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Having our home in Northern Wisconsin means lots of frost in the ground in winter. Last year it went past 6 feet and many people dealt with well problems. A few years ago, a friend removed all of his batten strips on the walls, used flexible calk, and plastered the joints. A lot of time and a lot of work. With the movement of his home last winter, most of the joints cracked. So, I am going to live with the strips. However, I want to trim around my doors and windows with a nice wide colonial oak trim. I am going to need to cut the strips so the trim will fit. What is the best way to do this project so the batten strips fit nicely against the trim?

Thanks

Can you post a few pictures so we can see what you are up against?

Greg

The batten strips are quite fragile, so it would be best to cut them in place if at all possible. I just used a utility knife to cut them.

or equivalent

Your post tells me that your walls are painted. You may find getting nice corners on your door and window casings more challenging than the battens. In both instances, painter's caulk before the repaint can make you look like a Master Craftsman.

One way to get nice corners on casing is first, be sure the walls are absolutely flat, with no nails, staples, texture or caulk bumps. Then dry fit the casings to be sure that when the corners are perfect, the length of the trim will parallel your door where you want it to. Then when installing the casing, put the top section in first, then fit the corners (side to top) together and using a brad nailer, nail from the top down into the side trim. This will help keep the corners flush as you fasten the sides down. If you want a perfect casing, caulk the edges with painter's caulk and fill nail holes and smooth joints with a product like DAP Fast ‘N Final. The new Elmer's product works well too. Let the filler dry completely and fill again, as the filler usually shrinks a little.

JMHO

To trim the batten strips to make room for your new molding use a simple hand chisel or an oscillating tool like posted above.