Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the history behind San Francisco Victoriana?
- Do you still design and produce façade parts?
- What do you manufacture for old homes today?
- I don't find the style of mouldings from our house available in your catalog?
- Were there set styles of mouldings to the various
house designs during the period?
- Can you duplicate or match a moulding for my house?
- What do you require to duplicate a profile?
- Is it expensive to duplicate?
- How long does it take to duplicate?
- We are building an entire house. Can you provide mouldings for our project?
- Can I order mouldings to be shipped?
- Do you save the tooling from my duplication?
- Can I keep the tooling for my duplication?
- Do you have samples of your stock mouldings I can use for models and mockups?
- Why does your standard line have stock and run to order mouldings?
- Why do you use Poplar for your stock materials?
- Can you run your stock profiles in other species?
- Why don't you run Clear Heart Redwood?
- What do you recommend for exterior mouldings?
- Your architectural castings are cast in gypsum, is this authentic to the period?
- What must be done to make plaster usable for the exterior?
- Can you duplicate custom plaster pieces?
- How much does it cost to duplicate a plaster item?
- How do you install your standard brackets and ceiling rosettes?
- Do you stock your plaster products?
- Can you ship plaster orders?
- Do you have a showroom available to the public?
- How can I get a catalog?
- How do I download the molding profile into AutoCAD?
- What is the history behind San Francisco Victoriana?
San Francisco Victoriana was established in 1972 and we are a small
business dedicated to quality, service, and innovation. Our original
concept was to help save the Victorian housing stock which proliferates
the San Francisco bay area. We felt it was a renewable resource of great
architectural merit. We initially started as a designer/manufacturer
of complete Victorian facades (house fronts). In San Francisco and other
cities older styles of housing were stripped, stuccoed, shingled, and
aluminum sided. These misguided improvements were sold to the general
public to reduce their cost of maintaining an old building. The unfortunate
side effect was to destroy the architectural character and decrease
the value of many unique properties. We felt that in providing the necessary
parts and pieces, this unusual architectural heritage would be renovated,
remodeled, and reused for future generations to enjoy.
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- Do you still design and produce façade parts?
We no longer produce complete house fronts although we will still
produce custom parts for the exterior façade of a building. We
can produce from your drawing, sketch, or photograph.
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- What do you manufacture for old homes today?
Our initial work with house fronts led us to manufacture what we consider
are essential products for the restoration of old structures. Wood
mouldings for the interior and exterior of Victorian housing. Mouldings
were used as the alphabet to Victorian construction and utilized extensively
to create the look and feel of the styles. San Francisco Victoriana
manufactures a complete line of architectural mouldings. To list a few:
baseboards, door
casings, bed mouldings, windowsills,
crown molds, tongue
and grove wainscoting, chair rails
and cove mouldings.
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- I don't find the style of mouldings from our house available in
your catalog?
It's not unusual. During the Victorian period hundreds of manufacturers
produced thousands mouldings for builders. Each with extensive collections
of design and variation. Our duplication services
can provide you with any variations of moulding found in your house.
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- Were there set styles of mouldings to the various house designs
during the period?
We have found that in the thousands of duplications
we do each year for customers, we often repeat styles from particular
years. However, the variations that were produced during the Victorian
period are endless.
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- Can you duplicate or match a moulding for my house?
Yes, San Francisco Victoriana is a full service millwork facility and
we constantly duplicate and match moulding
for customers' needs. We have the ability to match mouldings from ¼"-12"
in width to 1/8"-6" in thickness. We can manufacture in 14
different wood species of your choice.
We also have an extensive collection of stock
profiles that we keep available for will call in paint grade popular
for interior use.
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- What do you require to duplicate
a profile?
We prefer an actual sample or an accurate scale drawing that we scan
into our computer. We can work with rough sketches, however separate
drawing charges will apply to make an accurate pattern for you.
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- Is it expensive to duplicate?
Duplication costs depend on the size,
quantity, and material species. Average custom setups run between $95.00
to $200.00 per profile duplication. Some exceptions apply when duplicating
thick or wide materials. Setup charges include a completed drawing of
your profile for your approval signature, template manufacture, tooling
to cut your profile and setup and running of your order through the
machines. A price per lineal foot for the material of your choice and
quantity will also accompany your estimate. Some flat fee minimum charges
will apply when ordering less than 20 lineal feet of a custom profile.
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- How long does it take to duplicate?
On average we do custom duplication from
start to finish in 8-10 workdays or less when run in our stock paint
grade materials. Special order materials or special lengths may require
longer.
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- We are building an entire house. Can you provide mouldings for
our project?
Yes, our millwork facility has the ability to handle 6 feet or 60,000
feet. We have supplied millwork packages for some of the finest new
homes in the country. Have your contractor or designer provide us with
your moulding specifications, moulding profiles, and quantities and
we will provide a competitive bid for your project.
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- Can I order mouldings to be shipped?
Standard and custom mouldings can be sent with some exceptions. Small
orders of standard or custom duplications are most economically sent
by UPS in 8' lengths. Large orders for items longer than 8' must be
crated and be sent common carrier. Crating and freight charges will
apply.
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- Do you save the tooling from my duplication?
We highly recommend that when we duplicate
a moulding for you, consider adding a small quantity extra for a
potential miscalculation or future project. The sheer volume of duplication
we produce prohibits storing tooling. If we have to rerun a profile
for additional footage after the initial run, you will be charged identical
setup fees.
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- Can I keep the tooling for my duplication?
We do not relinquish tooling to be potentially used on equipment not
under the control of our safety standards. Our product liability insurance
strictly prohibits this.
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- Do you have samples of your stock mouldings I can use for models
and mockups?
Yes, we generally have 12" samples available of most of our profiles.
They're free of charge to customers over the counter. We will send customer
samples out for a minimum packing and UPS charge. At this time we don't
provide complete box sets of our entire line.
Request samples...^top^
- Why does your standard line have stock
and run to order mouldings?
Our stock line represents a range of profiles typical to the bay area
during the Victorian period. We inventory over 250 mouldings available
immediately. We also have a category of profiles that are useful and
necessary in remodeling and restoration but don't sell enough to warrant
full inventory, these are our run to order profiles. We occasionally
have small quantities available of some of these profiles. However they
are not considered a stock item and you generally are assessed a $75.00
setup fee to run these to order.
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- Why do you use Poplar for your stock materials?
Due to the number of profiles we inventory, we have decided to stock
our standard mouldings in one species, Poplar. It is readily available,
fast growing, machines at a high quality finish and receives paint readily
for a smooth finish. We don't recommend poplar for exterior use under
any circumstances.
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- Can you run your stock profiles in other species? Yes, although
we only stock Poplar we run our standard profiles in Alder, Ash, Mahogany,
Maple, Red Oak, White Oak, Walnut, Cherry, Pine, Vertical Grain Fir,
Redwood and Cedar. We charge a $75.00 machine setup per profile. For
a small order minimum charges will apply.
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- Why don't you run Clear Heart Redwood?
Clear Heart Redwood is in limited supply and is no longer readily available
for a full range of exterior mouldings. However we recommend Vertical
Grain Cedar which has similar properties and is an exceptional material
for exterior use.
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- What do you recommend for exterior mouldings?
We recommend you use at minimum, A Grade Redwood or a high quality Western
Red Cedar.
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- Your architectural castings are cast in gypsum,
is this authentic to the period?
Yes, Victorian architecture utilized extensive amounts of gypsum or
soft plaster in their ornamental architecture. It was used on the exterior
for brackets, friezes,
shields, cornice,
etc or on the interior for rosettes,
interior cornice, plaster ornamental details,
etc. It was a very universal and inexpensive product that was easy to
install and was massively produced during the Victorian period.
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- What must be done to make plaster usable for the exterior?
The Victorians used plaster ornament exclusively on the interior and
exterior in the Queen Anne style. The most important feature is it be
sealed to the weather and that water not be allowed to deteriorate the
back of the piece. We recommend you seal plaster for the exterior with
boiled linseed oil and properly caulk it at the edges to keep water
from obtaining entry to the rear. A high quality oil base primer and
finish paint is recommended. We don't recommend plaster ornaments for
exterior uses in freezing climates.
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- Can you duplicate custom plaster pieces?
Yes, like our wood duplication services we also duplicate plaster pieces.
We require an actual part to duplicate in order to save the cost of
sculpting and model making which can be expensive.
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- How much does it cost to duplicate a plaster
item?
There is no set estimate for duplication. It's dependent on the size,
condition of the model, number of pieces to be produced, and the difficulty
of the mould. All plaster items are cast of liquid gypsium and require
to be dried in a kiln to remove the remaining water for a minimum of
7 days after casting duplication. Depending on our custom schedule the
process can take up to 4-6 weeks.
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- How do you install your standard brackets
and ceiling rosettes?
Although the Victorians installed them with raw plaster, we recommend
you use a high quality adhesive/caulk such as SIKAFLEX1A and in addition
use sheet rock course grabbers screws counter sunk into the face of
the part to hold it securely until the adhesive bonds.
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- Do you stock your plaster products?
We are continually casting our plaster products for inventory and orders.
We have stock and custom orders continually going in and out of our
drying kiln. Inquire for stock availability and or completion dates.
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- Can you ship plaster orders?
Yes, plaster items can be shipped. However, they must be crated and
sent common carrier. Small orders can be quite expensive.
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- Do you have a showroom available to the public?
Yes, our showroom is open Monday to Friday
from 7:30 until 4:00. We have complete displays of our wood mouldings
and plaster products. Our staff is available
to assist you in completion of your project with samples, catalogs,
and courteous service.
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- How can I get a catalog?
You may fax over a request with your address to (415) 648-2812
or send us a message and a catalog will be
sent out to you promptly. Catalogs are also available in our
showroom.
- How do I download the molding profile into AutoCAD?
If you have AutoCAD or another program which can display/open a .dwg
file you may download any molding profiles which display this: 
.
The file will display a cross section of the molding profile with all
dimensions indicated. Simply click the Download File link in any molding
profile's detail to begin. In most cases, you'll be prompted to save
or open the file. If your computer's file associations are set to launch
AutoCAD to open a .dwg file you may click open and should see the file
momentarily. You may need to save it first and launch your program manually.
If you have AutoCAD installed but still run into download problems,
please send us a message to request specific
files and we will email them to you as an attachment. Castings do not
have AutoCad files available.
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