Building Craftsman style door trim - primed pine vs common board $$$

[branimal]

I've got to build 11 craftsman style door frames (counting each side of a door). With 8' doors the price difference b/w primed pine and common pine (unpainted) is $200. Is it worth going with the primed pine - are the boards going have less bow and distortion?

I'm going to paint them with an HVLP gun so either way, i'll need to mask off and paint, so an extra layer of primer isn't incrementally that much more work.

I've worked with the primed pine stuff for my window trim. No complaints. Just wondering if its worth trying to save a few bucks.

 

[Bert_]

If you're painting I would do primed. $200 savings doesn't cover much time or primer.

 

[manwithtools]

The primed is finger jointed and therefore knot free and probably pretty straight. There could be $200 worth of saved aggravation and a better looking final product as well.

 

[branimal]

Thanks guys. Will go with the primed.

 

[budget76]

i've started paying the little extra for primed trim too - it just speeds up the paintwork that much more for not much more $$. Didn't even think about the stability side of "manufactured" vs "solid" trim products, that's a good point too

 

[Bretny]

A common board is not the same as a primed/ fingerboard. Select would be more inline of the primed/fingerboard.

I used a mix of 3 on my trip and the easiest to work with are primed/finger then select and last would be common.

 

[CraigStu]

There are also some trim pieces made w/ some version of MDF. Depending on what you are doing these can be really nice since they are shaped perfectly and never seem to warp.

 

[jar944]

I'm personally not a fan of pine or FJ boards for trim. Locally at least poplar from a real lumber yard is (or was) cheaper than clear pine.

 

[yeldogt]

Think you will find the primed finger jointed is the way to go ... #2 pine has too many knots and ends up being warped.