Stained mouldings in Steel framed house

[pja]

I am about to start installing architraves and skirtings in my new home which has a steel frame.

I purchased (a long time ago) Pacific maple mouldings in a colonial style with a view to a stain and varnish finish.

Problem is fixing the mouldings to the steel frame without the screw heads showing.

I did fit wood blocks into the bottom plate channel to fix the skirts and likewise around the door frames where possible so I could shoot fix with a nail gun. However in some places the door frames are solid steel RHS tube and the only way to fix to this is using drill point screws.

Even using screws with the small 'trim type' heads means rather large holes to fill which show up under the stained finish. I have also experimented with using wood plugs to cover the screw holes but find these still leave a distinct circle outline where the stain has penetrated the grain at the edge of the hole.

Can anyone suggest a method of fixing that would not show through the stain and varnish finish or should I give up and just paint.

I really prefer the appearance of stain but if I can't hide the screw holes the whole effect would look cheap and shoddy. Any ideas ?

[woodcutta]

pja.

I installed all my skirtings and Architraves into the steel frame with a Bostich 15 gauge nail gun. (however the door frames weren't RHS.

The Sachy Robinson screws have the smallest head, not much larger than a nail.

woodcutta

[thesupervisor]

you could always glue and clamp them on will be timely exersise but
you only do it once