Wood Cornice Recommendations?

Our house is missing it’s cornice and we are finally ready to replace it.  Has anyone had a wooden cornice made?  If so, who made it for you?  I understand the cost implications of using wood.  We are still considering having one made in fiberglass by AF Cornice, but after seeing a bunch of cornices that they made, I’m not too thrilled with the very visible caulk seams.  I’d love to hear from someone who went through this process and chose the wooden cornice.  The info on the forum about cornices is over 5 years old, so I’m hoping to find some more current info.  We are not part of a landmarked block.  Thanks.

bklynpwds

in Architecture 12 years and 11 months ago

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brooklynartisans | 12 years and 11 months ago

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Hello, We have restored and replicated wooden cornices on historic homes in Brooklyn. A lot of factors go into providing an accurate estimate for a job like this: design, wood, demolition, scaffolding…etc. If you would like a free estimate, feel free to get in touch at info@brooklynmodern.com. Thanks, Gerald

HomeSweetstuy | 12 years and 11 months ago

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We are getting our cornice (front and back) as well as our bay window repaired.  We were quoted 6700\. The wood is in bad shape and we are missing pieces.  We had gotten 3 quotes–ranging from 10 to 50k but oddly the folks who quoted seemed to be guessing versus this guy being very definite in his price and specific about the work.  He did a friend of a friends cornice with good results. He is starting on Monday. I will post again to let you know how it goes.

arch007 | 12 years and 11 months ago

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use fiberglass, not wood

greenwoodgeneral | 12 years and 11 months ago

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We used TandA are very happy. They came back and did some adjustments on the yankee gutter over the cornice and the downspout (as things tend to shift when you take the old cornice off a 150+ year old house.) The cornice stilll looks good two years later. They were able to replicate the rotten one we found under our siding in a very exact fashion. It was part of an overall front facade redo, but that was probably the costliest piece- and the 9-10K ballpark above sounds about right. Ours is made of Cedar.

slopefarm | 12 years and 11 months ago

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Hey, bk, just had other folks on here say they didn’t like them, though I don’t know the reason. But lots of folks do like them. Spend some time looking at cornices on other houses — there really are a few basic variables. How big a frieze panel? How many/how big are the dentils? Is there room on the frieze panel for sort of a picture frame using molding? How big and ornate are the 3-4 major L-shaped pieces. How much does the corner taper? Lots of brick and brownstone houses have very elaborate scrolling that extends below the frieze panel. I don’t think that looks good on a frame house. Figure out what you think fits, take some pics. For any frame facade design issues, I recommend a stroll down 11th street between 3-4 aves for ideas.

bklynpwds | 12 years and 11 months ago

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A 22′ by 40″ fairly intricate cornice from AF Cornice came in at around $9k, not including installation. The quotes we’ve gotten for wood cornices have been double and triple that price.  That’s for a full cornice where none exists.

bedstuy06 | 12 years and 11 months ago

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We need to to do the same work.  Would you mind providing a ballpark price on your project?

slopefarm | 12 years and 11 months ago

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We used T&A Carpentry (tracey and arthur, and I’m not sure they know why people snicker at the name) though they rebuilt and redesigned ours. They are not the cheapest, but they stand behind their work and know how to tie in to roof correctly. The key to a wood cornice is keeping the water out. They’ve done half the new cornices on South Slope wood frames. There are some who don’t like them, but we were quite happy with them. And I agree, the fiberglass cornices just don’t look right — not just the caulking. The corners and edges are a little too sculpted.