How to Finish Interior Wood Trim
The easiest way to finish interior wood trim is to do so before you hang it. Painting or staining small pieces of wood is much easier when they are sitting on a flat surface, like a floor, than when they are already up and attached to a wall. Finishing interior wood trim before you hang it also saves you the hassle of having to tape wall edges or worry about paint drips on carpeting or floors. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Primer
- Paint
- Paintbrush
- Finish nails
- Nail set
- Hammer
- Wood putty
- Sandpaper
Instructions
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1
Measure and cut. Cut all the pieces of interior wood trim to fit. With a pencil, number them and write where they go on the back of the trim. It's also a good idea to write this on a piece of paper.
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2
Sand the ends. Using a piece of fine-grit sandpaper, hand-sand the raw cut edges of the wood trim.
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3
Apply primer. The wood will soak up the first coat of primer almost completely, so plan on applying at least two to three coats.
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4
Paint the trim. After the primer has dried completely, apply at least two coats of your chosen paint color.
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5
Hang the trim. Once the paint is dry, hang all of the interior wood trim with finish nails according to how you labeled them in Step 1.
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6
Counter-sink the nails. With the nail set and hammer, sink the nails in to just below the surface of the wood.
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7
Fill and sand. Fill the nail holes with wood putty, allow to dry. Sand the putty with fine-grit sandpaper. Repeat once.
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8
Prime and paint filled nail holes. Using a small paintbrush, prime and paint the filled nail holes to match the rest of the wood trim.
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Tips & Warnings
Always remember to fill the gaps. After you hang the trim, look for gaps in the wood trim at mitered or straight cut corners. Fill with wood putty, sand, prime and paint.
Never drive in nails too close to the edges of the trim. This will cause the wood trim to split. If you must drive in a nail close to an edge, drill a small pilot hole first.
