Interior Trim, Baseboard and Door Painting

Interior trim painting covers baseboards, door and window casings, crown molding and doors. Safe Choice Painting fills nail holes and gaps, caulks seams, sands and primes, then brushes or sprays a washable satin or semi-gloss finish. In older homes, we test for oil paint first, since latex over oil trim can peel without a bonding primer.

What trim painting includes

• Baseboards and shoe molding, which take the most scuffs from shoes and vacuums.
• Door and window casings, including window stools and aprons.
• Crown molding where walls meet the ceiling.
• Interior doors, both sides and the edges.
• Stair rails, spindles and skirt boards.
• Chair rail and wainscoting.
• Built-in window seats and closet trim, often skipped and easy to include.

Is your trim oil or latex?

Many older homes have oil-based trim paint, sometimes under later latex coats. It matters, because latex does not grip glossy oil well and can peel off in strips. The test is simple. Benjamin Moore's primer guide says to rub a cotton ball dipped in 70 percent isopropyl alcohol on the surface; if paint comes off, it is acrylic. If nothing comes off, it is most likely oil. We test a few spots in each room at the walkthrough.

Switching oil trim to latex

When the test shows oil, the trim gets extra steps:

1. Clean off hand oils and grime.
2. Scuff-sand the glossy surface so primer can grip.
3. Bonding primer made to stick to old oil finishes.
4. Two finish coats of a water-based trim enamel.

Once converted, later repaints are simpler, since latex goes over latex. Oil-based trim can also yellow with age, and switching to a water-based enamel keeps whites whiter.

Prep that makes trim look new

Trim shows every flaw because it sits at eye level and in the light. The prep that matters most:

• Fill nail holes and dents, then sand flush.
• Caulk gaps where trim meets the wall and at mitered corners, so the line looks solid.
• Sand between coats for a smooth feel on doors and rails.
• Cut clean lines where trim meets the wall, by hand.

Doors: in place or taken down?

Doors can be painted on their hinges, which keeps the room usable. For the smoothest finish, doors come down, hardware comes off, and they are painted flat and rehung once dry. Either way, hinges and knobs are removed or masked, never painted over. Six-panel doors get the recessed panels first, then the rails and stiles, so brush marks run with the grain of the door.

Stairs

Stair rails, balusters and skirt boards take more time than any other trim. Each baluster is painted by hand on every side. Handrails can stay stained while balusters are painted, a common look, or be painted to match. Treads stay off-limits until the paint on skirt boards and risers is dry.

Protecting floors and hardware

Baseboards sit right against the floor. Wood and tile floors are masked with tape and paper at the edge, and carpet is tucked back with a wide blade and taped so the bottom of the baseboard gets painted cleanly. Hinges, strike plates and knobs are removed or masked, and outlet covers near trim come off so the paint line is clean.

Which sheen for trim?

Satin or semi-gloss. Both wipe clean and stand up to hands and shoes. Semi-gloss is more durable and shows more flaws; satin hides a little more. Our paint sheen guide covers trim along with walls and ceilings.

Trim in older and newer homes

Oil trim is most common in older houses. In Gainesville about 68 percent of homes were built before 1980, and in Denton about 27 percent, by Census estimates. Homes from the 1980s and 1990s can have oil trim too; in Sanger about 30 percent of homes were built in those decades. See interior painting in Gainesville, in Denton and in Sanger.

Trim with the rest of the room

Trim is often painted with walls, as the last step of a room. Kitchens get trim done with the walls, covered on our kitchen painting page, and living rooms with lots of trim are covered on our living room painting page.

Nearby

• Interior trim, baseboard and door painting in Denton, TX
• Interior painting
• Kitchen painting
• Interior painting in Gainesville, TX