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justin_pumpr

Help needed finding replacement trim piece

6 years ago

Hi,


I'm remodeling a Victorian house and one of the trim pieces is missing, so I need to replace it in kind to maintain the historical look of the property. Does anybody have any idea what the piece highlighted in the attached image is called and where I might be able to find a replacement?


Thanks!


Comments (14)

  • 6 years ago

    Not sure what it is called.


    But I bet someone with a wood lath could build a new one. The old one may have to come down to match exactly. And then the wood turner can build you two new ones.


    And that's good because I see in your future lots of paint scraping. So one less thing to scrape paint off of is good.



  • 6 years ago

    Thanks @sambah006. I have found somebody to make the piece, but they say it'll cost around $750 to do it, so I was hoping to find one ready made.

  • 6 years ago

    Yikes!


    Maybe just buy a dowel that is the same size and install that instead. Unless you are loaded, not sure that would be worth 750 or not.

  • 6 years ago

    Unfortunately it's a matter of it passing inspection, as the exterior has to be repaired exactly like the original due to it being an historic property.

  • 6 years ago

    Get two made then. It shouldn't be that much more expensive...

  • 6 years ago

    My carpenter is saying twice the price which makes me want to find something online even more!

  • 6 years ago

    he's ripping you off then. 80% of the work is setting up to build the first one. Building 2 or 3 is only minimal more work.

  • 6 years ago

    justin-

    I doubt that piece of decorative trim was very common even when it was originally installed. The likelihood of finding something like that online, unfortunately, is about nil. I think you’re going to have to pay to have one made for you, but you might be able to get it for less than $750. There are probably lots of retired guys with lathes who would do it for less, and you might find one by posting on a local community forum like Nextdoor.

  • 6 years ago

    What's the diameter? I've seen dowels as large as 3". If that will do it, get one the size of the larger diameter and one the size of the smaller diameter. Cut the larger one in proper lengths and drill each for the smaller dowel with a drill press. Glue "donuts" onto the smaller dowel. Sand and paint.

    I can't tell from the photo, but you might have to run the assembled trim through a table saw to square off the back sides.

    If this seems like too much work, then your time must be worth more than your carpenter's. :)

    PS, just being didactic here, but LATH is the stuff behind plaster, and LATHE is the tool you use to turn wood.

  • 6 years ago

    As Kudzu9 suggested look for a local wood turner. If you happen to have a Woodcraft store in the area, you might ask there if they know of anyone who might be interested in a project. As DavidR suggested the back side of the piece may need to be squared off with either a table saw or band saw.

    I’ve long since stopped doing such work but I would have charged $500+ to make such a piece. There’s a lot of planning and thought that goes into one-off pieces.

  • 6 years ago

    If you do it on a lathe you're going to get four of them anyway-- you'll turn the full diameter piece and then split it in quarters to make the quarter round. $750 seems like a lot of money. If you use something like mahogany the material would cost maybe $100-150, an hour to laminate the blank and an hour max to turn it should bring it in under $500 I would think.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    It’s not clear to me from the photo that that trim piece is squared off at the back. it could be full dimension.

  • 6 years ago

    Thanks for all the info. I've contacted a few milling places to see what they say. FYI it is squared off at the back and the top and fits flush against the exterior of the house.