We are doing a semi-gut renovation of our Brooklyn brownstone. We managed to preserve all of the architectural details on the parlor floor but lost all of our crown moldings and baseboards on the upper bedroom levels (10ft ceilings). We really want a period home so we decided to add new 7″ to 9″ two-step moldings and 9″ to 11″ baseboards. However, our budget is somewhat limited so plaster crown moldings are not a viable option. Our plan is to paint all of the trim on the upper floors white so we are considering going with wood or MDF. If we go with wood, we’re thinking about something not too expensive like poplar or stretching our budget on the oak. Our contractor said that good quality MDF when painted is indistinguishable from painted wood and thus an excellent cost saving substitute. In addition, he said that most new luxury construction homes and condos used high quality painted MDF. Is the above true? What are the drawbacks to MDF? Since we are painting the trim white does it make a difference? Does anyone have any suggestions on a source for moldings and a reasonably priced installer? Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We are doing a semi-gut renovation of our Brooklyn brownstone. We managed to preserve all of the architectural details on the parlor floor but lost all of our crown moldings and baseboards on the upper bedroom levels (10ft ceilings). We really want a period home so we decided to add new 7″ to 9″ two-step…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"schneps_byline":"","schneps_post_style":"","schneps_post_source":"","schneps_syndicated_read_more":"","schneps_post_source_sitename":"","schneps_syndicated_thumb_html":"","schneps_syndicated_thumb_src":"","schneps_post_source_shortname":"","schneps_post_source_url":"","schneps_post_source_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,107,58,4,133],"tags":[],"districts":[],"class_list":["post-8018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-carpentry","category-plaster","category-renovation","category-restoration","category-woodwork"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/brownstoner.com\/forum-archive\/2006\/11\/mdf-or-wood-for\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"MDF or Wood for Painted Crown Moldings","url":"http:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/forum-archive\/2006\/11\/mdf-or-wood-for\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.brownstoner.com\/forum-archive\/2006\/11\/mdf-or-wood-for\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":""},"articleSection":"Carpentry","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"anon"}],"creator":["anon"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Forum Archive","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2006-11-15T20:37:02Z","datePublished":"2006-11-15T20:37:02Z","dateModified":"2008-07-28T16:27:18Z"},"rendered":"