stuck on a detail

[Loren97]

Helping my parents on their DIY job and trying to figure out how to resolve this detail.

The problem is the trim running across the door header/under the upper cubby. The rest of the house has 4" trim and the gap between the two doors is 3.5" Also trying to figure out how to best intersect at the corners. Another area of the house has some modified jack miters, but the two door legs would have to be mitered in both directions.

See pictures for more clarification.
First picture is the problem child. Second and third are other doorways in the house.

DSCN1066.JPGDSCN1067.JPGDSCN1068.JPG

[brthomas]

Re: stuck on a detail

I would get out the framing tools and do some re-frame work. There isn't a right way to make that look fluid. I would demo the left closet door, reframe to make the opening accept an appropriate bi-fold unit from you local millwork company. While re-framing, make sure the top cubby is re framed as well to be plumb with your bi-fold framing. There is absolutely to much going on in there. It looks horrible, nothing will transition easily. Once the new drywall is hung, and finished when finish stage starts I would hang the doors with their original 2.25" casements and then tear them off to trim out with the matching casing. Join the two units together by a two legs and a header, centers I would rip down a 1x for a mullion and rabbet the backside to accept jambs. And voila, a totally acceptable looking door unit and not a hodgepodge of jack miters and non aligning door units.

Best of luck.

[JAlvis]

Re: stuck on a detail

Well....its certainly different having all those openings.

Other than doing what was mentioned above I would trim the entire wall like older colonials did around fire mantels. The door on top and the side door remind me of that detail in those homes. Its really not "trimming" but panelling. By doing that it would ground the space and elevate the wall from odd to unique. If you try to trim around each opening it will never look good. Therefore think of the entire wall as being one unit.

[Kent Brobeck]

Re: stuck on a detail

If you don't want to spend a bunch of time why not run the casing from the ceiling to the floor at the widest point on the upper cubby. Then the intermediate stuff treat like window mulls. Paint that drywall panel the same color as the trim.

Any chance there is something behind that drywall panel? Strange they framed the closet with that step. You really have no room at the ceiling for trim either.

[dlhunter]

Re: stuck on a detail

Curious what that framing looks like behind the drywall.
If you don't want it to turn into a big project I would suggest going kent's route. There are some things you just can't polish.

[Loren97]

Re: stuck on a detail

Well, the sad part is that the drywall was just redone. As I mentioned, it's a DIY project and my father is more of a painter than a carpenter. He framed it up probably 25 years ago and covered it with paneling. I wasn't around to consult with when he just redid the drywall, but he was showing me it when we were in for Easter and I started to talk through it with him on how to trim it and quickly realized that it wasn't going to work. The best idea I could come up with was to use plain 1x stock, but even that would look out of place.

JAlvis...I'm intrigued by your idea to make it "paneled", but not sure I can visualize it...can you post a picture?

The other idea I had was to make a thicker archtrave run the whole way between the doors and the cubby and butt everything up to it from top and bottom.

[brthomas]

Re: stuck on a detail

With that being said Loren, I would go Kent's route. Sometimes making things right just isn't worth fighting for if it means doing demo on what your father just did. I would feel a bit sick it I was in his shoes.

The only thing I would say to do if you run with Kent's route is to removed the upper cubby jambs and track unit, pad down the header enough to get the 3.5" Adams Casing (as it looks in pictures) to clear with your 3/16" reveals. You will have to disassemble, cut down bi-pass doors and re-assemble but it would look nicer than having a 3/4"-1" ripper of Adams casing on the top of the head jamb as it currently looks.

[JAlvis]

Re: stuck on a detail

If you look at early colonial Paneling it was often painted and had doors like the two in your closet(skinny on left and sliders above). Sometimes the Paneling was really simple just vertical rabbited wide plank pine and other times it was more elaborate with raised panels. Both styles have no moldings and are simple to replicate especially if painted.

If done correctly I think the closet would look built-in and create a sense of early nostalgia. The key to pulling it off would be to have the doors all in plain with the paneling/trim like the photos. Notice in the photos that some of the panels are actually doors.

[hdrider_chgo]

Re: stuck on a detail

If you try to trim around each opening it will never look good. Therefore think of the entire wall as being one unit.

Exactly. That entire wall needs to be covered in wood, painted or stained a different color than the rest of the drywall. The whole thing should look like a built-in. That's the only way it's ever going to look halfway decent, short of reframing it.

Run a piece of vertical casing at each side, as wide as fits, floor to ceiling to establish some symmetry. Then a piece across the entire top. You may be able to let the top casing hang down over the opening a little to get the casing a little wider. Run a piece of narrower trim below the top opening side to side as well. Then fill in the rest with wood, and/or perhaps very narrow trim around each opening.

The biggest framing problem is the left side of the top opening not aligning with the left side of the lower left opening. I'm not sure if there is a reason for that, but if there is not, just enlarging that top opening to the left to get alignment would help a great deal. That may be a matter of removing one cripple and cutting back the drywall.

[JAlvis]

Re: stuck on a detail

The biggest framing problem is the left side of the top opening not aligning with the left side of the lower left opening. I'm not sure if there is a reason for that, but if there is not, just enlarging that top opening to the left to get alignment would help a great deal. That may be a matter of removing one cripple and cutting back the drywall.

Or even making the opening smaller to get alignment would help. That might even be easier in the case of 'paneling' the wall.

[mtsmt7]

Re: stuck on a detail

maybe try putting a rosette at the top four corners of the doors make sure they are all the same elevation than trim those doors with the same trim as the other doors than take flat stock a 1/4 inche thinner than the casing and picture frame the three sides of the upper doors putting an insert filler infront of the upper track to hide the track and bring the piece 3/4 lower from the ceiling paint the casing trim color and the flat stock wall color.

[jobercian]

Re: stuck on a detail

Just to reiterate what has been said: it is either treated as a "unit" or it will look like hodge-podge.

[brthomas]

Re: stuck on a detail

I'm curious as to which route you chose and how the finished product looks. How is it coming so far Loren?