Hello my friends! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Whew, I literally just finished this project up this morning – I mentioned last week that I usually underestimate how long it will take to get a project done and this was one of those for sure. I’ve shown you this trim work before but it always looks so good, I can’t resist sharing it again. It gets me right there, I love it so.
And every time I replace door trim in the house I forget to share a trick or a step so this time I’m focusing more on how I take down the existing trim.
I actually started this project months ago, back when construction was still happening. I knew I wanted to replace all the door trim in the family room as a part of the renovation but I needed our handymen’s table saw to get these two doorways started:
Those two corner pieces had to be ripped down to fit. I got the side trim up and then it sat…for months. Till last week when I went on a trim/painting mission.
I decided to tackle the other two other doors in this space while I was at this – our coat closet and the basement steps. They’re more of a tiny little hallway but you can see them both from the family room so I just went for it.
There are six tools I use EVERY time I take down the existing door trim:
First up, you need a good razor to score the caulk around the current trim:
If you don’t do that the paint will peel up with the trim as you take it off. A little of this is OK because I’m always replacing it with thicker trim. But I still score every time.
Then you can use your pry bar and a hammer and start pulling the trim away from the wall:
Use the hammer to wedge it under – if your trim is hard to remove make sure to put a thin piece of wood under your pry bar so it doesn’t dent your drywall. I’ve learned that one over the years. :)
Sometimes the staples come off with the trim, sometimes they don’t. I use a flathead screwdriver to wiggle them out a bit, then a wrench or pliers to pull them out:
And finally, my latest fave – this scraper tool is the BOMB. It may even get it’s own post it rocks so very much:
You’ll usually have residual caulk on the wall and if you don’t get that off your new trim won’t go flush against the wall. I used to peel every bit off it off and then use a sander. This new tool makes super easy and quick work of getting all that off – LOVE it.
You’ll want to remove or cut down any baseboards near your doorway too – your trim will be wider so this is a must. After that you can start installing the new trim and this part goes fast, especially compared to the time it takes to remove the existing trim.
I’ve shared this process a couple times so I won’t go into detail again, but this is the model I follow, more or less:
I don’t use that thick of a “fillet” on mine – I use thinner trim called stop. It gives it a nice little detail:
After everything was up and painted (the most time consuming part for sure) I focused on adding the new base around the doors in the hallway.
When we had our hardwoods installed years back we didn’t pull up the baseboards – it was just going to take too much time and our base is really hard to remove. I usually have to end up breaking it into pieces in order to get it out. Because the thick wood was installed right up against our already wimpy baseboards they looked even wimpier after the floors were all done. :)
You can really see the difference on this corner with the old base on the left and the new on the right:
Chunky molding makes my heart SING! Wimpy molding gives me the sads. :(
After a few days of work I got it all done – four doorways completed!:
Let’s look at that before again shall we? Cause it always makes me feel accomplished:
Goodness, it feels so good to have this done! I LOVE how the crown and doorways and board and batten all look together. This builder home is looking more custom with every door:
And now the trim on the outside matches the trim on the inside of the powder room and mud room:
I took down the door to the mud room years ago to open up that space a bit. I did the same with our basement door so this is just an open doorway:
I had to match up the baseboards on this side to the walls with the board and batten, so it’s a little thicker. And I finished painting the faux chunky crown molding in this spot too:
Across that itty bitty baby hallway is the closet door – here’s a Christmas pic to give you an idea of how it looked before:
And here’s that same spot with the thicker crown and baseboards…and one more black door completed!:
I am happy to report this means ALL the doors on the main floor are now painted. And all but one in the basement is done…maybe I’ll get the upstairs done in the next few years or so. :)
To see more about painting your interior doors and the color I use go here.
Whoot!! Another BIG project knocked off my list! I’m so happy to have this part done. I’m literally finishing up small projects now (paint, decor) and I’ll be DONE with the “new” family room.
Are you a black door kind of person? I absolutely love them – I think they add some character and interest to our home. And the new molding certainly doesn’t hurt – don’t underestimate the power of new trim! It makes a huge difference!
P.S. Many of you have asked about costs for the door trim and it can range anywhere from $15 to $30 a door – depending on the pine you use. (I only use pine for this to cut down costs.) I mix the nicer, knot-free pine with some cheaper stuff for the top to bring down costs as well.
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