How To Install Plinth Blocks

Traditional Style

DIY for About $ (so cheap it's not fifty-fifty worth calculating!)

I like to stop most door trim moldings on elevation of beefy plinth blocks like these.

The plinths requite the door trim something substantial to residue on, merely like in Classical Greek compages.  They also provide a place to terminate the larger baseboards I only know you're going to install.

These plinth blocks are advisable for traditional style moldings merely, not Craftsman or Victorian — though y'all could make them work in some Victorian designs, nosotros'll go into that kind of attention to vernacular design in future posts.

Problem is, at that place aren't many available plinth blocks you can just become out and buy, and half of the ones you tin can buy you don't want because they're designed for small, contractor-grade trim.

Besides, you desire the versatility of making them to the verbal top and thickness for whatever door trim you lot're going to install on top of them.

How to Make Your Own Plinth Blocks

Make your plinth blocks to the exact dimensions yous need for your installation.

Materials

MDF-200

More nigh MDF-200 here >>

A few pieces of ane/ii″ MDF board are all yous demand to make plenty of plinths.

All y'all need to make plinth blocks like these is some one/2″ thick MDF lath.  Here are 2 prices:

1. if you're installing a new 1/2″ thick baseboard at the aforementioned time you're installing your new plinth blocks (and yous should exist), then you can make your plinth blocks from baseboard flat-stock, and so the toll of cloth is almost inconsequential.
2. if yous are installing a single door trim at a time, you can purchase a 4′ ten 4′ x1/2″ MDF board from Home Depot for well-nigh $12.00, from which you tin make a box full of plinth blocks!  You tin discover these pre-cutting MDF boards usually virtually the molding isle.

Step ane  Rip

I fabricated these plinth blocks just under iv″ wide, so yous'll demand to rip a piece of MDF board that wide.  Make them broad enough then yous tin shave a little off of each side to clean up the edges (Stride four).

Step 2  Stack the Flat-Stock

Using Liquid Nails for Paneling , stack two pieces of flat-stock on pinnacle of each other.  Information technology'd be a good idea to put something heavy on top or to clamp them tightly together.

Step 3  Cut to Length

Cut your "blank" plinth blocks to the top yous desire (normally well-nigh one/iv″ taller than the superlative of your baseboard buildup) from your staked and glued together flat-stock.

These are the plinth block blanks.

Pace 4  Shave

Clean up the outer edges of the blanks past shaving but a hair off each side on your table saw.

Footstep 5  Bevel

Put a 45 degree bevel on the inside corner of each plinth block.  I like to make the bevel a little less than one/2″ thick then that it terminates just before the seam between the ii stacked pieces of flat-stock.

Y'all tin make your bevel any depth y'all like, but 1/2″ deep seems to exist a pretty skillful depth.

Pace half-dozen  Sand and Round

Use a palm sander to sand the exposed end grains on the plinth.  Be careful not to round any of the corners besides much — exit all but the two bevel edges sharp — the two bevel edges can be rounded off merely a bit more than than the others.

The two bevel edges can exist a little bit more rounded than the rest of the plinth edges.

Step 7  Install

I like to prime and sand plinth blocks before I install them.  If it'southward an outside door y'all're working on, then brand sure that you prime the back of the plinth block earlier you install it, similar I did on our kitchen porch door plinth block .

Annotation how the beveled edges are sanded a little more than round than the other edges.

Step viii  Install Door Trim on Peak

All that's left to exercise is install the door trim on top of the plinth block.  The moding profile I used for this installation is very common and inexpensive.  You learn all well-nigh about this casing molding CA-001 hither >>

Shortly I'll be posting the installation sequence for the door surroundings that goes with this plinth cake.  If you want to stay in the loop with these updates, so subscribe to our RSS feed or via email updates sent right to your in-box.

Source: http://www.thejoyofmoldings.com/plinth-block-100/

Posted by: higginsbuttleace.blogspot.com

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