Baseboard and trim installation in San Francisco

Trim that fits San Francisco's Classical Revival flats

SF Planning calls Classical Revival, built from 1890 to 1925, ubiquitous among the streets of San Francisco, most often on multi-family buildings and especially flats. Buildings of that age tend to have taller, more detailed baseboards and casing than today's stock profiles. When a floor is replaced or a leak swells one run, a new piece off the shelf often won't line up with the old trim beside it.

We bring samples of the closest available profiles and tell you honestly what's close before anything is bought. Inside corners get coped, then everything is nailed, filled, caulked and painted. In a flat, text photos of the trim in two or three rooms, since profiles sometimes change from room to room.

Worth knowing about San Francisco

• About 76.5% of San Francisco's 414,602 housing units were built before 1980, and 45.2% date from 1939 or earlier.
• Most Sunset District construction dates from 1925 to 1950. The standard house is stucco, with living space over a ground-floor garage, on a 25-foot-wide lot.
• Sunset tract houses of the 1920s to 1940s often had colorful polychromatic ceramic tile in bathrooms and kitchens, and wood or parquet floors.