People search for both and mean the same thing. Finish carpentry is everything that goes in after the drywall is up and the walls are painted: the molding, the casing, the paneling, the shelving, the doors. Trim carpentry usually points at the molding side of it. Same tools, same person, same job.
It is also the part of a house that people actually look at. Nobody notices framing. Everybody notices a gap at a miter, a baseboard that waves away from the wall, or a caulk line that was smeared instead of tooled.
Baseboard. Replacing builder-grade three-inch base with something with a profile is the cheapest change with the biggest effect in a Central Florida house.
Door and window casing. Including craftsman-style flat casing with a header, which suits most Orlando homes better than the colonial profile they were built with.
Crown molding. Single-piece or built up from several profiles for depth.
Wainscoting and board and batten. Lower-wall panelling in a dining room, entry or stairwell.
Picture frame molding. Applied rectangles of molding on the wall — the look people usually call French or boiserie. Far less expensive than it looks, because it is trim on a flat wall rather than built panelling.
Slat and acoustic walls. See wood slat walls.
Ceiling work. Wood beams and coffered grids.
Stair trim. Skirt boards, risers, and the panelling that follows the rake of a staircase — the hardest angles in the house and the most obvious when they are wrong.
Shelving and built-ins. See custom carpentry.
Not the walls, not the floors, not the ceilings. That is true of a 1968 house in College Park and it is true of a build finished last year in Lake Nona. The whole craft of finish carpentry is deciding what to do about it.
A corner that measures ninety-one degrees does not get cut at forty-five. It gets found, usually with a bevel gauge, and cut to half of whatever it actually is. A baseboard on a floor that dips gets scribed to the floor rather than forced flat. These are not shortcuts, they are the job — and they are the difference between trim you stop seeing and trim you notice every day.
Baseboard and casing are priced per linear foot. Crown costs more per foot than base, because every cut is compound and all of it happens on a ladder. Panelling and wainscoting are priced per wall. Rather than publish a number that will not match your house, we measure and give you a real one at no cost.
Photos and a rough measurement are usually enough for a number over the phone. For anything involving several rooms or a stair, we come out and measure. Either way the estimate is free and there is no pressure attached to it.
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Wood Slat & Acoustic Walls • Custom Carpentry & Built-Ins • Wood Ceiling Beams • Coffered Ceilings • Cabinet Installation
Nothing meaningful. They are two names for the same trade and the same person. Finish carpentry is the older, broader term and covers everything installed after the drywall is up. Trim carpentry usually refers to the molding side of that work specifically. In Central Florida the two words get used interchangeably, and you will get the same crew either way.
Baseboard and door casing are quoted per linear foot, and crown molding costs more per foot than baseboard because every cut is compound and the whole run happens on a ladder. Wainscoting, board and batten and paneling are quoted per wall. Rather than publish a number that will not match your house, we measure and give you the real one for free.
Yes. Single rooms, a stair run, one wall of paneling, or replacing the builder-grade trim in a hallway are all normal jobs. Small work is how most of our clients start.
Usually. Older Central Florida homes often have profiles that are no longer stocked, so the options are finding the closest current profile, building the profile up from two or three stock pieces, or having it milled. We will show you the match before anything gets installed so you are not surprised.
Yes. Caulk, fill and paint are part of a finish job and are quoted with it. Trim that is installed and left unpainted looks unfinished, and the caulk line is most of what people actually see.
A typical room is one day. Rooms with vaulted ceilings, many corners, or walls that are badly out of square take longer, because every one of those corners is a cut that has to be found rather than measured.
It is most of the job. Almost no wall, floor or ceiling in a real house is square, and the difference between good trim and bad trim is entirely in how those gaps get handled. Scribing, back-cutting and caulk are the tools. A carpenter who cuts everything at forty-five degrees and hopes will leave gaps you cannot unsee.
Two quick details and we can usually quote the same day. No obligation.
Send a photo and a rough measurement — that is usually enough for a real number.
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