Fine Homebuilding Magazine

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Easy, Elegant Mantel • Build a fireplace surround from one sheet of MDF and some stock moldings

START WITH A SOLID FOUNDATION • The foundation boards of this mantel have two roles. First, they create a visual backdrop for the entire fireplace surround, helping to ground the design. Second, they act as a flat, plumb surface in an assembly that is rarely so. This allows the rest of the parts of the mantel to attach regardless of the condition of the wall.

AN EASY FIT, EVEN ON WAVY WALLS • At just ¾ in. thick, the foundation boards don’t leave room for scribing to meet the wall. Instead, focus on getting the foundation boards plumb and in plane with each other, then cover the gaps with a scribed shelf on top and backbands on each side.

MOLDINGS MAKE A FINISHED MANTEL • Moldings can be mitered and fastened to the mantel piece by piece, but preassembling them is a better approach. When the focus is on joining each piece of molding to another rather than to a substrate, you end up with strong assemblies that behave as a unit, reducing the chance that miters will open up over time.

Master Class in Moldings • An illustrated guide to the profiles and proper proportions of baseboard, crown, and casing

BUILDING BLOCKS • While at a glance, moldings may appear to be a random combination of profiles—and unfortunately, in many modern applications, they are in fact no more than a mishmash of curves—even the most complex molding designs can be broken down into four simple building blocks.

CATEGORIES • The building blocks generate moldings of all shapes and sizes that can be assembled in an infinite number of configurations for uses on nearly every surface of a home, both inside and out. Yet, despite the endless variables, molding profiles can be broken down into four primary categories defined by the job the molding is performing. These categories are terminating, supporting, separating, and translating.

BASEBOARD • Baseboards cover the transition between the flooring and the walls. The base cap is a translating molding, or a molding that shifts between two planes—in this case, the flat top edge of the baseboard and the wall. The baseboard does not need a base cap; if stock profiles are limited or you want a more streamlined look, use a flat-stock molding throughout the house. If you are adding profiles to your flat stock, consider these rules.

CROWN • While crown moldings are technically in a supporting position holding up the ceiling, because they are located at the top of the interior walls, they have evolved over time to be terminating moldings. Before selecting a crown molding, ask yourself if this is an element that you really need in the house. Unlike baseboard and casing, which bridge between different materials, the walls and the ceiling are typically the same material, so a connection for practical reasons is not necessary. Crown moldings are generally an aesthetic element.

WINDOW AND DOOR CASINGS • Window and door casings follow many of the same rules of thumb as baseboard. The building blocks of casing are a flat-stock member with detail added in two areas: the backband and the transition to the...