Architectural Mouldings

Classic architecture typically incorporates a large amount of architectural mouldings to accent buildings. Everything from exterior architectural window trim to architectural crown mouldings help to soften a room and add an air of elegance to it.

While not nearly ornate as a thousand years ago, there are still buildings constructed today that incorporate architectural wall decor. Venues such as banquet halls and conference centers have a tendency to veer towards traditional architecture - with large columns and decorative architectural trim.

Architectural mouldings are typically made from high end materials like precast concrete mouldings or even marble. While these traditional architectural trim products provide a genuine look and feel, an authentic look can be had with look-a-like products. In sections of a wall or building that people can see but not physically access, a styrofoam architectural molding product with a cement coating will appear identical to solid concrete or marble.

Decoramould specializes in manufacturing architectural decor (trims, sills, mouldings, cornices, columns) that look just like precast concrete, but are a fraction of the weight and cost. This puts high-end architecural design in the hands of the masses - not just the aristocrats and allows home owners to decorate their homes as they see fit.

With a styrofoam trim core and a modified cement coating, Decoramould architectural mouldings are light weight - which makes installation simple. Sometimes, simply using an adhesive (PL Premium or a cement adhesive) is enough to hold the product in place, though a nail is often recommended for 24 hours.

Stucco Architectural Moldings

Architectural moldings were traditionally a precast or stone material used to enhance large cathedrals or government buildings. With the advent of cement-coated foam mouldings, home owners are now able to decorate their homes as they see fit on a modest budget.

Architectural moldings is a broad category that encompasses everything from exterior architectural window trim to architectural columns and ornate architectural cornices with dentils. While most “architectural decor features” are just that – features, they can be structural at times, as is the case with precast architectural columns. Decoramould’s foam-core products are not to be mistaken as load-bearing or structural products, they are decorative architectural moldings in the truest sense of the term.

Exterior Architectural Moldings

Whether you are building a new home or renovating the one you have, architectural moldings give you the freedom to make it the show place of your neighborhood.  Architectural moldings can be used to highlight and enhance unique features of your home, or they can be used to hide flaws.  As long as your home’s exterior is made of brick, masonry, stucco, or another solid surface, the design possibilities are endless.

Moldings are often used to cover the expansion joints that are built into stucco homes between the first and second floor.  Since the joint must go all the way around the house, the molding is placed all the way around the house as well.  This is often referred to as a “Wall band.”  These wall bands can be as simple or as ornate as you wish.  One way to create texture with wall bands is to layer the molding.  A wide flat molding can be built upon with one or more fluted or beaded moldings for a custom look.

Even if you don’t have an expansion joint to cover, exterior wall moldings can be used to create patterns that unify a home.  For example, if your two-story house has an attached one-story garage, you can tie them together visually by putting a wall molding between the first and second floor, and then echoing this band at the halfway point of your garage walls.   Wall moldings can also be used to create geometric patterns that highlight features of your home—an interesting roofline, a series of windows, a gable.  If you like, wall bands can even give the illusion of half-timbered construction that hearkens back to the days of William Shakespeare.

Embellishing your home with wall bands and decorative moldings should enhance your home, not take over your life.  Once you’ve decided that you want to add features like these to your home, it is a good idea to consider the best materials to use for your project.  With modern manufacturing techniques, you are not limited to wood anymore.  This is good news since wood requires a good deal of maintenance, especially in humid environments.

One excellent material for this kind of molding project is a stucco coating over a Styrofoam core.  These products are extremely durable, easy to install, and require very little maintenance once they are painted.  They can be manufactured in nearly any size or shape – even custom shapes – and they can be shipped throughout the continental America because of their light-weight Styrofoam core.

So what’s stopping you from turning your house into a home that you can be proud of?  You are only limited by your imagination!