The Back Trim, Done! (Almost)

Where we left off, the level siding didn’t meet up at all with the crooked original beadboard.

So after all that trouble making the siding normal and level for the neighbors to see, now I wanted to move the weird part where things don’t match up into their view and out of mine. So I installed a strip of trim inside and below the existing one, but running along the crooked beadboard. I thought I’d use up the PVC 1×4’s in my lumber hoard, but they’re not wide enough to hide this much crookedness. So I had to buy a little more material than I was planning for. (And no, the dish rag wasn’t adequate protection for the paint.)

And when things are that crooked, I knew mitered joints would never match up. But since I remember math class, I used a little trigonometry:

I found that I needed to add compound angles ranging from about 0.7 and 1.7 degrees. Mind you, it’s impossible to get angles this precise, but I’d rather use trigonometry than trial and error when we’re working with expensive materials. And they matched up pretty well on the first try!

Next came covering over the pretty big gaps around the edges of the beadboard. Normally I think trim around a porch ceiling should be small and simple, so I’m glad I checked how big I needed to go to cover the gaps. And 4″ crown looks just fine.

You can see where the crooked and level trim meet up oddly on the outside. Luckily, we don’t see much of this. You can also see the older trim, which is supposed to be good to go without paint, permanently soiled.

Now, I did have a little trouble mitering the crown molding. It kept slipping on my fence and I wound up getting the outside angle wrong. I cursed a lot, hollered that all the material I bought was now trash, and then just patched in another piece. It’s not that bad. (This is also post-caulk and the first coat of paint.)

Then before I complained about the patio door having the typical new construction jamb that juts way out from the wall with a visible kerf even after I put up historic looking trim. Well, it needed 2 applications of caulk…

And now everything looks nice and clean!

Still left to do: we need a bit of trim around the bottom. I installed a J bead level to finish the bottom of the stucco, and now there’s an uneven gap between that and the crooked ground. I had the Irishman cut something for me, and I’ve been waiting for a solid 2 weeks for him to remember to bring it back from work. (Also, there’s some ugliness in the concrete right near the door that I hid with mats.)