Question: We are building our first home and I would like to have the trim and molding in the house stained instead of painted. Why don't I see this done more often? Is it out of style?

Answer: It is never out of style to have natural or stained wood trim in a house, in fact, we are seeing more designs with stained molding rather than paint all the time. Probably, the reason you don't see it as often as you have in the past is because it is more expensive to have stained trim work than painted trim work. The main difference in cost is in the various types of wood used for each application.

Painted trim can be paint grade wood and may even have strips of wood that are "matched" or "joined" in the middle of the sash or trim piece. Wood that is to be stained would need to be stain grade, which is more expensive. Although the cost of stained trim may initially be higher, there tends to be less money and time spent on it in the following years to maintain a stained trim. Painted trim will probably need to be repainted within a few years while stained wood should look great indefinitely.

There are dozens of stain colors on the market, from natural wood colors to transparent primary colors. A great website for looking at different stain colors is www.minwax.com.

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