Installing the Baseboard and Finishing Up
- Nail the baseboards in place with finishing nails. Use a stud finder to locate wall studs to nail into;
- Install shoe molding and cap molding if necessary. Tack the shoe molding down into the floor with pin nails.
- Apply caulking to sections of molding in wet places. Caulk not only along the top edge, but over and corner...
How to install baseboard the fast and easy way?
Remove Old Baseboards. Cut away the old paint and caulk along the top edge of the trim. Pull away the old trim with a pry bar. Remove any nails that remain in the drywall. Scrape and sand off any remaining glue or caulk left on the wall.
How to make super cheap baseboard. why pay more?
Lay the long baseboard pieces against the wall and measure the distance between the two pieces on the corner. Use this measurement to cut a smaller piece of baseboard and cut the piece with a 22.5-degree angle at both ends. Fasten all the pieces of …
How to make your own baseboard?
Feb 13, 2017 · In this video, I show you how to install baseboards with a finish nailer. It is a really simple process. You basically have to measure and cut the baseboard ...
How to install baseboard molding without a nail gun?
How to Install Baseboards. STEP 1: Remove Old Baseboards (If necessary). If you’re installing new hardwood flooring, vinyl, tile, or even carpet, you will need to remove the old ... STEP 2: Paint the Baseboards Using Semi-Gloss Paint. STEP 3: Measure and …
Should baseboards be nailed or glued?
How do you finish baseboard trim?
Should baseboard be level or follow the floor?
Are baseboards paint before or after installation?
Do you have to nail baseboards into studs?
Do you caulk baseboards?
How do you seal a gap between baseboard and floor?
How do you install baseboard on uneven floor?
- Step 1: Grab the tools. ...
- Step 2: Prep the Baseboards. ...
- Step 3: Attach the baseboard on the wall. ...
- Step 4: Optional, Install Quarter Rounds. ...
- Step 5: Fill in the uneven gaps. ...
- Step 6: Paint the baseboards.
How do you adjust baseboard height?
Do you caulk baseboards before or after painting?
What is the fastest way to paint baseboards?
How many coats of paint do baseboards need?
How thick is a baseboard?
When starting from scratch, Tom Silva prefers the look of a base that's at least 6 inches high and ½ to ¾ inches thick, topped with a separate, deeply profiled cap molding. But if he's remodeling a house graced with good-looking baseboards, he tries his best to match the new trim to what's already there.
How to determine the amount of baseboard material needed?
To determine the amount of baseboard material you need, measure each straight section of the wall and round up to the nearest whole-foot dimension divisible by two. A week before installation, bring the wood inside to acclimate. Start running baseboard against inside corners and work toward outside corners.
How to make tight fitting joints for cap molding?
To create tight fitting joints where cap molding meets at inside corners, cope the joints . Join outside corners with miters, marking and cutting as in Step 4. Glue miter joints together; adding biscuits or nails may cause the narrow mold ing to split.
How to make sure a miter joint stays tight?
Photo by Craig Raine. To make sure an outside miter joint stays tight, connect the two halves with glue and Number 10 compressed-wood biscuits. First, hold the two boards tightly against the outside corner and pencil a mark in two places across the joint.
What is baseboard in a house?
Despite their lowly position along the floor, baseboards are one of a house's defining features. If they have stature, a room becomes regal; when they are skimpy, that same space looks dowdy. Baseboards were often three-piece affairs consisting of a flat plank, a decorative cap molding, and a rounded shoe molding to cover gaps along the floor. ...
How to use a compass on a board?
Without changing the spread of the compass's legs, hold the pencil on the baseboard and the point against the floor. Slide the compass along the floor over the board's length , keeping the points aligned vertically.
How to cut a compound miter?
Set a compound miter saw to 45 degrees and cut each miter just outside of the line. This way, the joint can be fine-tuned.
How to cope a baseboard?
To do so, make a 45-degree inside cut on the baseboard piece you want to cope. Take a pencil and darken the profile so it’s easy to see. Then use a coping saw to cut away the angled profile you made with your first 45-degree cut. Angle the saw at about 30 degrees so you can take away more wood from the back than the front. You won’t have to cut the other end of the baseboard because the coped joint will cover the remaining part of the baseboard.
How to make a baseboard wall?
Lay the long baseboard pieces against the wall and measure the distance between the two pieces on the corner. Use this measurement to cut a smaller piece of baseboard and cut the piece with a 22.5-degree angle at both ends. Fasten all the pieces of the baseboard to the wall using glue or nails. Use caulk to fill any gaps and paint if necessary.
Why is there a gap between baseboard molding and wall?
If you lay your baseboard molding against a wall and see a gap between the trim and your wall, it’s usually because of a misaligned stud or bulge in the taping compound. If you’re dealing with trim that’s 3/8-inches thick, it’s usually pretty flexible.
How to cope inside corners of baseboard?
When you’re installing baseboards on the inside corners, you must decide whether you want to miter or cope those corners. If you want to miter these corners, cut them at a 45-degree angle. However, not everyone likes to miter inside corners because walls are rarely perfectly square, and this can leave large gaps. For a tighter fit that won’t require more paint or caulking, you can cope your inside corners.
How to make a horizontal mark on a wall?
Place a level on the floor next to the wall and move it across the floor until you find the lowest point. Tack a scrap piece of wood to the wall at that point. Then use this piece as a benchmark to make a horizontal mark every few feet at the same level.
What is a baseboard?
A baseboard, which is also known as floor molding, skirting, or skirting board, is a board that’s usually made from wood and covers the lowest part of an interior wall. It covers the joint between the floor and the wall and hides any uneven edges there. Not only is it a . . . Read more.
Can you refinish painted baseboards?
To give your room a fresh appearance, you should consider refinishing painted baseboards. Since dust and dirt tend to collect along the baseboards, it’s very important to start this project by giving them a good cleaning. If you live in a newer home, it might be easy to pry the baseboards off the wall with a small pry bar and paint them on a sawhorse.
How high is a baseboard?
The baseboard. Usually at least 3.5–6 inches (8.9–15.2 cm) high, they are predominantly flat and form the bulk of the baseboard.
How to cut a scribe on a baseboard?
Use a table saw or a jigsaw to cut along the scribed line on the baseboard. If you have a circular saw, set a slight (2° - 5°) bevel on the cut. This will make scribe-fitting much easier in the end. With a block plane, plane down the beveled edge of the baseboard.
How to measure the distance between chalk line and baseboard?
To do this, you'll want to scribe them. Tack a piece of baseboard to an inside corner with one or two nails after leveling it. Keep the bottom of the baseboard slightly above the floor. Use a compass to measure the distance between the chalk line (on the bottom) and the top corner of your tacked baseboard.
What are the components of baseboards?
There are typically three components to most baseboard installations, depending on the type of project. Moving from top to bottom, they include: The cap molding. These moldings fit on top of the baseboards to add a detailed and ornamental flourish. They are typically only needed if you have wainscot paneling.
What is baseboard in a house?
Baseboards cover the joints between the walls and the floor and add an essential finishing touch to a room. An adventurous homeowner can learn to cut and install baseboards for their own home, making them a perfect DIY project.
How to make sure your floor is level?
You want to make sure your floors are level, or the floor could peek out of your baseboard at certain points and look off. Use a 4-foot level to establish whether the floor is level. If the floor is not level, use the level to find the lowest point in the room.
How to cut angled profile?
Use a coping saw to cut away the angled profile made by your initial 45° cut. The goal here is to leave the paint line intact but cut at a 45° back angle to clear away wood behind the paint line. Go slowly so that you can follow the profile accurately.
What is the first step to install baseboards?
When you’re planning to install baseboards, the first step which we already covered is deciding what style and type of baseboard you need, based on your preferences and where you’re planning to install it (e.g. bathroom, basement, kitchen, family room, etc.) But the next step is to actually plan for buying it.
How to measure baseboard?
Baseboard is measured in inches and feet. And to come up with that number, you need to measure your space. Don’t worry–all you need is a tape measure, a pencil, and some paper. Start by drafting out a sketch of the space where you’re installing the baseboard: Draw a sketch of your floor plan.
How tall should baseboards be?
How tall your baseboards are depends on the height of your ceiling, actually. If you’re blessed to have 9-foot ceilings or higher, you could go with a wider baseboard (for example, 5 and 1/4″ or even taller). In my basement with 8 feet ceilings, which is the standard ceiling height, a 3 and 1/4″ wide baseboard trim would work well.
What is baseboard molding?
Well, Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a baseboard as a molding covering the joint of a wall and the adjoining floor. “A baseboard is a molding covering the joint of a wall and the adjoining floor.” -Merriam-Webster dictionary.
How wide should baseboard trim be for 8' ceiling?
In my basement with 8 feet ceilings, which is the standard ceiling height, a 3 and 1/4″ wide baseboard trim would work well. Anything higher on an 8 foot ceiling wouldn’t look proportional to the height of the wall/ceiling. Just remember: the higher your ceilings, the higher the baseboards you can install.
How many feet of baseboard is there at Home Depot?
At Home Depot, baseboard typically comes in 8-foot pieces (and sometimes you can find 10-foot or 12-foot pieces). Figure out how many pieces you’ll need by adding up the total feet needed and dividing by the length of the piece of the baseboard.
What paint should I use for baseboards?
Semi-gloss (or satin paint). (or satin paint) – Baseboards should be painted with a semi-gloss or satin paint . Semi-gloss is preferred because it can easily be wiped down and prevent scratches. It doesn’t have to be white but the standard color of baseboards is white and compliments all paint colors. Painter’s tape.
How to test fit of baseboard?
Test the fit by butting a square-cut piece of molding against the coped edge of your baseboard, making any necessary adjustments with your saw or file.
What is the difference between 3/8 and 5/8 baseboard?
Standard 3/8-inch baseboard is a lot more flexible than 3/4 or 5/8. Greater flexibility means greater success when trying to fit baseboard snugly against an uneven wall.
What joint to use for a tight corner?
For a tight fit, use a coped joint. A mitered corner might be ideal for an outside corner, but an inside corner joint will be better formed if you cope the profile of one baseboard to fit snugly against the contours of its mate. A coping saw is used to cut baseboard for a corner. Photo: diynetwork.com.
What to use to clean excess paint from wall?
Prior to installation, use a putty knife or paint scraper to clean excess material from the wall and floor.
Can you fill gaps in trim?
Do everything you can to make the trim fit tightly, but when you can’t, it’s okay to fill small gaps with caulk prior to priming and paint.
Can you install baseboards on your own?
If you’ve ever tried to install baseboard on your own, then you would probably agree that looks can be deceiving. All too often a DIY baseboard installation is compromised by gaps or ill-fitting joints, resulting from walls that aren’t flat, floors that aren’t level, or corners that aren’t square.
What is the best way to get nails in through baseboard?
A nail gun is preferred because it is an effective way to consistently get the nails in through the baseboard without damaging the baseboard while securing them to the wall.
Why nail baseboards to drywall?
We find out some of the odd angles we may have never noticed. As a result, we are dependent on a good job nailing in the baseboards to the wall to help ease the final steps and finish work for a great looking final product.
What is the D in baseboard nail gauge?
To keep things simple – let’s remember that the ‘d’ in the baseboard nail size refers to length (see chart below), while the gauge refers to the diameter – or how stout the nail is . Why does this matter? A long, skinny nail is most likely going to be resistant to denser or thicker forms of material, and especially problematic with any knots.
How long should baseboard nails be?
Based on nail size, you should be looking for anything between 15 gauge and 18 gauge. With these gauges it you can easily find nails up to 2.5’’ long which is an ideal length for baseboard nails.
What is the best filler for nail holes in baseboards?
We think the best filler for nail holes in baseboards is spackling paste. It is designed to form and stay in place and doesn’t change shape very easily. Because of its texture, it is more amendable to the holes. Meaning, it doesn’t react as much when you are working it into the holes.
Can you use 2x4 nails on baseboard?
You will want to be able to nail those securely without nails intersecting. Depending on the height of your baseboard and how it’s positioned, you may be able to use the bottom 2x4 to secure your nail as opposed to the stud. This is not recommended if you are using shoe molding or quarter round. 5.
Do baseboards need to be attached to the wall?
Attaching your baseboards to the wall is a crucial step in the installation process. More often than not, this step is overlooked. Typically, we assume walls are straight, and our corners are at the intended angles. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
