How to Install Wood Floors With Baseboard in Place
The normal process for installing a wood floor is to remove all the floor trim (base board and quarter round), lay the floor leaving an expansion gap' between the floorboards and the wall and cover that gap by re-installing the baseboard and quarter round over it. However, if your baseboard has a flat span of at least 2 inches at the bottom, you can leave it in place, removing only the quarter round from the baseboard and re-install the quarter round at a slightly higher position. This simplifies things because you do not have to pull trim off the wall. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hammer
- Pry bar
- Wood flooring
- Nail gun
- Pneumatic floor stapler with air tank and mallet
- Miter saw
- Trim nailer
Instructions
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1
With your hammer and pry bar, carefully remove the quarter-round trim from the baseboard. Make sure not to break it as you remove it. Pull the nails out of the trim and set it aside. Leave the baseboard in place.
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2
Set your first course of hardwood floorboards alongside the base trim on the longest wall in the room, with the grooved side of the boards facing the wall. Set the boards so there is about a 3/8-inch gap between the edge of the board and and surface of the baseboard. This gives the floor the room it needs to expand with climate changes.
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3
Install the first course of boards with your nail gun, shooting pairs of nails through the board face. Lock the boards together end to end. Cut the end pieces on your miter saw to fit, leaving the 3/8-inch gap from the ends of the boards to the baseboard.
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4
Lay your next few courses in the same manner, locking the boards together at their tongue-and-groove edges and cutting them at the ends as needed. Once you have four or five courses laid, bring in your pneumatic floor stapler, using a mallet to trigger the gun and drive the boards together.
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5
Proceed to install the entire floor with your pneumatic stapler, cutting the end pieces to sit 3/8 inches from the baseboard all around. Install the final few courses with your nail gun. You will be too close to the wall to swing the mallet for your pneumatic stapler.
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6
Re-install the quarter-round trim all around the room, using your trim nailer, covering up the gap between the flooring and the baseboard. The quarter-round will sit in the same position lengthwise as before, but it will be slightly higher on the baseboard than before.
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Tips & Warnings
Wear eye protection when using your miter saw, nail gun and floor stapler.
