Complicate trimwork should be well supported by good framing.
A framed dining room is the dining room at the stud or framing stage. At this point the room doesn't have drywall installed. This is the perfect time to think about, plan and install the blocking you need for the finish trims in the dining room. Most trims require solid wood inside the wall to nail to. Frequently this step is overlooked and drywall is installed over standard stud walls. When it's time to install the trim, the carpenter is only able to find the occasional stud. This just doesn't work for elaborate trims which may consist of more than seven pieces for a single molding.
Trim Selection
Dining rooms are often the most highly decorated and trimmed room in the house. Many people use more expensive finished materials in the dining room because they intend to sit in the room for long hours with their guests. The planning stage for trims should begin when the home is being designed, and all of the elaborate trims should be approved prior to framing. A single crown molding that is hand built can span 15 inches and include seven or more pieces of trim material. When this type of molding is designed, there is a substantial void behind the trims that should be used for support framing for the trim.
Designer Framing
By designing the framing to coordinate with the trimwork, the finish carpenter has a solid surface to nail the trim to. This allows the trim to be installed so that it is tight to the wall. In many homes, construction adhesive is the current solution to differences between the trim and drywall. This indicates that the walls are not level and straight and that inadequate trim framing was installed at the time the house was framed. It means the trim was an after-thought. When you look closely at the trim you are likely to see slipped joints, an overuse of caulk to hide poor seams and trim that is pulling away from the wall.
Straight and Level
Each stud in the framed dining room should be checked for straight and level. Blocking should be added for the smooth support of drywall or other wall finishes. Additional framing should be installed by positioning mock-ups of the finished trims at their future locations and developing the correct framing to support those trims later in the finishing phase of construction. This may require bringing in the finish carpenter to work with the framing carpenter to develop and install the correct blocking and framing.
Clean Design
Trim moldings look best when they are balanced and evenly spaced. When the dining room is in the design stage the architect and the finish carpenter should discuss the finish trim ideas. In this type of design, everything counts. The placement of light switches, outlets, sconces and other features has great impact on the finished look of the trims. When possible the actual size of the room is carefully scaled so that panels, doorways and windows are exactly positioned and balanced to prevent awkward or orphaned sizes and placements. When the dining room is framed, each detail of the preplanning should be double checked to make sure the framing is spot on and that no detail has been missed.
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