Installing Molding

I've been replacing all the doors upstairs with new white panel doors to update the place, and since I've finished those, I've started to replace all the existing molding around the doors.
I could have bought entirely new door frames with doors, but I'm trying to do things on the cheap. The 6 panel doors (with hole routed out for door handles) were around $30 at Home Depot.

So, here's a little step by step view of how I replaced out the molding for one doorway.

First, a couple looks of the existing 1970's trim work. With the carpet being new, and wrapped around the existing trim, I had to think of a fairly clever way of adding in the new trim, as the new trim wouldn't cover up the hole left behind after removing the old trim.

This first step is to score each side of the trim with a razor blade, so when the trim is pulled away, it doesn't take the top of the drywall away with it as well (and so it's easier to remove in general).

With the molding now freed up from wall and jam, next pry it away gently so the wall doesn't get destroyed.

Next up, the trim leaves behind some rough and nasty remains. I used a chisel to smooth up the surface of the door jam, and also used my utility knife to clear up any remaining caulk/etc on the walls.

After that, I used my belt sander to smooth up the edge of the door jam. Guess this could be done with some sheets of sandpaper, but power tools always make things quicker and easier.

With all the prep done, I started to install the molding. First off, I nailed into place pine blocks measuring 3 3/4" x 6" that I had already painted. This helped cover up the hole in the carpet cut around the existing molding, and plus makes it look a bit fancier. For the blocks I used '6d 2" Bright Steel Finish Nails.'

After installing the blocks, I could get a good measurement for the rest of the molding. For the molding I nailed into the studs surrounding the door jam with the 2" finish nails, and I used 3d 1 1/4" finish nails to nail directly into the door jam where needed to keep the molding tight to the jam.

Cut too long initially, then adjust!

After finagling the trim into place so the corners matched, I filled in the nail holes with wood filler (the elmer's brand works really well), sanded them down, and also used painter's caulk around all sides of the trim and also at the corners. Using a finger to smooth out the caulk is the best way to go to keep it all clean.

The next day after the caulk dried up, it was time to paint. After a light sand of absolutely everything, and wiping away the dust, I taped up the area and applied a couple coats of Behr bright white enamel paint from the Depot.

Here's a look at the finished product with the new door installed as well. I still need to touch up the walls, but the molding is all good. After the first coat of paint I had to lightly sand where the nail holes were patched as they stood out in the right light (MDF molding is really touchy), but after smoothing them out, most were impossible to find.

So, that's one doorway down. Still got a few left, and the baseboard trim to do as well, but all that pretty much took a weekend, so it wasn't too time consuming.