Trim carpentry choices?

[Henry W]

All:
A friend has asked me to finish up the trim work in his bonus room - work he is simply not getting to. Without regular FT work, I am jumping at the option. I have questions though. The homeowner is fine with whatever I choose.

The end walls have bump-outs where the HVAC ducts are housed - one is 16" deep and the other 28" deep. These form 'shelves' that are currently uncovered and unfinished - just raw framing. The drywall above and below this is finished and painted. I plan to cover the top surface with stained pine tongue and groove flooring; the pine will overhang the edge and I'll rout the edge. That part I got.

I want to use some type of painted trim under the overhang, between the new pine 'flooring' and the existing drywall below it. What trim would you use?
- window casing (I'll use lots of this elsewhere to trim access doors); the analogy is that this will be like the trim piece under a window sill.
- shoe molding or "base cap" (upside down)
- other options?

The other spot I am wondering about is between this pine 'flooring' on the shelf and the drywall above it. This is like a 16 or 28" deep shelf, either 3' or 4' off the ground.
- regular base board (but I think that will make it look more like "floor" than "shelf.")
- window casing - not likely my choice
- I could use just shoe molding, or base cap, assuming they cover whatever gaps are there.
- other options?

What would you use?

Henry

 

[Trent Mason]

Henry,

It would really help if you posted a picture or two. :yes:

 

[Michael Church]

Henry,

I would use a piece of 3 1/2 inch landing tread (nosing) around the outside edge with the flooring cut in between so you won't have the ends of the tongue and groove showing . If you don't have landing tread then you could make some yourself by glueing up some pine and dressing it down to 1 inch and rounding over the edge. Rabbet all but an inch and a quarter or half down to the thickness of the flooring. I would use a piece of cove under the nosing and on top of the flooring maybe a piece of base cap with returns on the ends in line with the cove below. Just one idea to consider. Hope this helps.

Michael

 

[Henry W]

Trent - What you mean you can follow my convoluted wordy verbose explanation? Come on - work with me here. I'd post a picture if I had one. I'll try to get a pic or two once I get there again.

Michael - I was planning to rip the Tongue/Groove off the edge piece of flooring and rout a bullnose along the overhang - pretty much what you were saying I think. I intended to run a "breadboard" piece across the end to hide the endgrain and T&G; again like you were suggesting I think.

I like your idea of cove under the overhang - I had not thought of that! Thanks.

I too was leaning towards using base cap above the flooring.

Any other ideas?

henry

 

[Gofor]

As for the moldings, I would try to match style and profile to whatever moldings are in the rest of the house. It may be a bonus room, but that would tie in the look to the original construction. If the rooms have cove molding, you could use the same profile, but possibly a narrower width if that would look better.

Depending on the length of the "shelves", Lowe's sells 4/4 x 12 x 36 pine stair treads for about $10 each. (They are sanded and 1 full inch thick) You would have to edge glue for depth, but would give a smooth top, already bull nosed, and require less cross supports. One drawback would be fasteners showing unless you could come in underneath, hinge the top as a lid, or plugged the screw holes.

Just some thoughts

Go