How to trim a bank of windows and doors in a custom home

How to trim a bank of windows and doors and make it look good

When trimming out a large room that has a bank of windows and doors at one end you will have to take some time and figure out how all the pieces will fit together before you start ordering the material and installing it.

You probably have a simple way that you are going to install the trim on all the windows and doors in the rest of the house but that in most cases will not work for a large bank of windows and doors.

A couple things can happen if you try to recreate the same trim look around every window and door in a large bank of them;

• Since you are trimming around every window and door then you can make the area look incredibly busy. That is not what you want to accomplish when you trim an area, the trim is suppose to be an accent and finishing to the window and not the highlight.

• Depending on how close together the windows and doors are you could end up having to cut back the casing to make it fit between them and that can look sloppy and unprofessional.

• You can end up with spots where the trim ends and has nothing to butt or flow into, this can ruin the whole look and feel of what you are trying to accomplish.

When attempting to layout for trim details on a large area you are going to have to take the time to make up trim samples and place them on the area. This is one of the easiest ways for you to see if your trim idea will work or not. Time and energy must be expended on this part so that you will be happy with finished product; the reason that designers and architects place windows and doors together at one end of a large room is to help show off your view, let light into the room and help let the outdoors come in doors.

Here are some of the more simpler idea’s that I have used when trimming larger banks of windows and doors to make them look professional and seamless with the windows they are surrounding;

• No matter what the trim profile in the home is use a flat stock (1x4) to trim the entire area. This gives you a clean look and will not distract from the view.

• Use the trim casing on the outside of the band of windows and doors like a picture frame, go all around the outside of it, but do not trim any of the interior areas in it. The interior area’s you can trim in the flat stock (1x4), this look makes the band of windows and doors look like it was installed as one gigantic unit and thus giving it the feeling that it was always meant to be completed like that.

• If you really want to highlight the view outside then you can go to a no trim look and have all of the windows and doors drywall returned. It’s a clean look but in some houses it can be a very modern look so be careful when attempting it.

• If you have large spaces between the banks windows and doors where a lot of trim will fit in then you can do what is called layering. You can add a flat stock piece that is very wide (1x8, 1x10, 1x12) and then install your casing and back band on top of it. This look gives you a very rich and detailed look to the windows and doors, it also will help add depth to the jambs of the windows and doors which can make them seem larger and grander than they actually are.

• With windows above your head do not install a stool or sill, picture framing a window is the best case scenario so that no one has to look at the bottom of the piece of stool.

Whatever you choose to do make certain that you and your contractor have taken the time to plan it out and that you are all on the same page with what you are going to do in the end. Drawing it out on paper will help and mocking up trim samples will help everyone understand what is going to happen and what the fit and finish will be in that area. With a big band of windows and doors communication is the key and the best way for everyone to come out of it happy and satisfied.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.