Molding (architecture)

“ They are in general more shallow; that is, they have more breadth and less depth than the earlier ones. Those in most use are a wide and shallow molding, used in the jambs of windows and doorways, as in Haseley, No. 1; a shallow ogee; a round, or boutell; a fillet, a kind of hollow quarter-round, and a double ogee, as in Haseley, No. 2. The wide molding of cornices is sometimes filled up at intervals with large pateræ, which replace the four-leaved flower and the ball-flower of the Decorated style; or with heads, grotesque figures, or animals and foliage. ”

“ They frequently approach in contour to the Grecian attic base, and the ogee is sometimes employed, as Rickman observed with his usual accuracy.
The deeply-cut moldings in bases of this style will frequently hold water, and this is sometimes called one of the characteristics of the style; but it is not a good one, because it is not easy to decide whether a particular base will hold water or not. These bases are frequently stilted, that is, the principal molding is raised a foot or two from the floor, and the space is sometimes plain; in some instances an additional molding is introduced ”

“ In a few days afterward the concrete will have hardened sufficiently to allow the molds to be taken away leaving an entire house, from cellar floor to the peak of the roof, complete in all its parts, even to mantels and picture molding, and requiring only windows and doors, plumbing, heating, and lighting fixtures to make it ready for habitation. ”

“ Sand Molding.—Molding concrete ornaments in sand is in all respects like molding iron castings in a foundry. Sand molding gives perhaps the handsomest ornament of any kind of molding process, the surface texture and detail of the block being especially fine. It is, however, a more expensive process than molding in wooden or iron molds, since a separate mold must be made for each piece molded. ”

“ The process of molding concrete with sand molds is of the utmost practical value, possessing the manifold advantages of a low cost of molds, the ease and rapidity of operation, perfect details to all ornamental designs, density, and increased strength of the concrete, perfect curing of the work without attention and the easy removal of the molds regardless of any undercutting the design may have. ”

“ Metal forms of various patterns are made by firms manufacturing concrete block molds and can be purchased from stock or made to order. Where the column is to be molded in place form construction becomes a matter of pattern making, the complexity and cost of which depends entirely upon the architectural form and ornament to be reproduced. The molding of ornament and architectural forms in concrete is discussed in Chapter XXIII, and the two examples of ornamental column form work given here from recent work indicate the task before the builder. ”

“ Nothing is more uncomfortable in winter than cold and drafty floors. Much of this can easily be corrected by closing the cracks, usually found in older houses, between flooring and walls at the baseboards. Generally quarter-round molding, carefully fitted and securely nailed is sufficient but occasionally wide, uneven cracks have to be closed with oakum, putty, or crack filler before the molding is put in place. Again, if the cellar has no plaster ceiling, a drafty floor can be remedied by lining the under side of the flooring with felt paper or like material. ”

“ Good concrete ornament is not alone a matter of good design. It is also a matter of skilled construction. Nearly anyone can mold an ornament, but few can mold an ornament which is durable. To produce clean, sharp lines and arises which will endure, the molder must have special knowledge and familiarity with the action of cement and of concrete mixtures, both in molding and on exposure to the elements. This is knowledge that the general concrete worker rarely possesses but which the ornament molder does possess if he knows his business. Special work is always best left to the specialist. ”

“ One of the most distinguishing characteristics of the architectural styles are the mouldings, so much so, that a building having no mouldings is almost, if not entirely, devoid of architectural expression; it may be classed as a structure, but hardly as true architecture, for the style, and even the date of a building may be often determined by the design of its mouldings alone. ”

“ The window openings, at the back of the central arch, are filled with Perpendicular tracery. “In the pier arches and triforium arches a plain round molding is employed, which runs without a base up the pier, and continuously over the arch, forming an external order or frame to it. A similar molding in front of this runs by the side of a triple group of vaulting-shafts up to the clerestory string, but is there cut off by the later vaulting-shafts.... Continuous moldings are in Norman work usually confined to the inner arches of doors and to windows. ”

“ Mouldings play a prominent part in Gothic architecture, and from the first to the last they varied so constantly that their profiles and grouping may be constantly made use of as a kind of architectural calendar, to point out the time, to within a few years, when the building in which they occur was erected.
A moulding is the architect’s means of drawing a line on his building. If he desires to mark on the exterior the position of an internal floor, or in any other way to suggest a division into storeys, a moulded string-course is introduced. ”

“ The employment of coloured materials is carried so far as sometimes to startle an eye trained to the sombreness of English architecture, but a great deal of the beauty of this style is derived from colour, and much of the comparative simplicity and scarcity of mouldings is due to the desire to leave large unbroken surfaces for marble linings, mosaics or fresco painting. Mouldings, where they are introduced, differ from northern mouldings in being flatter and far less bold, their enrichments are chiefly confined to dentils, notches, and small and simple ornaments. ”

“ Above are shown the two different kinds and patterns of standard moldings on Curtis doors, the “ovolo” and the “flush”. The former is cut on the stile or rail; the latter is a separate piece that is applied, being nailed to a spline, not to the panel, with the result that when the panel shrinks the molding will not be pulled away from the stile or rail. Note the panel thicknesses, too. Solid raised panels are shown. In doors 1-3/4-inch thick these panels are 1-1/8-inch thick, while on 1-3/8-inch thick doors the solid raised panels are 9/16-inch thick. ”

“ Such molding where passing through a floor must be carried through an iron pipe extending from the ceiling below to a point five feet above the floor, which will serve as an additional mechanical protection and exclude the presence of moisture often prevalent in such locations. ”

“ With the exception [184] of the window sills there are no lodging places for dust and cinders. The old-fashioned doors with thin panels, and numerous moldings have been discarded, and those as plain and uniform in thickness as a pane of window glass, substituted for them. The picture molding, as shown in Fig. 85, may serve to support the picture and catch dirt as well. The other illustration (Fig. 86) shows one which may serve quite as well for the purpose desired without forming a dust shelf. ”

“ A PLASTER TILE IS MADE MORE DURABLE if it is dried and given a coat or two of shellac before it is used for molding plaster or cement. Otherwise repeated brushing of damp plaster with the oil brush will gradually wear the edges and details of the mold away.
TO MAKE A CAST FROM THE PLASTER MOLD, it is surrounded with the retaining bars after they have been oiled and held in position with the modeling wax or clay; this time they are placed firmly against the sides of the plaster mold. ”

“ In short, it may be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that in no style of architecture has a system of moulding been generated so full of variety and so capable of suiting itself to every position; and not only to provide for the practical demands of each position, but to give to each just that kind of effect which it most demanded. ”

“ The lack of elaborate ornamentation in the house is a testament to its great age. The pine mantels in the summer living room downstairs and the simplicity of the woodwork are examples. Also notably chaste in design is the cornice of the upstairs drawing room. It has been estimated that one square foot of this molding would weigh 12 pounds. In this room and the dining room the Italian marble mantels are replacements made many years ago. Fireplaces remain in almost every room in the house and are sometimes used in the winter. ”

“ The upper part or molded top, in this case, has eleven distinct lines, and the base has six lines. By experimenting you may soon put together the most available kinds of molding strips.
Diversified Uses.—For a great overhang you may use the cavetto, or the apophyges, and below that the astragal or the torus; and for the base the casement is the most serviceable molding, and it may be finished off with the ovolo or the cymatium. ”

“ They can be made to mold more intricate ornaments, and in the matter of durability, are, of course, far superior to wood. Iron molds can be ordered cast to pattern in any well equipped foundry. Many firms making block machines also make standard column, baluster, ball and base, cornice, and base molds of various sizes and patterns. These molds are made in two, three or more sections which can be quickly locked together and taken apart. A column mold, for example, will consist of a mold for the base, another for the shaft, and a third for the capitol, each in collapsible sections. ”

“ The architect first made a mold or centering of timber, bricks and earth, which was covered with several layers of rubble and coarse concrete several feet in thickness. After it had been allowed a year or two to set and dry, the mold or centering was removed, and this immense structure, whose exterior dimensions are 263 by 145 feet, stood as solid as a rock, a single piece of cement literally cast in a mold, and, although it has been standing 125 years, it shows no signs of decay or deterioration. The word imambra signifies "the patriarch's palace." ”

“ The floor should be perfectly dry and clean, the surface smooth and even. All cracks should be filled, nails should be removed, and the uneven edges of the boards planed off, if necessary. The quarter-round molding should be taken up carefully from the baseboard all around the room.
In cold weather, linoleum becomes brittle. If you are laying your floor in winter, be sure to let the roll of linoleum stand on end in a warm room for at least forty-eight hours before unrolling it. ”

“ Mixing and transporting the concrete materials and the concrete is quite as cheap in vertical molding as in horizontal molding. If anything, it is cheaper with vertical molding, since the mixer and material bins can be placed within the tower or close to one side where a tower derrick can hoist and deposit the concrete directly into the molds. Car tracks, cars, runways and wheelbarrows are thus done away with in handling the concrete from mixer to molds. ”

“ The natural use and the profusion of moldings in the English buildings of the thirteenth century is considered as one of the proofs of the English origin of the Gothic style. The French imitated it rapidly, but in a cheaper manner, and their buildings are, on the whole, not quite equal to ours, that is, taking into account both exterior and interior. The profuse suites of moldings so common in English doorways and arches, are almost unknown in France: some things they developed more rapidly than we did, but in the moldings they were behind us. ”

“ Explanatory of the Molding of various types of Concrete Monuments, with the Construction of Molds for same. Lettering and Ornamental Effects, with simple methods of securing the desired results, are fully treated. ”

“ After cutting the rabbet, stick the molding (which in this case is called a Gothic or Scotia molding) . Prepare the stiles as shown in Fig. 107, B.
The joining of the molding is to be what is known as coping. This is done in the following manner: The molding is left projecting beyond the inside end of the mortises, as shown in Fig. 107, B. The molding on the rails is to be cut at an angle of 45 degrees. This is done by taking the templet used in Exercise No. 6 and placing it on the rail as shown in Fig. 107, C, and cutting the molding with a chisel down to the [Pg 85] tenons. ”

“ A tile design or pattern may be cast in a mold and after it has come out of the mold it is dried for an hour and then placed in water. If the surface to receive color has been roughened or lines scraped into it when first released from the mold and the cement slightly soft, the color will adhere even more surely. ”

“ If metal molding, couplings, outlet boxes, junction boxes, cabinets, or fittings having protective coating of non-conducting material such as enamel are used, such coating must be thoroughly removed from threads of couplings and metal moldings, and from the surfaces of boxes, cabinets, and fittings, where the metal molding or ground clamp is secured in order to obtain the requisite good connection. ”

“ Such a tile secures a pattern adaptable to tile walks, or any surface which is subjected to wear, in that the design is not only a thin surface layer, but a thick portion of color that will not disappear with the wearing of the surface layer.
A SIMPLE METHOD OF MAKING TILE MOLDS is to cut a design from a thick piece of cardboard or sections of a design, and glue these in proper position to carry out a design arrangement. These pieces should be cut with tapering sides so as to permit of proper “draught” or releasing conditions when the plaster cast is made for mold purposes. ”