Moulding Glossary

Back Band
Outer moulding of door or window casing.

Base Cap
A decorative moulding applied flush against the wall on top of a baseboard or used with other moulding for combinations such as chair rail. Also a versatile panel moulding.

Base Mould
Moulding applied where floors and walls meet. May be used with base cap and/or base shoe.

Base Shoe
Applied where base moulding meets the floor. Protects base moulding from damage by cleaning tools. Conceals any uneven lines where base meets the floor.

Baseboard
Also known as skirting; moulding at the juncture of the floor and wall, sometimes divided into three parts: the base mould or cap, the base and the shoe.

Bed Mould
Any moulding beneath a projection, such as a cornice, or the lowest of a band of moulding. See crown mould.

Brick Mould
This is an exterior moulding used as a door or window casing. It is a thick moulding providing a surface for brick or other siding to butt against.

Casing
A decorative and functional moulding used to trim around doors and windows.

Chair Rail
An interior moulding usually applied about 32" above the floor and running parallel to the base. Originally chair rail was used to prevent chairs from marring walls. Today's uses are more as decorative element between different wall coverings.

Crown & Bed Mould
Most often used where walls and ceilings meet. Crown Mouldings are used to cover larger angles. Crowns are always "sprung" while beds are either sprung or "plain." A "sprung" moulding has the interior corner beveled off to better fit a right angle joint.

Millwork
Includes woodwork such as moulding, inside and outside doors, window and door frames, stairwork and cabinets. Does not include flooring, ceiling, or siding.

Moulding
Element of construction or decoration used to create varieties of contours and of light and shadow. Moulding is generally used to mark the boundary between different architectural features, or between different parts of the same feature. The surface of moulding is modeled with recesses and reliefs, which either maintain a constant profile or are set in rhythmically repeated patterns.

Panel Mould
A panel moulding is a decorative pattern, originally used to trim out raised panel wall construction. It is most useful as a frame surrounding an attractive wall covering for a paneled effect on walls.

Plinth Blocks
A block of wood placed at the bottom of door mouldings to serve as a base and to separate the casing and base mouldings.

Rosette
Decorative moulding used with casing to eliminate need for a miter cut.

Stop
In door trim, stop is nailed to the faces of the door frame to prevent the door from swinging through. As window trim, stop holds the bottom sash of a double-hung window in place.

Tongue and Groove
Method of joining wooden elements; the projecting tongue of one element is inserted into the groove of another element.

Wainscott
A lower interior wall surface (usually extending three to four feet up from the floor) that contrasts with the wall surface above it. Wainscott can be decorative or protective. The term originally referred to quartered oak, then to boarding or paneling made of it, then to sheathing or lining for walls.

Window Stool
An interior trim piece on a window; extends the sill and acts as a narrow shelf.