Moulding mani

By Dale Burgdorf Pacific Hardwood Co. Los Alamitos, Ca.

N/I'OULDINGS have long been a functional as well as IYldecorative part of interior woodwork. The earliest forms were primaiity purposeful. Base moulding was used to cover the opening between the floor and wall, casing to bridge the gap between the wall and door jamb.

Along with door stops, base shoes, scribes and edgebands, these finish details performed a task that was necessary to complete a job and make it look acceptable.

Whether the lumber industry realizes it or not, we are currently in the midst of a mini-revolution that is transforming the way we look at wood mouldings. Although mouldings are still functional, beauty, style and elegance

TheRenaissanceis already

have become the new focus of architects, builders, designers and interior finishers. There is a growing demand for quality mouldings that is unprecedented. Lavish hotels, fancy restaurants and custom-built homes are no longer the only users requiring good looking details.

But what happened? Wasn't it just a few years ago when the racks of dusty red oak mouldings were becoming an eyesore? What changed?

Did you ever take a look at an old catalog from the '50s or '60s? It was more the size of an insurance pamphlet and had about as much appeal as a church bulletin. No wonder the "711" style became so popular since the only other choice was "streamline"! Talk about limitations.

Incidentally, the name "711" lacks nomenclature richness. The term actually was derived from its purpose. To encase a 6'8"x3'6" opening, you needed a7'leg plus an ll' piece for the other leg and header. Thus, 7+ I I =7 I I . Now that is function at its raw best! The problem with the early "brochures" is that they lacked choices and style-and even pages.

All that is changing. Many lumber companies and moulding houses are offering new catalogs that serve as tremendous marketing tools for mouldings. Color pages, three-dimensional-looking details, full-size illustrations, creative new styles, and multiple species adom these large, 50+ pages of enhanced architectural dream catalogs. The visualization of large and upscale details permits builders, architects, designers, carpenters and homeowners to lay out a plan for every room in the house-or the hotel, restaurant, office, courtroom, library, bookstore, barbershop or bistro.

The catalogs have bases, casings, wainscoting, wall caps, panel molds, crowns, flooring, accent strips, plant- ons, chair rails, columns, archways, radius corners, bended beams. build-ups. stair parts, transition strips, wowl And don't forget you can get them fluted, embossed, stained or finished.

For the millworker. the influx of machinery has been the revolutionary tool. Across the country, lumber companies are adding stateof-the-art equipment that improves the quality of milling. These "stickers" are quiet, efficient, simple, sophisticated and. oh. yes. expensive. Their high-speed performance and incredible preciseness have made even the testiest profiles easy to make and match. Set-up times are reduced, consistency improved, and operation simplified. The technological improvement in millwork has helped set the stage for creativity, innovation and productivity.

The Renaissance is already upon us as the demand for bigger, longer. clearer and consistent rings in every millwright's ear. The customer needs the walnut to be black, the mahogany dark red, i the cherry with no sap, the oak very Northern and the white maple with no heart (sounds like a lumber sales person). And the . paint grade material needs to be, . well, paintable. No raised grain, . no knots, no wane, no sap, no defects. (Wait a minute, this is lumber.) Still, architects are call. ing for patterns that are dramatic, styles that are provocative, and finffiM@ il3'fi"f,ff.., ihat a.e ready ror . Sfiffi_*ry "H

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With new brochures, updated sle4"l@w catalogs, faxed drawings and com-. ilTi3}*'*#"::H;'::"J'"#; I builder in town will be well prepared and equipped for the nexicustom MARK-ETING,moulding projeci. -'ihe question is wherhe' i)ffi!frI&rlj:if #3il your lumber yard and sales people oiprotifis, such as this are ready. The new future of mould- 1939 millwork catalog ing is very bright; embrace it, under- [9m f .,.1,,!!a1to1,{ stind it, tove, it and sel it-at good ,!:* +tlg le^lL looklet from T.M. Cobb Co. margins, please!