Trim I repair
- Tall wood baseboards reattached and gaps at the floor and wall closed
- Damaged sections cut out and spliced with matched profiles
- Door casings and window trim with dents or splits repaired
- Picture rail and chair rail re-secured
- Water-damaged trim by bathrooms and kitchens replaced and sealed
- Layers of chipped paint smoothed before repainting
Old trim in San Gabriel homes
With 52.3 percent of the city’s homes over 60 years old, according to the Housing Element preliminary report, a lot of San Gabriel trim is solid old-growth wood with built-up profiles. Matching it means combining stock moldings or shaping a piece by hand, and that’s worth doing rather than replacing a whole room.
Old trim usually carries many coats of paint, sometimes oil-based under latex. I sand and prime properly so new paint doesn’t peel, and I ask about the home’s age before sanding paint that may be very old.
How trim gets repaired
Assess the piece
I check whether it can be reattached, patched, or needs a spliced section.
Match the profile
Stock moldings are combined or a piece is shaped to match.
Splice and fasten
The new section is glued, nailed into framing and blended at the joint.
Prime and paint
The repair is filled, primed and painted to match.
Outside my work
Whole-house trim replacement and restoration of ornate millwork go to a finish carpenter. If damaged trim hides a leak, the leak gets fixed first.
On the same San Gabriel visit, people also tend to ask about plaster crack repair, wood rot repair or tub and tile caulking.
What to text
A photo of the damage, a side view of the trim profile, and the room.
Baseboard and trim questions from San Gabriel
Can you match old baseboard?
Usually, by combining stock moldings or shaping a piece to the same profile.
Why is there a gap under my baseboard?
Floors settle or trim shrinks. Shoe molding or re-setting the board closes it.
Can a handyman repair door casings?
Yes. Dents and splits are filled or spliced and painted.
Is it OK to sand old painted trim?
Older paint may contain lead. I take precautions and ask about the home’s age first.
How much does baseboard repair cost?
It depends on the profile and length. Send a photo for a free estimate before anything is booked.
Can you replace swollen trim by the tub?
Yes, with a sealed, moisture-resistant piece.
Trim tips for San Gabriel homes
- Getting new paint to stick to old glossy trimHow to tell if trim in an older San Gabriel home has oil-based paint, and how we prep it so new paint sticks instead of peeling.
- Patching old plaster walls without making them worseWhy hard cement patches fail on the soft plaster walls of San Gabriel's older and adobe-style homes, how to tell what you have, and how we repair it.
We’re a handyman in San Gabriel for small repairs like this one, with an upfront price by text.
This job sits in our drywall, plaster and paint touch-ups group. For other repairs, see the services overview, or start with the repair guide for San Gabriel’s older homes.