Finishes make all the difference

I don’t know if it was just wanting to take a break or if having the couch and tv there just clogged things up for while, but progress had stalled on the basement recently. So this weekend I dragged myself to Lowes to get some door and window trim.

I had a lightbulb moment this weekend where I realized I needed to trim the doors before getting baseboard in, so that moved up the priority list. But it also probably changed my plans for the baseboard anyway, since painting 1x4 pine boards hasn't been going great and I probably need something a little more flexible.

Having a HD basically across the street is super easy, but it’s not the best in terms of molding and trim options. So I went a little out of my way to a Lowes about 20 minutes away and it was great. Sunday afternoon, no one around, I think it might be worth it to go there all the time based on that trip. But I came home with a car full of molding; three door sets b/c it kept thing simple, then 6 7 ft lengths of matching trim in wood, and 5 in foam b/c some of the wood was in pretty rough shape. 

7 ft lengths are easy after 10 and 12 ft stuff.

Without a nail gun I wasn’t sure how this would go but some glue and a handful of finishing nails seems to be doing the trick. The kits still need a little trimming b/c our doors are short and skinny, but cutting my own for the sliding door seemed to be fine too. Just like the molding, even in it’s rough state things look so much better with the trim on. One step closer.

Some of this drywall/mud around the doors is pretty terrible...

But that's why trim is important! That looks better just testing the fit.

Going in the afternoon, I had time to get one normal door and a sliding door done before everyone told me to stop. Hammering finish nails is not a quiet activity. Hopefully I can get these done this week, and they'll still need to be filled, caulked, and painted, but for a little over $100 I’ll have trimmed three hanging doors, two sliding doors, and three windows. And once that’s done, we can talk baseboards, and now I know to go back to Lowes to find something that works. I can see the finish line, and I’m slowly inching toward it.

Purchase list: 

3 sets pre-mitered trim
6 7ft lengths wood trim
5 7 ft lengths foam trim (the math says 35 ft is enough, we’ll see…)