Carpentry is the most commonly-used trade in domestic construction in Orange County. This includes the cutting and joining of wood while on the build site, whether it be framing, building concrete forms, laying hardwood flooring or providing the finish work. Carpenters usually work under a general contractor who supplies them with blueprints and plans.
After the structure is up and closed in (windows, doors and roof on) and the drywall and utilities in the next important step is the finishing. For many Orange County home builds this includes crown mouldings, decorative pieces which adorn the intersections of the walls and ceilings. |
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Dining rooms in traditionally-built homes are places for many decorative mouldings but so are foyers and sitting rooms. The curvatures are especially enhanced with matched moudings on the floor. |
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Installing mouldings is definitely easier when building a new home because renovating brigs up a few concerns:
Is there something - a stud or block - to nail the moulding to? In cases where there is no wood for supporting the top you may need anchors or a strong glue. The bottom of the mouldings, in most cases, would be over a stud so it would be the top where there might be a problem. And if you take the pains to get your moulding into position it would be counterproductive if they come off on the ceiling and sag. With proper studs and blocks in place the majority of mouldings are put into place with finishing nails and filled with wood filler before painting.
- Ceiling Sag and Meandering Walls:
In older buildings humidity and age may cause the walls and ceilings to lose their straightness and the corners to be out of square. Filling behind is usually the norm but the corners can be tricky to get the angle pieces to to line up right.
- Long Walls:
Mouldings usually only go to 16' so if the room is longer a scarf joint is needed. You can cover the joint with a decorative piece.
- AC Registers:
Sometimes registers were built into the ceilings therefore the moulding would have to fit the register or the venting might have to be moved.
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Moulding Finish:
- Pre-Finished or Primed – These mouldings are the norm and are the easiest to match. Finger-jointed wood is acceptable and cheaper as is MDF.
- Stained Grade Mouldings -This are meant to be stained or finished and can be expensive depending on the type of wood used. The other drawback is that errors cannot be covered up by paint and so great care has to be taken when installing them.
- Plaster Mouldings – This type is put into place by a plasterer.
- Vinyl Mouldings – More and more drywallers are installing this instead of carpenters because the mouldings cover areas that would usually need to be taped and plastered. Vinyl, as well as MDF, is also easier to work with on curved walls.
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The installation of mouldings is not for the faint-of-heart or the unskilled. When doing the corners of decorative cornice simply using a miter saw will not get the joint right. This takes the expertise of a licenced Orange County finishing carpenter who can do it quickly without wasting materials because of wrong cuts.
For finishing work where there are no structural changes a permit is not required. To find out more about the extent of your project call:
Orange County Planning and Development Services
North County Regional Office
Santa Ana, California
(714) 834-2300
South County Regional Office
22921 Triton Way
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Public Counter Hours
7:30am to 4pm, Monday - Thursday
Friday - By appointment only
Phone: (714) 834-2626
FAX: (714) 834-4772 |
