How to measure and fit cladding trims

Cladding trims are an excellent way to cover any untidy edges or gaps. Sometimes when you’re cladding your room your walls may be not be perfectly straight or a little uneven. This makes it difficult to cut the cladding to the correct shape of any opposing walls.

Cladding trims will allow you a bit of freedom when it comes to your edges. You wont have to worry about getting the edges perfect as you will have a decorative trim to cover any mishaps and gaps.

There are multiple types of cladding trims for different areas of use. There are coving trims for your ceilings, L angles for your external corners, end caps for any open edges, quadrants and internal corner trims for your internal corners.

Why should you use cladding trims?

Cladding trims are a decorative addition to bathroom cladding.

From bright and shiny chrome effect to the neutral smooth looking matte effect trims, there are a variety of designs to suit your needs.

Measuring for trims

To measure for trims correctly you must allow for a small excess. This will account for any mitred edges you may need to cut.

Simply measure each edge or internal corner that you need to cover using a tape measure.

When making your calculations ensure you allow for a full trim for each edge run. Jointing trims along the same area can look very untidy. It is better to have a continuous single trim for each edge.

Methods of fitting a cladding trim

Cladding trims can be fitted in a number of ways, either before or after installing panels.

In some cases trims can be fitted at the same time as your cladding.

How to fit cladding trims before your cladding

Fitting certain cladding trims first will give you a guideline and support when installing your cladding panels.

Inserting cladding into a corner cladding trim will hold your panel into the corner while you fix it to the surface.Theres no need to worry about cutting your edges perfect as the internal trim will cover up all of the rough edges.

The only trims you can fit before the cladding are internal trims, coving trims and some types of external trims.

With some cladding trims it may be easier to fit afterwards, such as external corners and coving trims.

How to fit cladding trims after you have fitted your cladding

Fitting your cladding trims after you have fitted the panels can be a lot easier in some situations.

There’s no bending and twisting the panels into place around previously fitted trims so it gives you a lot more freedom whilst installing.

The only difficulty fitting trims after cladding is removing the back supporting plastic layer of the trim in order to fit the face profile.

Some first time fitters may find it difficult to remove, but they can do it simply with a sharp utility knife and a steady hand.

You must be careful and take your time while cutting to ensure you don’t damage the profile of the trim.

Once you have removed the supporting layer, the face profile of the trim can simply be adhered to the corner or edge, using either silicone or mitre adhesive.

Beginning to fit your trims

Whichever method you choose to fit your trims you should start by measuring the edge or corner with a tape measure. Transfer these measurements over to the trim, then mark with a pencil. Pencil will not leave any marks  on your trim, whereas a pen the ink can stick to the PVC and is noticeable, particularly on white.

Cut your cladding trim with your desired cutting tool, be sure to fully support the trim while cutting.

You can either silicone or screw the trims in place depending on the situation. Screws are recommended for internal corners or coving fitted before the cladding.

Silicone or mitre adhesive can be used to adhere any trims after the cladding installation.

Once you have fitted your trims give them a wipe down with a damp cloth or cleaning wipe to remove any excess adhesive or dust.

Recommended tools for fitting

We recommend using the following tools to fit your cladding trims.

Tape Measure

The most essential tool when it comes to fitting your trims, used to measure any edges so you can cut the trims accurately.

Measuring Square

Using a measuring square to cut your mitred joints in your cladding trims can sometimes be the simplest method.

You can use this with a utility knife to achieve neat and straight cuts.

Mitre Block & Mitre Block Saw

A mitre block can be used to cut the trims while they are kept steady in the mitre block. Using this tool is also the best method for cutting the mitre joints of the coving trims.

Using the saw with the mitre block will allow for easy cutting. The guides of the mitre block will ensure a straight cut.

Utility Knife

A utility knife can be used to easily score the trims so that they simply snap along the score line.

Important tips

Below are the most important points to consider when taking your measurements:

Do you require a mitred corner or edge to allow for trimming corners?

When it comes to mitre jointing a trim to meet any corners or edges of other trims you may need to take into account any excess you’re cutting off in order to make the mitred joint.

The excess wasted can differ depending on how you cut your mitres.

The quickest method of creating a mitred joint is by using a mitre block and saw. Although this creates more waste as you will likely cut off an excess amount of trim in order to cut the mitred joint correctly.

The most efficient way to mitre a joint is by hand with a utility blade and a measuring square. Although this is not suitable for coving as you will not be able to cut an accurate curve to meet another coving trim.

It is fine to use this method for cutting L angle trims and end caps however.

Avoid joins in your trims

Fitting trims to corners or wall to ceiling joins look great if they’re in one piece. One continuous trim always looks better, rather than many offcuts used together to cover one join. This is usually avoidable.

For example if you’re fitting a trim over a 2m join, using a trim that measures 2.7m, you aren’t going to be able to utilise the 0.7m off cut effectively without having a joint with another cutting of trim.

To avoid this we recommend ordering a trim per area. This will allow you can cover the entire length without butting two trims together.

Mistakes to avoid

You should always take into account the possibility of making a mistake when cutting a trim to length. Especially when it comes to cutting any mitred joints.

We recommend taking this into account when calculating your wastage. Ensuring you aren’t short on trims when it comes to fitting.

Important: When removing the protective film from the trim be careful not to peel away any of the decorative finish from the edges of chrome effect trims. This is a common mishap when trying to peel back the protective film from the corner of the trim.

You may try firmly scraping along the edge of the trim with your finger nail. This will remove the protective film without disturbing the chrome effect.