings are also handy for building combination crown moldings, adding dimension to the profile.
Bullnose: molding of various sizes with one rounded and one squared edge often used to trim tongue and groove flooring. This molding can also be used to build stacked trim profiles for chair rails and cornices
Casing: wide moldings installed along the sides and top of doors and windows to cover the rough edges of wallboard and jambs. Casings are the most visible trim in a room and can be a single piece cut with a decorative profile or built–up using 2 or more moldings in combination.
Cornice: also called crown, a cornice is used to trim the top of a wall or building exterior. This trim is often built–up using several pieces of molding in combination to create an elaborate profile.
Chair Rail: this molding is installed along the mid–point of a wall at about 32 inches from the floor to prevent wallboard damage from chair backs. These moldings come in one–piece designs like casings or they can be built using multiple pieces of trim.
Corbel: a large wood block that projects for a wall usually to support part of a building structure. Corbels can be plain or carved with elaborate profiles.
Cove Mould: this molding comes in various sizes and can be used for many applications including finishing inside corners on paneling, crown molding and to build stacked trim profiles.
Crown Molding: usually installed at the right angle between a wall and ceiling. Crown moldings can be self contained in one piece with multiple profiles cut in the same board or it can be built using several separate pieces of molding, sometimes creating a design that extends up to a foot or more onto walls and ceilings.
Dentil Molding: a thin strip of molding with regularly spaced rectangular cut–outs resembling a row of teeth. This molding is often used in combination with crown profiles in Neoclassical trim designs.
Finish Lumber: boards planed smooth on all four sides in thickness of ½ and ¾ inches and widths from 1 ½ to 11 ½ inches. These are commonly used to build baseboards and casings as well as for backer boards when building combination crown and chair rail moldings.
Lattice: small, flat strips of wood usually ¼ by 1¼ inches in size. These can be used for many applications.
Panel Mould: small moldings often used to build decorative frames on walls and ceilings. These are also well suited for building combination trim molding for crown, chair rails, baseboards and casings.
Picture Rail: small molding installed horizontally, several inches down from the ceiling and used to support hooks for hanging artwork.
Plinth Block: a rectangular block installed at the bottom of a door casing to blend it with baseboard moldings.
Stool: trim molding installed at the bottom of a window often called the sill.
Stop Bead: small strip moldings used at the stopping point for a swinging door. These can also be used as accents when building combination moldings for crown, chair rails and baseboards.
Wainscot: installed on the lower portion of a wall between a baseboard and chair rail. Wainscot can be built using bead board, raised panels or decorative frames.
Window Apron: the bottom trim on a window casing covering the gap between the wallboard and the sill joint.