Trim, Door & Millwork Painting
Baseboard, casing, crown, doors and built-in millwork brought to a levelled finish, sprayed or hand-brushed, your call.
- Free walkthrough
- Fixed written quote
- 1,000+ homes painted
A clear painting scope
- Test for an oil-based existing finish before anything is applied
- De-glossing of all previously coated trim, mechanically or chemically
- Bonding primer over any oil-based or high-sheen existing finish
- Filling of nail holes, splits and open mitres, then sanding flush
How we deliver it
- 01
Identify the existing finish
A denatured alcohol swab tells us in seconds whether we are on oil or acrylic. Getting this wrong is the single most common cause of trim peeling within the year.
- 02
De-gloss
Sanding or a liquid de-glosser across every previously coated surface. New paint has to have something to key into, a glossy surface gives it nothing.
- 03
Fill and sand
Nail holes, splits and open mitres filled and sanded flush. Trim damage is small and close-range, so it has to actually disappear rather than merely be covered.
Questions
Full FAQHow do I know if my trim is oil-based?
Rub an inconspicuous spot with a cotton pad and a little denatured alcohol or methyl hydrate. If paint transfers onto the pad, it is latex or acrylic. If nothing comes off, it is oil-based alkyd. This matters enormously: waterborne paint applied directly over cured oil will not form a bond, and it will strip off in sheets the first time a vacuum cleaner hits the baseboard. Any painter who does not check this on a pre-2005 home is guessing.
Should trim be sprayed or brushed?
Sprayed gives you a dead-flat film with zero brush texture, the right look for a modern home and for anything with flat-panel doors. Hand-brushed leaves a slight, traditional texture that suits a Victorian or Edwardian home and avoids the significant masking cost that spraying inside a finished room requires. Neither is objectively better. We quote both so the choice is aesthetic rather than budgetary.
Why does my white trim look yellow?
Because it is oil-based. Alkyd resins amber over time, and the effect is dramatically worse in rooms that get little natural light, the inside of a closet will yellow far faster than a sunlit hallway. Modern waterborne alkyds give you the same hardness and flow-out without the yellowing, which is why we specify them on essentially all trim work now.
Get a fixed quote for trim & doors.
Free walkthrough, a fixed written quote, and no obligation to go ahead.
- 1,000+ homes painted
- Free walkthroughs
- Fixed written quotes
- Serving Toronto and the GTA