Architectural mouldings are the ultimate expression of wood working art. In Colonial America, a person’s home was judged by the trim and finish of its millwork, and the balance of design. It took talent to achieve a classical balance and substantial budget to make it a reality. Until much later all millwork and mouldings were done by hand! The advent of the industrial revolution and modern production methods has put beautiful millwork within reach of all budgets. The only hurdle is your imagination.
Patterns
There are hundreds of moulding books, each having hundreds of pages, with many patterns per page. Of all the designs available, we have picked those that have balance, beauty, and multiple functions. At last count we have over 150 patterns in stock! We strive to maintain a significant volume of all of our offerings. Many of our patterns are offered in both a paint grade and at least one stain grade option. In the links above you preview many of our stocked patterns. While these links are a good representation of our offerings we often are developing new patterns to meet changing tastes.
Moulding patterns can generally be broken down into four categories; crown mouldings, chair rail, base board, and door casing.
Chair rails as the name implies are used to trim a wall at the height of chairs. The mouldings mount flat against the wall and range from 1-1/4” to 3-1/2”.
Baseboards trim the the bottom of wall against the floor. Baseboards typically start at 3-1/4”s and can be as tall 8-1/2”; for the bold even taller!
Casings are used to trim doorways. Casing is stocked in widths from 2-1/4” through 4”.
Finally, but certainly not least, crown mouldings trim the corner between the wall and the ceiling. The name crown is derived from the fact that this particular moulding is mounted at a 45 degree angle between the wall and the ceiling causing it to project away from the wall. Crown mouldings come in sizes 2-3/4” to 8-1/4” for single piece crowns and can be combined with other crowns as well as baseboards to make even bolder designs.
Because of the work and effort involved, not to mention the overall cost, once a trim job is done it is seldom changed. Our advice is to think bold and big. Many customers ask for something small and plain and that is exactly what they would get…. especially when it visually shrinks on a wall or a doorway. The cost of installation and finishing of a three inch crown is virtually the same as a six inch crown.
Samples
Samples are available in our showroom for most of our patterns. We will be happy to furnish them on one condition, that you never return them! Please pass them along to a friend!
Lengths
Mouldings are offered in 16 or 17 foot lengths for our primed products and in lengths between 8 foot and 16 foot for the stain grade products. Why 17 foot you might ask? Well for the standard 6’8” door a 17 foot length casing will perfectly trim one side of the door! Crown, chair rails, and baseboards are offered in 16 foot lengths.
When calculating how much footage you will need for your project we would recommend to consider how wall lengths and board trimming will affect footage. For example if you have a 14’ wall after installing your moulding you will be left with a 2’ “drop” piece. Its unlikely that you have a wall with a 2’ length to utilize that drop. A rule of thumb in the trade is to buy 10% - 15% more than your measure wall lengths depending on the complexity of the project.
Wood Species
Mouldings are made from different species of wood. We can divide our offerings into two general categories; paint grade and stain grade. Generally speaking if you intend to stain your moulding you will want to look towards the stain grade species as these will reward you with a beautiful rich wood grain. If your intention is to paint your moulding would look to the stain grade moulding which are offered at a substantial cost savings over the stain grade counter parts. The use, finish, and size determines which specie will do the job best. The price is determined by the relative market value of the specie. For example mahogany is relatively expensive to southern yellow pine.
Paint Grade Offerings
MDF is the least expensive as it is made of medium density pressed fiberboard. These mouldings come primed white. While you may chose to paint these mouldings white please understand these are merely primed not painted. All our primed products still require finishing (sanding, dust removal, and finish painting). The patterns that are offered in MDF are generally speaking commodity patterns.
Premium Primed/Primed FJ Pine is currently the most favored wood for paint grade architectural mouldings. We offer two grades of primed mouldings, Premium Prime and Primed. Both of these primed mouldings come pre-primed eliminating a significant portion of the finishing effort. The premium primed mouldings have a thick coating of gesso primer which provides the smoothest possible surface for painting. We offer a wider selection of architectural patterns in FJ Primed than in MDF. As is the case with the MDF these mouldings still require finishing once installed in your home.
Poplar is the highest grade in paint grade architectural mouldings. Where the FJ primed boards are made from piecing smaller boards together; poplar mouldings are cut from single boards with no seams or joints in up to 16’ lengths. While poplar mouldings are not pre-primed the lack of joints provide the best base for a high end finished product.
Stain Grade Offerings
Oak, American Red and White Oak, are excellent woods for stained, pickled, and varnished wood works. It is more demanding to work with and lengths are sometimes hard to specify.
Mahogany is an excellent specie for all woodwork. As for mouldings, its hardness and rich color makes it very desirable. Because of its origin and other production factors, mahogany is relatively expensive.
Maple mouldings are now available in stock for some of our most popular patterns. This wood is very sought after by the cabinet trade.
Flexible Moulding
Sheridan Lumber stocks high density polyurethane mouldings in distinctive designs. Flexible moulding is a modern solution to curved wall and window applications. When dealing with curved walls customers can select from a large selection of our stocked patterns. For arched opening and curved crown mouldings we will assist you with correctly specifying the geometry of your application so that the exact custom flexible moulding can be made for you.
Extra Credit
Projection
Projection is the distance that a design profile “projects” from its primary base line. In most mouldings, the thickness equals the projection. However, such is not the case with somemoulding that are installed on angles. For these mouldings, known as crown mouldings, the projection is the measured distance the moulding extends perpendicularly from the wall.
Definition
Mouldings exist to please your vision. Almost all the practical functions performed by a moulding piece can be done with flat stock. It is in the interplay of light and shadows of a moulding profile that pleases its viewer. Profiles are a combination of shapes and depths. Shape defines character and design, while depth adds shadow lines and extra cost. Production or contractor specials may have the shape but almost always fall short on depth and definition. Keep in mind the darker a moulding is stained, the more you risk losing visual definition. The same is true with flat latex finishes; they also tend to hide profiles.
The projection and the profile give a moulding pattern its definition. Sheridan Lumber pattern #1208, as shown bellow, has ample projection and a distinctive profile, as a design it has great definition. Why all this fuss over projection and definition? Simple, why go through the effort and cost of trimming your home in moulding for it to disappear into the wall.
Grooves
The grooves on the back of some moulding patterns serve to keep the moulding as flat as possible. Their second function is to determine different runs. In the event that there are two runs on the same job site, they should be segregated, and at a natural break one run will cease and the second will begin.