Hey peeps! I’m sorry for slacking off in the blogosphere, but it’s only because I’ve been working hard for the last month or so to install moldings in the family room and front entrance. Holy moly is this task time-consuming.

There are SO many steps involved:
1 – Measure
2 – Cut moldings using a mitre saw (I got better at this over time, but getting the perfect fit is much easier than it looks). Geek alert: I bought a new mitre saw for this project and it’s pretty much my favorite tool now.
3 – Test fit. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until the fit is right
4 – Add glue to the back of the molding
5 – Affix the molding to the wall using nail gun (attached to a compressor) for added strength
6 – Repeat until all moldings are complete
7 – Add quarter round to all baseboards
8 – Use paintable silicone to fill any gaps, and polyfill to hide nail holes
9 – Paint 2 coats

I encountered a few problems along the way (often followed by screaming and wanting to throw, punch or break something), but I made it out alive and I’m pretty happy with how everything turned out. I now find myself inspecting other people’s moldings everywhere I go to determine how my work measures up, and it turns out I didn’t do such an awful job after all.

I managed to take some pics along the way. Have a look!

Front Door, before moldings

Entryway Staircase, before moldings

First piece of the Front Door molding going up

Putting Glue on the back of moldings

Using a Nail Gun to affix molding to the wall

Front Door Moldings installed

Moldings affixed to wall with nails

Family Room Moldings, pre-silicone

Family Room Moldings installed, siliconed and painted

Basement Door, framed and painted

Corner Seam

The biggest challenge was the rounded staircase. How do you curve MDF moldings, you ask? I had to bring in an expert on this one. Adam, love of my life is a genius and shaped perfectly curved baseboards by wetting the MDF and adding weights on either end. We then put the curved moldings against the staircase and used more weights to keep the molding in place and let it dry. The quarter round was trickier because the one we had just wasn’t curving enough, so we ended up splurging and buying some flexible quarter round online (made of rubber, I think), and that worked like a charm.

Rounded Staircase moldings, completed

Staircase flexible quarter round, installed and painted

While I was painted the moldings, I noticed that the risers of our staircase were in dire need of a refresh.

Staircase, in need of a fresh coat of paint

After a couple coats of paint, looks like new!

Staircase Risers painted