When architects and construction professionals build a house, they do their best to ensure the accuracy of every angle. Flat walls are meant to meet floors and ceilings at 90 degrees, for instance. However, this perfection is rarely, if ever, achieved. Even the sturdiest homes must rest on the ground, which naturally shifts and sinks. Over time, homes gradually drift with these shifts and those once-even angles become less and less aligned.
Of course, these changes take time, and in some cases, you might not even notice that your features are less even than before. However, if you move into an older home, or one that’s on less solid ground (i.e. near water or fault lines), this lack of balance might be striking. Aside from gutting the property completely or doing some clever interior painting, how can you correct uneven floors, walls, or corners?
Finish carpentry might have the answer.
How Does Finish Carpentry Fix Uneven Angles?
In addition to introducing some detail and fine design to an interior, a large part of a finish carpenter’s job is to compensate for uneven features by tricking the eye, so to speak. Finish carpentry is an art form that relies more on the worker’s eye and manual skills than hard numbers. When crafting a new piece of wood for a property, a professional finish carpenter always considers how to properly fit the piece to the existing shape while also ensuring an even appearance. This may seem like an impossible task, but a steady, experienced hand can get the job done.
Like professional painters, skilled finish carpenters may use different techniques to visually even out a floor, wall, or corner. Let’s go over a few of these techniques.
The Benefit of Bisecting
When crafting and installing finish carpentry, the longer the piece, the less likely it is to make a perfect fit. In order to cover these lengthier corners and create an even appearance, it sometimes helps to cut the piece in half and create a new piece to fill the center. By bisecting the new feature, you can ensure that both the left and right sides are even, which is necessary for convincing the eye. The middle piece will then act as a sort of seamless joint that makes up the difference. When properly installed and then coated by pro painters, the result will resemble one continuous and even piece.
Parallel Thinking
Finish carpenters must make difficult decisions at every step, so it helps to have some general rules in place to direct their next move. One of these guidelines is to ultimately focus on making objects parallel. This sometimes conflicts with achieving even appearances. But our eyes tend to notice when lines diverge even more than if a surface is uneven. So, in the final stages of their work, finish carpenters will make measurements that ensure objects appear parallel to one another. For instance, the bottom of a door should look parallel to the floor below it.
Forget Fitting Flush
Lastly, it might seem counterintuitive to achieving even appearances, but finish carpenters often leave some room between their feature and the wall, floor, or corner, knowing that the property will continue shifting. If the objects are too snug, they may break as the home settles, and at the very least, they’ll stop being flush. By providing some space between the carpentry and surface, there is more leeway and the piece will stay in place much longer and still look even.
The work of a finish carpentry professional shouldn’t be taken for granted. Proper finish carpentry doesn’t just beautify a space with elegant detail but hides flaws as well. At All American Painting Plus, our people can enhance your home’s appearance and integrity in many ways. In addition to our finish carpentry and painting services, we offer wallpaper removal, drywall hanging and repairs, pressure washing, and more.
To learn more about us and everything we offer our clients in Northern Virginia, give us a call at (703)-620-5563!
