Architectural Decorative Moudings From Then to Now

In architecture mouldings have been used inside and outside of buildings. Architectural mouldings are used to give shape and form.

Used to enhance the appearance of buildings, exterior mouldings were originally made in stone but from the 1800s stucco became a popular material, being more affordable. Popular in London in the early Victorian period it was used to create smooth, evenly coloured house fronts in terraces and for larger Victorian villas. It became less popular about the 1860s when the price of stone fell and terracotta became used more widely.

Interior mouldings, namely plaster cornicing, coving and ceiling roses were used not only to enhance a room’s proportions but to signify the room’s use and importance. Rooms that received guests such as the reception room, dining room, parlour and hall tended to have larger and more decorative mouldings.

Prior to the Victorian era decorative plaster mouldings were created on site by using fingers on wet plaster. In the 18th century, Italian stuccadores created intricately designed ceilings on site and by hand and the profiles and types of plaster ornaments increased enormously. The builder chose appropriate mouldings for the house and this could heavily influence whether the house sold or not. Elaborate mouldings justified a more expensive house. Mouldings came to emphasize the social hierarchy.

Each room featured decorative mouldings matched to its use, fruit would feature in the dining room and floral swags in the drawing room. The 19th century brought change again, with mouldings being less ornate and bulky and plaster mouldings becoming simpler as decorate wallpaper became more popular. In this century decorative mouldings are still used, often to recreate the look of bygone eras.  The Finishing Touch have created the next epoch with unique, lightweight and easy to install mouldings.

 

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A Large Commercial Project Uses Finishing Touch Mouldings in Port Melbourne

A large commercial project is underway for the Finishing Touch in inner Melbourne.  This large five storey apartment building with water views, situated at 41 Nott Street in Real Estate developer’s dream suburb of Port Melbourne was commenced a month ago and is expected to be completed pre-Christmas.

  Front of the building

Custom made mouldings have been used to help decorate four outside walls.  The mouldings are in the shape of vertical flat bands, reaching the roof. Each band is a different width at 100mm, 200mm, 400mm and 600mm wide with a 20mm thickness, they are spaced out at sporadic intervals.

 Unpainted mouldings

Although large mouldings, they will be fixed to the wall with adhesive, which will hold tight.  Following a technique called the ‘contact adhesive principle’ the adhesive is applied to the moulding, pressed on the wall and then removed. After waiting for 3-5 minutes for it to semi- dry the moulding is pressed back in place, where it remains fixed.  A white water based sealant is then applied to the edges, which becomes clear within a day.  At this stage the moulding can be painted. The mouldings are able to be butt joined (unlike traditional concrete mouldings) and a proprietary render formula is brushed over the join concealing the join.

 Closer view of unpainted mouldings

The Finishing Touch mouldings are a unique design, manufactured from computer cut high grade EPS polystyrene.  This is then triple coated with a multi-part compound and reinforced with another triple coating of sand, giving the moulds maximum strength and durability. These mouldings will not crack, shrink, expand or bend. Used to decorate a building to a traditional French Provincial, Georgian or Art Deco style, the mouldings can also be used for a modern design, as evidenced in this current project.

New Projects and Developments for Finishing Touch Moudings

A new project is currently commencing for the Finishing Touch.  Builder Sam Roitman has commissioned mouldings for a dwelling at 6 Raheen Drive, Kew on a beautiful  hillside site overlooking the Yarra River.  This French Provincial style home features three storeys at the front with two storeys at the rear.  The moulds have been specifically chosen to complement and highlight the French Provincial look.

An exciting development is the provision of mouldings to a display home located in Clyde North.  This is the first of many homes which will feature the unique style of mouldings on offer from the Finishing Touch.  During 2014 a strong relationship will be developed with this large Project Home Builder, owned by an international company.  With an agreement in place to supply mouldings for up to 70 homes a year, the Finishing Touch will be making a strong statement in the building industry in the coming years.

The speed with which the Finishing Touch can complete an order and the proprietary render patch system, which eliminates virtually any sign of joins, are major benefits to builders. Each moulding takes up to 5 days to produce. A number of coatings are applied and each takes a full day to dry. Once the final coat, a paint primer, is applied and has dried the mouldings are ready for delivery. Delivery to the site takes from two weeks from acceptance of the quote up to four weeks maximum. Certified installers are used to install the mouldings and this gives the builder a seven year warranty on all fixing.