One of the best things you can to do transform your custom Vancouver home from a run-of-the-mill house into an extraordinary masterpiece is by giving proper attention to the way your contractor handles interior trim.
Interior trim is strictly decorative.
It doesn’t serve a functional purpose.
However, the one thing interior trim does better than just about anything else is bring to a home a real sense of uniqueness and excitement.
When you’re in a home with well-done interior trim, you realize you’re in a special place.
It all but screams “this is a quality build”.
For this reason alone, you should seriously consider insisting upon good interior trim when you build your custom Vancouver home.
The Major Kinds of Interior Trim
When we talk about interior trim, this is generally what we’re talking about:
- Baseboard trim – the trim elements at the base of walls in your home
- Wood paneling (wainscoting) – Most often used in home offices and recreation rooms, wood paneling is a visually stunning addition to any room
- Mouldings (sometimes called crown mouldings) – the fancy looking straight or curved adornments where the wall meets to ceiling
The Secret to Fantastic Looking Interior Trim
Most contractors can install interior trim, and in many cases, it even looks good… at first.
The passage of time then exposes the deficiencies in the way some builders install interior trim.
I’ve received hundreds of calls through the years from people letting me know how unhappy there are with the builder they trusted to handle their project. They report that their interior trim has begun splitting, cracking, or bowing. Even worse, the paint and caulking begin peeling away, and the result is interior trim that looks terrible and is in need of being completely redone.
Few tradesmen have mastered interior trim to the point of being able to install interior trim properly, with the skill and mastery of an artist who will make interior trim visually stunning in a way that will stand the test of time.
What it Takes to Properly Install Interior Trim That Will Last
They say it takes a village to raise a child.
It takes a talented team of professional craftsmen to create mouldings and interior trim using best practices.
Let me explain.
Three groups of people have to create an environment where interior trim can exist in the best way possible:
Drywaller – Sets the stage for great trim by using precision methods to properly install and prepare drywall to receive the mouldings
Finisher – Must be able to do precision cuts, a skill developed over many years working on countless projects until their skill is unmatched in the industry
Painter – Properly covering mouldings and other interior trim with paint, evenly and with a practiced hand
The trick to giving your interior trim on your custom Vancouver home its best chance of lasting is to use only high-quality materials. I cannot stress this enough. Excellent paint, good quality caulking, and avoiding the use of cheap trim boards which bow quickly are undeniably a huge piece of the puzzle. When combined with skilled tradesmen, your interior trim can impress… and last for years to come.
A Final Word on Interior Trim
Before choosing the best interior trim options for your custom home build, it’s important for you to think about how much it will cost (as well as who will install it).
So be sure to sit down to discuss how interior trim factors into your overall construction budget as well as which skilled tradesmen will be doing the work.
Your construction budget doesn’t have to be large enough to recreate the Louvre in your custom Vancouver home. In fact, there are things that Larch Construction does as a company to make your construction dollar stretch, and it all begins with planning and properly developing a realistic budget.
We have built many homes for people who have relatively minor questions about particular aspects of custom home development, including interior trim.
By sitting down with people and learning what they desire most, we have a long list of clients who are thrilled with their interior trim and every aspect of their custom Vancouver home.
Follow my advice about interior trim and you’ll wind up with interior trim that will stand the test of time and will be a visually stunning representation of your taste and desires for your home for years to come.
A Final Thought
The thoughts above are just a few of the details that go into planning custom Vancouver homes that are built to last. There are many pieces of the custom home building puzzle – budgeting, design, planning, building, and many others – that can help you make your Vancouver custom home a reality for you and your family.
When you’re ready to begin a conversation about how Larch Custom Home Construction can be a valuable resource in building your custom Vancouver home, you can reach out to us to get started.
