Fitting architrave
Architrave simply covers the joint created by a door frame (the door lining) and the surrounding wall surface. There are many styles available, and most people match the profile/design of their architrave with the skirting board in the room. Fitting architrave is a very straightforward job, with the only potentially tricky part being that you need to cut accurate mitred joints for the corners. Old architrave can normally be prised off with a claw hammer.
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1. Mark a margin on the door lining. This is a 5-10mm gap between the edge of the door lining and the inside edge of the architrave. |
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2. Draw margins either side of the door and at the top, joining at the corners at right angles. On the left, align a length of architrave with the margin, and mark off where the architrave meets the right angle of the margins at the top. |
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3. Position the architrave in a mitre block and cut a mitre using the mark as a guideline. |
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4. Precisely reposition the length of architrave on the left of the door and fix it in place temporarily so that adjustments can be made if required. |
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5. Cut another mitre on a length of architrave slightly longer than required for the top (head) section. Hold it in position and check the joint. |
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6. Holding firmly in place, mark off at the other margin corner, and then cut this mitre. Do not fit the head section yet. |
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7. On the right, align another length of architrave, mark, cut and mitre as on the left side and secure in place along the margin with some nails – again don’t drive the nails completely home. |
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8. Now position the head piece, and check that it fits perfectly – make any small adjustments if required. Then, permanently secure the head section with four nails. Use at least six nails to secure each upright. |
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9. Use a nail punch to knock all nail heads below the surface. These fixing holes may then be filled and sanded before decoration. |
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10. To keep the mitred corners tight you need to fix through both sections. Use a 3mm wood bit to drill pilot holes through the mitres before knocking in nails (one on each corner). |
Architrave tips
- If you are replacing or fitting both architrave and skirting, always fit the architrave first.
- If the door lining is not precisely ‘square’, simply adjust the exact 45 degree mitred cut accordingly.
- Take care when positioning fixings – make sure you avoid hitting cables or wires – in most cases you should be able to direct fixings into the wooden lining.
- You can use screws to fix architrave, but nails are normally all that is required. If you are fitting particularly wide architrave, you may need to fix into a masonry wall surface – in which case, a few screw fixings will help secure the architrave in place.
- If you plan on doing a lot of work requiring mitred cuts, buying an electric mitre saw will make life an awful lot easier. For more information, check out my mitre saw buying guide.
