Flush Base & Trim-Less Doors - Secrets To Modern Details 

Just did a 1/4” architecture reveal(shadow gap) both top and bottom of all walls and around all doors in my personal house. Did all the work myself. Extremely difficult detail to pull off, and it’s worth it. The look is amazing. The walls look like they’re floating since there is no connection between floor wall and ceiling. I’d do it again, although I’d possibly test out different methods and products. I used trimtex products and was very happy with it.

Trim/Paint tip to add to this that we did in my personal house I just built. Your painter will thank you for this. When you’re setting trim, use a drywall knife so ever so slightly space your baseboard off of your floors. They’ll be less than 1/16th of an inch off the floor, just enough for the painters to run their masking tape UNDER the baseboards ever so slightly so you don’t see any accidental bleed over drips that might get onto the floor.

Love focusing on modern builds. This is my fav style of home, keep videos on modern homes coming!

Great video. Super interesting understanding the added details and cost that goes into “simple” and “clean”. You really have to find the right contractors as I would believe not everyone has this level of detail, experience and skill.

So true, modern “trim-less” finish is far more labor intensive. Properly executed, nothing can touch the look, especially here in Boulder area where the Frank Lloyd Wright look sells. You are however missing a MAJOR step in process to truly execute the complete finish. You need to flush mount your switch & outlet cover plates. Obviously we are in a very different price point than Austin but I think even there, the customer willing to pay for L5 drywall and trim-less baseboards and casings would at least like the option of the truly clean integrated look of flush cover plates. I hate to mention company names that aren’t you sponsors for fear of upsetting your commercial agreements but I don’t believe you have a sponsor in this sector thus I’ll mention the 2 we’ve used; Design Mod and Trufig. The former is honestly cheap pia and not recommended. We used them on one home and my subs said never again. We’ve been using Trufig on every home the last 4 years. Much higher priced but incredibly adjustable and the finish product is amazing. They’ll even custom machine plates for unique switches such as the Pass & Seymour Adorne line square switches, although lead times can be problematic, depending on your job and schedule. If mentioning brands conflicts with any of your sponsors, feel free to delete or alert me and I will do so. My apologies in advance if that is case. Regardless, do yourself a favor and look into this style option for future trim less jobs. Your customers will appreciate the efforts.

Modern is so difficult. It's laughable seeing guys on Facebook knock modern as cheaper...they haven't tried(and failed...and tried again...and learned) the difficulties that comes with pulling off a proper modern install

@matt risinger as much as love watching you on RU-vid and all, your build show website is awesome especially the team you have collected and allow them to host videos. Reminds me of the old days of this old house, the new yankee workshop, & other shows grew up watching b/c PBS was only station allowed to watch growing up, otherwise…..it was: go outside and play till dinner, just don’t come back w/ anything broken 😉 Nothing like how things are today, especially when there are no trees/woods behind your house (or field, neighbors house, etc) you can explore and play in when live in HOA and the neighborhoods w/o concrete fences and subdivisions are hard to find when don’t live in certain areas

Modern for me, and clients work for is: clean, sleek, detailed, aesthetically refined to the eye, warm industrial(not just sterile cold feeling), & has a very easy clean time (very important imo, like squared 5.5” base…..the tops collect dust and dirt like crazy and even more when painted trim white. Lots go w/ this style, but I try and talk them out of it, b/c year later might not look so “good” and can get same look w/ diff configurations) Always a pleasure watching your vids Matt. Love what your doing for the trades! Also, hate when boxes filled w/ mud when gotta do sparky work, it’s a let peeve of mine, b/c it can be avoided w/ taking a few steps during electrical rough in, and drywall prep (imo)

I first saw these details 40 years ago in Laguna Beach CA. All done with metal corner beads, J moulds and homemade products. This was long before all the Trim Tech accesories were available.

Working on a house in auburn Alabama with a trim less detail and ULTRA modern details on cabinets, lights, fixtyres etc. love it and love That. I can basically tune in ans get tips :)

Great content! Trim-less supply vents are also cool. Our clients love them! "Cardboard sheathing that some builders use"...shade 😆

We’ve done something similar but with the door jambs we had the door shop kerf the face of the jamb at a 1/4” reveal and ran the jambs the same width as the framing. Then we used mud beads and ran one leg into the kerf on the jamb. It doesn’t give the completely flat look but is another way to do a trim less look. It looks like the Sheetrock dies onto the face of the jamb. We used soss invisible hinges to give it that sleek modern look as well. And yea, these details are exorbitantly more expensive.

Thank you very much for this interesting video.

Thank you.

Great content ❤️❤️❤️

If you use an applied bead the bead and mud add 1/8" to the thickness of the drywall so if you use 5/8 drywall you need 3/4" trim to flush. If you cannot get the reglet bead, rabbit the base and use a deep reach tearaway bead. The framing need to be almost perfectly flat or you need room to shim the base or drywall to each other for a straight flat finish

I like the belt and suspenders approach to that trim.

Thank you so much for video 🙏🏻

If you're a Homeowner or Builder on a hi-end project going with level 5 smooth wall, strongly consider Fry Rigglet (aluminum).

If you have done this before make sure your base board is an 1/8 thicker than your sheet rock - remember the plastic detail trim is around an 1/8 . In metric we use 13 mm wall board and 15.5 to 16 mm base board. And yes I’ve done around 2000 m of this detail, it’s time consuming hence expensive. Love the trimtex Mat wish we could get them here in New Zealand PS just installed a house lot of Brombal windows- WOW that stuff is fantastic. You visited a project a while back with that- are you going to do a follow up?

I need a channel like this one but with UK construction. Great content thanks

Matts been hovering around the sub million mark for ages now, almost there Matt! keep up the good content

Definitely appreciate the amount of planning and skill that goes into this, but for my money I’d prefer some classic craftsman looks or a modern take on it.

Would love to see a video of how the painters go about painting the wall in the area where it transitions to base moulding!

Matt those flush baseboards are really something to behold. When you install these do you only recommend white wall & trim paint to match the baseboards (although I assume you apply flat paint on the walls and a satin finish on the trim)

You inspired me to try the flush base, revel in my basement. Getting ready to but floor and base in. Here in atlanta, hard to find trim tex w/o a special order and the ENTIRE box which is too much waste @trimtex Anyone need 5/8 x 1/2 revel...got plenty

Nice work you are on the ball 🙌. As a contractor the cost $$$$$$ .

Would love to see the process on a remodel where your removing trim and replacing with trim-tex on a window for example. Which bead would you recommend for that?

Hi Matt Great video, long time subscriber and always learning better methods thanks to you. I have a modern 20k sf home I’m preparing to build for a client. I’d love to see a video on integrated gutters with in wall downspout. A builders nightmare! I’ve heard many horror stories but haven’t see fist hand a bulletproof way to pull this off. Got anything? Thanks in advance!

I would be interested in seeing a video about how to do these modern details 90% as good for 25% the cost... In the same vein as the recent spec home airtightness video.

Kinda reminds me of my 140 year old victorian. After the plaster was leveled to base boards then the actual trim was applied on top.

Matt, have you ever looked into AluBase Shadowline by EZ Concept? We love the reveal detail on flush baseboards and will be doing it on our upcoming custom build. The AluBase is a single product that has the reveal bead already built in - not sure if it’s a cost effective product, working on getting pricing.

Nice Intro Music. Classy, contemporain

My remodel is fairly detailed with chair rail, crown molding, wainscoting, etc., but wanted no shoe molding. Boy, talking about a pain in the butt! The floor had to go down before the base that complicated a lot! Can't imagine going full trimless. Though, I suspect there is a LOT less cut-in while painting. 😀

Hi Matt. I saw your video on the bug proofing. My house already has Tyvek up. Can I still use Zip liquid flash on the outside to prevent bugs?

Oh man so much more work for modern trim. I feel like it looks to sterile for me, personally, but it's neat to see how it comes together!

What brand is that white oak floor, love the look

Hey Matt can you make a video on protection and the products you use?

I’m sure this was sponsored by Trim Tex but last quote I got was .70/foot from them and just over $1.40 for aluminum trim from Fry Reglet. For that difference I’ll take the real stuff any day of the week and twice on the weekend.

Matt, do you have a show on HGTV? If not, WHY NOT? Always great info bro 😎!

Beautiful work. What brand and color paint was used for this one if you don’t mind?

Id love to see flush outlets and switches. Idk if thats a thing but it sounds trick. Imagine flush rectangle Luton Maestro..

In my experience, many doors rely on the trim to stabilize the jambs to prevent twisting. Do you see the flex caulk providing the same amount of stability?

Hi I was actually thinking of doing a detail like this with the tear away bead prior to finding this video, but was concerned if the doors are slammed that an immediate break line would be visible. How in your experience has the durability of this detail stood the test of time?

Anybody have expirience with thier expansion joint product? As the climate gets worse I'm finding my 70's home with a ton of cracks in the drywall due to the clay soil drying up. Would that be a good product to use?

Can anyone inform me how the vertical door jamb legs are wider than normal? I have tried discussing it with the various sellers of interior doors, and not one company seems to be able to provide the thicker door jamb for the finished case-less door look accomplished in the video. Much appreciated!

Hey I’m from Indiana would love to visit this place and see what there all about

Just curious - the stairs are already in and they're really close to the wall but not touching - how do you get paint there? or will that just stay primed?

Nice! However, i would love to see the base be left nature wood, same species as the floors

Do drywallers have to remove the factory tapered edge at the bottom so the Trim Tex doesn't twist when it is glued and stapled along the bottom edge?

How do you get around the code requirements for gaps in the risers in that open stair? Looks like those risers have an open back of several inches.

I just watch on you tube Shoyan Japanese Carpenter; he is building a Japanese house. It is very interesting how they build a house in Japan. It is a timber frame type of building with mortise and tenon but with bolt and nuts no pegs to hold the joints and the building comes from the factory with all the mortise and tenon cut in.

A lot of work but looks great

Hey Matt. I'm a trim carpenter. Just curious what trim pricing came in per/ft2? I average around 3-$3.25 for a traditional style house...

Why wouldn't you just paint the trim boards first or at least prime them? Much easier to paint and cut into primed lumber.

@ 6:42 LoL 😂

Dont you see that bottom leg of the F bead sitting on top of the poplar? I know this is kind of a nit picky detail but these folks who like and willing to pay for these details tend to be of the nit picky breed in my experience. I was thinking Z bead would be a better option. Run a slot in top edge of the base first with a router and a 3 wing slot cutter. Over cut the slot depth a bit for some wiggle room to adjust the bead up/down. The slot should also help keep the drywall and base flush/co-planer if the framing is off a touch. This would also allow you to NOT have to paint the base incase the owner likes the look of matching the base to the floor which also might look good. I also agree, between cost of the ubber expensive FRy reglet plus the extra labor costs it becomes a detail reserved for the 1% Been a long time user of trim-tex and love all the options and price point.

Matt may have made a small finish detail mistake using the Big Stretch caulking as he describes in this video. I want to stress the "may" part of this. As a professional house painter I rarely even suggest Big Stretch for interior finished detail joins like this, as it is designed to stretch, a lot (as the name implies). This can cause the finished paint film to crack as the caulking underneath it moves as the differing material move with age, and house movement. I save the Big Stretch for exterior use, and use a caulking that isn't as flexible for interior details, such as described here. Since Matt is building such nice, custom houses, this is one detail that could cause a call back a year, two, or 5 down the road. Again I stress the may part, as the crack he is filling looks to be small enough to not matter.

How do You maintain the Fire 🔥 Rating w a combustible Base ??

You are showing a different method of the flush base. Previously you had a z shadow bead and cut a rabbit on the back of the base to cover the edge. It looks like you use an F reveal this time. My question with the F reveal as it sits on the wood base do you see the plastic edge? The other method is the base overlaps. Anyone know?

5/8 drywall would necessitate true 3/4 base because the “F” bead adds 1/8” at the bottom of the drywall. The bead is floated in....they won’t be in the same plane if you don’t order the base thicker!

Did u remove the plywood when popler was installed

Wouldn't this would impact the wall assembly's fire rating?

part of me likes the look but reminds me of a commercial space like a nice office building

Those baseboards are begging for LED light strips 😅🙌🏽

Do you any distributor that ships to the US? None of my local distributors have the F reveal bead?

No flush receptacles?

Wasn't trim first created to help cover those joins that were difficult to get visually right, making it easier.

Put all aluminum reglets in my total renovation. Baseboard, doors, windows and ceiling. This would have been much easier.

👍👍😉

Here's hoping trimless never catches on

I did a high rise with this shadow trim detail what a pain in the butt

The only way I see that base detail working is if you unscrew the plywood "seat" after the gyp. bd. is set. Is that the intent? Otherwise you have plywood flushing out with the finish face of the gyp. bd. and nowhere to park your F-bead.

Our 1942 house has a "flush base" and a shoe at floor itself, cover the edge of the oak floor. We painted it white, like the rest of the trim. Pops with the color on the walls. Walls are lath-and-plaster. When the electricians tried to cut into the wall, the dremel just skipped over the surface. The house is solid--doug fir framing, external trim is (old growth) redwood. External stucco was made from local river sand.

This is probably a really silly question Matt, but why couldn't you just use the same type of drywall, cut in separate piece, in place of the poplar for the base boards?

I sent you a video because I think this is what we need to do. Let me know if you agree and I will get it set up for you.

protect that railing huh?

How do we get in touch with Matt , would like him to visit our custom home in Dallas

I just see these nice houses and think "these people dont have kids" 🤣🤣🤣

looks a bit clinical hospital hallway

Sheesh

Rich weirdos concerning themselves with the mundane...I was doing work for a famous philly designer in the early 2000's. That flush molding stuff was a rage for a while...Our work is already stressful enough! Doing things that KILLLLLLL the time make it even harder to make a buck and finding guys that can produce it is like finding an honest politician...You really can't charge enough. You can make more money doing it the tried and true way, via production...I HATE that finish, just incase I'm being ambivalent...: )

Matt: Hey supply house, I need to order some cardboard sheathing Supply House: NO Way Matt. has inflation really gotten to your business? Matt: haha no! I need them to cover my finished floors.

I like the look but don't have the patience or money for it!

The doors are nice, I could do without the flush floor

sculpted trim, especially crown trim, certainly adds some visual clutter that minimist modern styles can improve on, but without some kind of hardwood accenting of doorways and baseboards, you don't have a visible indicator of refinement that is visually satisfactory. It's also easy to fake a quality modern design cheaply, but the people who will build cheaply would never accent with mahogany or walnut trim. For that reason I'd never own a home in this style, and I always look for at least some hardwood trim.

What a nightmare for everyone involved lol. Personally I appreciate the imperfection of natural textures and materials, a house like this is just waiting for problems to start exposing themselves.

I think if you were to do REAL traditional moulding it would way more expensive.

Modern is so cool. But no baseboards that may be a problem with families Things hit walls when no baseboards

And here I am desperately trying to work trim into my bland cheap looking house.

Yeah, now in the sixteenth installment of flush base and trimless whatevers....

Kind of cool, but I personally don't care for this look. It would be nice for minimizing dust build up, though.

If house settles after a while, those trim less gaps won’t look good.

I'm sorry, I'd end up gutting a modern house to recreate the "Brady Bunch" house.

There is a reason for baseboards and casings. Without them you will have dings on your edges in no time.

Walls & trims are the same paint? Door jams? What kind of paint are you using? Yikes!

I will just use my makita drywall cutter and cut a groove 5 inches off the ground and pretend I have this fancy flush baseboard.

Looks like a commercial office building. Doesn't feel like home to me.

What makes property is detail…funny that time and money has been invested (of course there are massive savings hidden in this trickery) in getting rid of it. Houses keep looking uglier and duller the more and more detail and character is taking away…shame. My property has awful characterless PVC windows (read plastic…) and I won’t stop until the whole lot in the scrapyard… replaced with characterful timber sash stuff

I guess you don't have to say "sponsored by x" if you just mention all your sponsors 'off hand' during the video.