| In This
Article:
Some careful measurements are made, the
side and top casing pieces are cut to length, then the 3 pieces are nailed
together. The assembly is installed with finish nails.
|
Related
Articles:
|
| Skill Level: 2-3 (Basic
to Moderate) |
Time Taken: 45 Minutes |
By Bruce W.
Maki, Editor
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The homeowner had stained the jambs on this pre-hung door
to match the oak casing.
The casing came in 7 foot lengths. Each door used 2 full pieces
for the sides and half of the third piece for the top.
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Note the profile on this "Colonial" casing.
The first step is to mark the reveal on the door jamb,
that is, the amount of the jamb edge that will be visible. I
used a reveal of 1/4".
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To mark the reveal I used a Stanley adjustable try-square.
The white knob loosens a clamping screw which lets the 12 inch
ruler slide for adjustment. This tool is indispensable.
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Notice the marks on the jamb. It is only necessary to mark
the top corners.
Next I stand a piece of casing up against the door jamb. Before
this I made sure the bottom end had a good square cut.
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Sometimes the drywall is not flush
with the door jamb. If the wallboard sticks out too far,
there will be a gap between the casing and the door jamb,
or the casing will sit on a weird angle. See how I cut
away the drywall when it sticks out.
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With the casing held in place, I mark it at the horizontal
line I made earlier. Then I repeat the process for the left hand
trim piece.
Before going outside to the miter saw, I measured the width
of the door opening.
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In this case the measurement I got was 30-1/8". I was
not measuring from one vertical pencil mark to the other.
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I cut the trim on a miter saw. The blade on this saw is a
combination blade, meant for fast cutting. It can leave a rough
edge, so I cut very slowly. A fine tooth blade would be better.
When the cuts are done, I lay out the pieces on a firm, flat
surface. In this house, the best place is the front entry with
it's ceramic tile floor.
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Cutting the top piece: The casing on this project was
2-1/4" wide. For the top, I first make one of the miter cuts.
Then I measured along the top (the long edge) 35-1/8".
This dimension comes from adding the 30-1/8" door opening
plus 1/2" for the two reveals, plus 4-1/2" for the two
casing widths. These numbers worked out easy because for each
of the top pieces I simply had to measure the door opening and
add 5".
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With the casing pieces laid out on a smooth surface,
I aligned the corners carefully and drove 1 inch brad nails into
the outer corners. |
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The nailer has to be carefully positioned or the brad will
come out the back side, or worse, the front face. Both pieces
of trim must be held securely or the impact of the nailer will
move them.
I drive just one brad into each side of the miter joint.
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What I do is rest one knee on each piece and let my
weight hold the trim from moving. I find wearing kneepads to be helpful. Clamping the trim to a workbench
may also work.
Note that the brads are driven only at the outside of
the corner, and there is nothing to connect the inner area of
the miter joint. When the casing is assembled this way, it is
very fragile and must be handled with extreme caution.
The purpose of these nails is to keep the miter joint aligned
properly if the wall surface is uneven. From my experience, it
takes longer to install casing when they are not
first connected, because the miter joints rarely line up well.
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The assembled casing, ready for (careful) transport to the
door.
The casing is set in place.
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Nailing The Casing In Place:
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With the casing assembly in place I attach it with 1 inch
brad nails. I start at a top corner, making sure that the edge
of the casing lines up with the pencil marks I made earlier.
I drive the brads into the door jamb, so they must be
kept close to the inside edge of the casing.
- I first secure one corner, by driving one brad on each side
of the joint.
- Then I secure the other corner in the same way.
- I drive a few more brads into the top section.
- Then I fasten each side piece, working from top to bottom.
I straighten out any warpage as I fasten.
- I typically use 5 or 6 brads on the top, and 8 to 10 brads
on each side.
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After the small brads, I use 2" finish nails (which may
require a larger nailer) to fasten the outer edges.
I typically drive 2 or 3 nails in the top and 4 or 5 in each
side. Too many nails can make the casing very difficult to remove.
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That's all there is to it. With this pre-stained and
varnished casing, there is no more work required, except maybe
for filling in some tiny nail holes. Most of the holes made by
the pneumatic nailers are so small that they need no filling.
Finish carpentry is satisfying work because the results are
highly visible.
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With paint-grade casing I usually paint the trim first. After
installation I fill the nail holes and touch up the paint. A time
saving approach some builders use is to paint the walls and trim
with the same paint, which would have to be a satin or semi-gloss
paint. Flat paint on doors and trim will collect dirty finger
prints and is hard to clean.
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For a different approach to window and door casing,
see how we created an elegant Victorian casing from scratch. |
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Tools Used:
- Power Miter Saw
- Pneumatic Brad Nailer
- Pneumatic 2" Finish Nailer
- Tape Measure
- Adjustable Try-Square
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Materials Used:
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