Hi,
We’re trying to decide a wood species and color for the base trim in a house we just bought. Right now its a builder special 3″ golden oak which in many places is not even nailed to the wall. The upstairs has oak floors and the down stairs had a maple with a dark finish installed right before we bought the place.
I’d like to keep the same trim throughout and I’ll be making it all myself. Is there a rule of thumb about the base being darker or ligher or the same as the floor? What is an inexpensive species that takes stain well (ash, alder, soft maple, poplar)? I probably won’t be doing much of a profile except for a chamfer and it will probably be a 1×5 or 1×6 so ease of milling isn’t that important.
Replies
Matching
I would make the base match what is there for door and window trim, both in color and style. For example, If you have colonial trim painted white around the doors and windows and you install a poplar base with a natural or stained finish it will not match and will look like a patchjob
Rich.
In that case I would likely choose Poplar. Easy to find in clear stock, stains well, closed grain and easy to make look like many other types of wood. Also easy to work and usually fairly priced. It was the go to choice for a lot of trim back in the 20s ~40s.
Rich
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled