How to Install Trim to Beadboard Panels

Adding trim to bead board is a simple project.

Installing trim over bead board is a very simple do-it-yourself project that nearly anyone can do. The hardest part about installing trim is to cut the trim pieces at an angle where they meet in corners along the wall. However, this can easily be done with a coping saw and a miter saw. Always wear appropriate safety gear and a dust mask when working with power tools.

Things You'll Need

• Safety glasses
• Dust mask
• Measuring tape
• Protractor
• Pencil
• Coping saw
• Sawhorse
• Clamps
• Rasp
• ¾-inch brads
• Brad driver
• Miter box

Instructions

1. Start installing the trim in an inside corner. Measure the line for the cut between the trim pieces so they will fit together inside a corner. Place the flat end of a protractor along the base of the trim piece and mark the placement of the angle you want to cut with a pencil. The most common cut for inside corners is a 45-degree angle. This should work for most bead board trim pieces.

2. Clamp the trim pieces to a sawhorse. Guide the blade of the coping saw to saw gently through the line you drew on the trim pieces with the pencil. Cut all the way through the trim piece.

3. Fit the two pieces together to see if they fit. If they do not fit together, use a rasp to file down any unnecessary material until the pieces fit snugly together.

4. Install the pieces of trim against the bead board with brads and a brad driver. Place a brad every 24 inches along the trim piece. Continue until you reach the end of the wall.

5. Measure the corner-to-corner distance of the trim piece to fit trim to an outside corner. Determine the cutting angle necessary to fit the pieces over the outside corner. Again, a 45-degree angle is common for outside corners. Draw a line with a pencil on both trim pieces where the cut is required.

6. Place the two trim pieces inside the miter box just as they would line on the wall. Line the flat edges up with the walls of the box upside down.

7. Cut along the drawn line on the trim pieces. Check the fit to ensure the pieces fit snugly with each other and the outside corner. The pieces should align seamlessly. If they do not, file the edges down until they do fit correctly.

8. Continue to brad the trim pieces in place until you have added trim to all of the bead board paneling in the room.

Tips & Warnings

• Wear safety glasses or goggles and a dust mask when cutting or sanding wood. Wear safety glasses when hammering in nails or brads.

References

• This Old House: Installing Bead Board Trim
• Online Tips: How to Miter Cut Molding
• Family Handyman: How to Cope Cut Trim