Baseboard Height for Low Ceiling?
BAN
include decorative frames made out of panel molding below the chair rail as
well as crown molding.
My dilemma is this...
The final ceiling height will only be about 89 inches. I am trying to
determine the best height for the baseboards. Since the rest of the house
has 3 1/4 inch baseboards, should I stick with that size? In all of the
books I have looked at, I have never seen such a thin baseboard with formal
wall frame treatments.
I am afraid it might look funny, but on the other hand, I don't want it to
look too thick with such a low ceiling. Also, I wonder how important it is
for the baseboards to match the other floors.
Any opinions would be appreciated.
-Brent
Ray
Dining room. The look I believe has to reflect the old mop boards that were
present in victorial homes. I believe that 6 inch is a minimum and will
look nice. Bigger could be better in certain situations. I don't know why
the issue with ceiling ht has anything to do with the baseboard ht ?????????
If you are going to have chair rail out place it's top at 34 inches above
the floor.
Ray
BAN <bjunkRE...@cinci.rr.com> wrote in message
news:kjVJ7.20066$z55.3...@typhoon.neo.rr.com...
Wilson Lamb
Wilson
Mark Lammert
throughout the entire house which has the normal 8' ceilings... I am not an
expert on this, but I would think the "taller" the molding the "taller" the
room will look... Kind of the same way the "large" tile you use on the floor
the "larger" the room looks...
Could be wrong, but it makes sense to me...
Good luck,
Mark
"BAN" <bjunkRE...@cinci.rr.com> wrote in message
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ghost-sniper
"Mark Lammert" <mlam...@healthlink.com> wrote in message
news:tvi4i26...@corp.supernews.com...
> I too am getting ready to do base molding... I am doing 6" molding
> throughout the entire house which has the normal 8' ceilings... I am not
an
> expert on this, but I would think the "taller" the molding the "taller"
the
> room will look... Kind of the same way the "large" tile you use on the
floor
> the "larger" the room looks...
>
> Could be wrong, but it makes sense to me...
>
I'll be putting straight 1x8 fir baseboard in our house, with 1" quarter rd.
at the bottom (to cover the ends of the wood flooring) and 1/2" quarter rd.
on top of the 1x8 to shed dust. Some of the rooms will have 8' ceilings but
the majority will be vaulted at 4/12 pitch. I think the scale is just right.
(sure beats that 3.5" colonial/cove basebd that is so common) I'm also going
to case all the doors and windows with 1x4 fir on the sides, 1x6 on top and
1x6 sills w/ 1x4 below. It's gonna look great. I did interior elevations in
AutoCAD to see how it will look and did a 3D version for my wife to see.
Christopher K.Egan
I almost didn't reply because this is exactly what we architects get
paid to do....but since my first independent project was a basement
addition, I couldn't resist.
First....it is possible to make a basement feel spacious...the trick is
to make the walls look lower than they are and the ceiling look higher
than it is. One trick is to use a "picture rail" molding mounted at
least a few inches below the ceiling, use a cove or rounded corners to
"erase" the edge between wall and ceiling...and then to paint the
--
............................................................
Egan-Martinez designs
San Antonio, Texas &
Mexico City, Mexico
Christopher Egan, Architect
Ana Martinez, Graphic Designer & Food Stylist
E-MAIL: ce...@egan-martinez.com
WEBSITE: http://www.egan-martinez.com
aajw.lazenby
stay away from any crown, and you might consider keeping your chair rail as
low as possible to still be a chair rail.
Jim
"BAN" <bjunkRE...@cinci.rr.com> wrote in message
news:kjVJ7.20066$z55.3...@typhoon.neo.rr.com...
Marcello Penso
bjunkRE...@cinci.rr.com says...
ceiling with the base, there is no need to make the base height
'proportional' to the wall height.
However, if there are other rooms right off the basement that do have the
3.25" baseboard, it would look funny to have two different heights 'next'
to each other.
Stick with the 6", 8", or whatever height base that best ties
(proportionally speaking) into the panel molding motifs.
Remember also that you can have 'double' bases, depending on the
complexity of the panel mouldings.
I would make the treatment a light color, to give the room a greater
sense of lightness. Dark colored paneling will make the room seem
smaller.
Marcello
Christopher K.Egan
arrived...and the partial reply was sent when my partner was checking
e-mail...
I'll complete the reply now.
Christopher K.Egan wrote:
>
> Brent...
>
> I almost didn't reply because this is exactly what we architects get
> paid to do....but since my first independent project was a basement
> addition, I couldn't resist.
>
> First....it is possible to make a basement feel spacious...the trick is
> to make the walls look lower than they are and the ceiling look higher
> than it is. One trick is to use a "picture rail" molding mounted at
> least a few inches below the ceiling, use a cove or rounded corners to
> "erase" the edge between wall and ceiling...and then to paint the
entire coved wall and ceiling a light color.
Any light color will help "lift" the ceiling...but I prefer to use a
glossy or semi-gloss finish in order to create a sense of depth...and
thereby of additional height. (This is a trick I learned from the work
of Carlo Scarpa...actually, any surface can be "dematerialized" by
giving it a high-gloss surface.)
Another trick is to install a chair rail a bit lower than
normal...fooling the mind into seeing the wall as higher than it is. 30
or 32 inches is high enough and increases the height of the wall. As
for the base height...I wouldn't worry too much...make it high enough to
resist sweeping and mopping...but 3.5 to 4 inches is plenty.
If you are interested...I have at least one image of a basement project
on our website...."Sorbara Family Room" under "Residential
Architecture"... (yes I know we need to upgrade the site....maybe this
weekend!)
Actually...the main reason for this post is to remind younger architects
that there are real tricks that can be learned about the making of
architecture.
Hope this helps!
Christopher
LSM
> The final ceiling height will only be about 89 inches. I am trying to
> determine the best height for the baseboards. Since the rest of the house
> has 3 1/4 inch baseboards, should I stick with that size? In all of the
> books I have looked at, I have never seen such a thin baseboard with formal
> wall frame treatments.
I don't think you should worry about the height of the room either.
After all, quite a few older New England houses have quite low ceiling
heights yet manage to have decent sized bases.
Although I'm not in New England, when my husband and I added on and
remodeled our house, we put in 1x6 for base -- our ceiling is 8'. Our
*next* house (we say that a lot -- should be at least another five
years before we're serious) will probably have 9' or 10' ceilings on
the first floor, at least in the main living spaces. I plan to up the
base size as well -- I like chunky, so I'd use 1x12 if I thought my
husband would let me get away with it.
You only live once, so trim BOLDLY! Thin just looks like you're being
timid.
Lori
ghost-sniper
"LSM" <stud...@net-magic.net> wrote in message
news:a44e3289.01111...@posting.google.com...
> "BAN" <bjunkRE...@cinci.rr.com> wrote
>
> > The final ceiling height will only be about 89 inches. I am trying to
> > determine the best height for the baseboards. Since the rest of the
house
> > has 3 1/4 inch baseboards, should I stick with that size? In all of the
> > books I have looked at, I have never seen such a thin baseboard with
formal
> > wall frame treatments.
>
> I don't think you should worry about the height of the room either.
> After all, quite a few older New England houses have quite low ceiling
> heights yet manage to have decent sized bases.
>
> Although I'm not in New England, when my husband and I added on and
> remodeled our house, we put in 1x6 for base -- our ceiling is 8'. Our
> *next* house (we say that a lot -- should be at least another five
> years before we're serious)
Now is the time to do it, interest rates may not be this low for a long,
long time.
will probably have 9' or 10' ceilings on
> the first floor, at least in the main living spaces.
Ahhh.....Volumetrix ! Space to breath !
I plan to up the
> base size as well -- I like chunky, so I'd use 1x12 if I thought my
> husband would let me get away with it.
Now you're talking.
I wanted to go with 1x12 with a 1x4 around the bottom but my wife wouldn't
go for it.
(maybe I should trade her in ? j/k)
> You only live once, so trim BOLDLY! Thin just looks like you're being
> timid.
Or following the lead.
I prefer to make a statement.
Peter Ireland
<ce...@egan-martinez.com> writes
>Sorry...I was in the middle of writing a reply when a client
>arrived...and the partial reply was sent when my partner was checking
>e-mail...
>
>I'll complete the reply now.
snip....
> (This is a trick I learned from the work
>of Carlo Scarpa...actually, any surface can be "dematerialized" by
>giving it a high-gloss surface.)
>
>
>Actually...the main reason for this post is to remind younger architects
>that there are real tricks that can be learned about the making of
>architecture.
We can all use reminders like this Chris - especially with as good
credentials as Scarpa.
>
>Hope this helps!
>Christopher
--
Peter Ireland
pe...@voidprojects.nospam.co.uk
Marcello Penso
says...
> Sorry...I was in the middle of writing a reply when a client
> arrived...and the partial reply was sent when my partner was checking
> e-mail...
>
> I'll complete the reply now.
>
> Christopher K.Egan wrote:
> >
> > Brent...
> >
> > I almost didn't reply because this is exactly what we architects get
> > paid to do....but since my first independent project was a basement
> > addition, I couldn't resist.
> >
> > First....it is possible to make a basement feel spacious...the trick is
> > to make the walls look lower than they are and the ceiling look higher
> > than it is. One trick is to use a "picture rail" molding mounted at
> > least a few inches below the ceiling, use a cove or rounded corners to
> > "erase" the edge between wall and ceiling...and then to paint the
> entire coved wall and ceiling a light color.
>
> Any light color will help "lift" the ceiling...but I prefer to use a
> glossy or semi-gloss finish in order to create a sense of depth...and
> thereby of additional height. (This is a trick I learned from the work
> of Carlo Scarpa...actually, any surface can be "dematerialized" by
> giving it a high-gloss surface.)
>
Scarpa often used a stucco technique common in the Veneto region of
Italy, where the stucco finish is polished off with bee's wax, to give
the ultra smooth, high gloss finish.
Silvano Faresin, a follower of Tobias Scarpa, used the stucco quite well
in a restoration of a convent in Vicenza, and I saw it in quite a few
places in Venice as well.
Oddly enough, I haven't seen it used much outside the Veneto region,
though we sometimes used in Versace stores (without the bee's wax.)
Marcello
Marcello Penso
mpe...@bellsouth.net says...
I forgot to mention another important aspect of 'stucco veneziano', which
is that it is 'two-toned'. A darker version of the desired color is
applied first, and a light version of the color is applied afterwards,
while the darker base is still wet. The application for both is done with
sweeping arcs, ranging from elbow to arms length, in any direction.
The mix winds up giving the surface movement and depth.
Funny that a such a 'poor man's' version of stucco finish has become
prized enough that even companies in Singapore offer it (!)
Christopher K.Egan
I saw this type of stucco work in Venice and in Verona (part of the
Veneto region)...and it is exactly as you described...although I had
heard that linseed oils were used in some of the layers. I used a
similar technique in NYC and it was lovely....the oils added a bit of
sheen...but maybe I was misunderstanding the original technique.
One of the reasons I emphasized the sheen of the ceiling in my own
basement project was that I noticed in some of Scarpa's design sketches
from the 1930s that the sheen was intentional...not just the result of a
plasterer's technique....he clearly drew reflections in both the marble
floor and the high-gloss ceiling...and the space looks continuous.
Anyway...thanks again and have a good weekend!
Christopher