The debate on pre-finishing trim before install - waste of time or smart move?

I used to think pre-finishing all my trim before install was just extra steps for no reason. Figured I'd just spray everything after it's up like I always did. But last month on a job in Portland, the homeowner insisted I pre-finish all the baseboards and casing before nailing them in. Now I'm seeing fewer gaps from touch-ups and the finish looks way cleaner. Has anyone else flipped their opinion on this or am I overthinking it?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles27723d ago

Read an article in Fine Homebuilding a while back where a guy did a test on this. He pre-finished half his pieces and left the other half raw, then compared the nail holes and joints after painting everything. The pre-finished stuff had way less cracking at the seams because the paint was already sealed into the wood before any movement happened. The raw pieces had those little hairline splits showing up around the nail heads after a few months. Saw the same thing on a job last year where the homeowner had me do it that way, and yeah, the touch-up work is just about zero compared to the old way.

anna75823d ago

Wait, you actually saw zero touch-up work on a whole job? That's wild.