How to Cut Base Board Molding
Baseboard moldings run along the bottom of the wall. With hard surfaced floors such as hardwood, tile, linoleum or stone, the baseboard molding will usually be finished with a quarter round molding or shoe molding. These two moldings are often painted the same color and made to look like one piece of trim. Adding baseboard around the entirety of a room or house is a good way to add architectural value and to create the appearance that the house is well built. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Tape measure
- Baseboard molding
- Shoe molding
- Primer
- Paint brush
- Small roller
- Paint pan
- Sandpaper block
- Medium grit sandpaper
- Fine grit sandpaper
- Tack cloth
- Paint
- Power miter saw
- Coping saw
- Round file
- Power finish nail gun
- Finish nails
- Wood fill
- Caulk
Instructions
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1
Measure out the perimeters of all rooms where you want to install baseboard molding. Add 10% to your measurement for overage and miscuts. Purchase baseboard and shoe moldings. Only purchase shoe moldings for rooms with hard surfaced floors.
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2
Prime all of your molding with primer using a paint brush and small roller. It is much easier to pre-paint your trim and do touch ups after it is installed. Allow the primer to dry overnight.
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3
Sand the trim with a medium to fine grit sandpaper to remove any defects in the wood. Clean the trim with a tack cloth.
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4
Paint a base coat on the trim using a paint brush, small roller and a painters pan. Usually baseboards can be rolled with a foam roller since most of the trim surface is flat. This will speed up your painting process. Allow the paint to dry overnight.
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5
Cut the baseboard at a 45 degree angle, and fit the baseboard by starting in a corner. Keep in mind which walls or areas of the room are more highly visible and try to limit joints or seams in those areas. If your wall is longer than your baseboard you will need to create a joint. Always cut joints at a 45 degree angle to hide the cut.
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Nail the first wall of baseboard into place using a power nail gun.
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7
Cut a new piece of baseboard for the wall adjoining your first corner cut. Cut this baseboard at 45 degrees. If you attempt to fit this baseboard to the first you will notice they don't fit well even though the two miters form 90 degrees. This is because walls are usually not straight or true.
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Brace the baseboard against a tabletop or similar surface. Use the coping saw, and cope the mitered corner. The mitered cut you already made is the line you do not want to cut past. Basically, you are going to cut behind the first cut to the shape of the molding. This sounds harder than it is. Practice on a small piece of scrap trim until you see how it works. Use a round file to correct small areas.
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9
Tuck the coped baseboard trim over and against the nailed trim. It should fit perfectly. Nail the coped trim into place. Install all of your baseboards. Cut and install shoe molding in rooms with hard surface floors. Use wood fill and caulk to fill nail holes, joints and along edges between the trim and wall. Sand and touch up with paint.
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Tips & Warnings
Coping is one of those things that a novice might call a carpentry trick. It is a simple technique that, once mastered, will make your trim installation look professional. Take the time to practice on a few pieces of scrap, and you will master this technique in no time.
