Ok quick….what’s missing in these photos?
Give up? It’s the ugly (and completely unnecessary) quarter-round moldings some installers use to “finish off” stairs and base molding on hardwood floors!
A pet peeve of mine: Quarter-round moldings!
Quarter-round moldings…..you know them….ugly, small “trim moldings” meant to cover up a sub-par installation of otherwise beautiful hardwood floors.
Look at the precision installation on these custom stairs. A good installer will take the time to make perfect cuts on the treads and risers so that no molding is needed. None. Nada. Zero.
Also take a look at the base molding installation. These brand-new hardwood floors were installed with such precision, all that was needed to finish them was the base molding….again, no quarter-round!
The truth is: A quality installation of hardwood floors, base molding, and even stairs should never have quarter-round or extra moldings to “finish” it off. The only reason a hardwood flooring installer would install using quarter-round molding is if the flooring or stair installation is sloppy….plain and simple. We even did an installation of custom hardwood stairs on a sweeping, curved staircase without trim molding!
In all of our hardwood flooring installations, we make sure we have the required tolerances to allow for a normal amount of shrinkage/swelling, but the thickness of the base molding should be enough to cover it.
The custom hardwood floors and stairs in these photos are spectacular, and there is nothing “extra” to distract from the beautiful, precision installation.
Bottom line: If your contractor or flooring installer tells you they are using quarter-round trim molding, you should get another bid! (and hopefully from us!)