A.Tom
O’Brien, a restoration contractor from
Richmond, Va., responds: The short answer to
your question is yes, there are plenty of sources
for old moldings.
Finding an exact match for a particular profile,
however, can be a challenge.
Molding patterns vary significantly from region
to region, and even locally, from mill to mill. If
you must match an old profile precisely, a good bet
is a local salvage yard or demolition contractor,
or a nearby mill which might have the correct
molding knives already in stock. Then
you’d only have to pay a setup fee or
minimum charge.
If you’ve already exhausted your local
connections, the best sources I’ve found
for locating restoration suppliers are
Traditional Building Magazine (69A Seventh
Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217; 718/636-0788;
www.traditional -building.com) and the annual
Restoration Directory published by Old House
Journal (2 Main Street, Gloucester, MA 01930;
800/931-2931; www.oldhouse journal.com.)
Both publications also post a lot of this
information on their Web sites. Each listing
includes a brief description of the
company’s specialties, whether it has any
catalogs or literature, and whether it sells
through mail order, retail stores, or distributors.
When you find a promising source, you’ll
probably want to trace the molding’s
profile and fax it to them to be sure of an exact
match. Keep in mind that not every replacement must
blend perfectly. While prominent interior moldings
must be very close, you’ve got a lot more
latitude with exterior trim, especially high
cornice work. I can almost always find a stock
molding that, with minor table saw modifications,
will look perfect from two stories below.
Since you’re in Maine, you might try
Windham Millworks (P.O. Box 1358, Windham, ME
04062; 207/892-3238). They claim to have 1,000
molder knives in stock and charge an $80 setup fee
for short runs, with no setup fee for 250 feet or
more.
Further afield, Forester Moulding &
Lumber, Inc. (152 Hamilton Street, Leominster, MA
01453; 800/823-7826; www.forestermoulding.com), has
knives for 2,000 custom profiles, which
they’ll run for a $95 setup charge for
orders under 300 linear feet. If you fax the
profile and quantity, they promise you a quote
within four working hours. They also promise a
four- to eight-day turnaround time once an order is
placed. All of these profiles can be seen in their
Custom Profiles Binder ($29) or CAD database
($69).
In the West, Arvid’s Woods (2500 Hewitt
Ave., Everett, WA 98201; 800/627-8437) claims to
keep 400 moldings in stock as well as the knives to
make more than 1,500 custom profiles. There is
generally no setup charge for custom moldings, but
minimum orders range from $50 to $150, depending on
complexity. They have free brochures available or a
120-page catalog for $6.
Before going the mail-order route, there are a
few other strategies you might consider:
- Repair old moldings — even badly
damaged ones — with epoxy.
- Restore small, missing sections of trim
with epoxy molds and castings. Besides making
epoxies, Abatron (5501 95th Ave., Kenosha, WI
53144; 800/445-1754) has mold-making kits for
this purpose.
- Scavenge extra pieces of trim from
inconspicuous places like closets.
- Build up trim profiles from combinations of
stock moldings.
- Replicate old profiles, or modify stock
moldings, with router and table saw.