How to Install Baseboards & Shoe Molding
A standard trim configuration at the base of a wall is a tall, flat baseboard, sitting on the floor and coming up the wall by several inches, with base shoe molding---a thin, low strip of trim, usually curved in front---sitting in front of the very bottom of the baseboard, where the board meets the floor. The two types of trim look different, but the process of measuring, cutting and installing them is the same. Does this Spark an idea?
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Measure starting in one corner with a tape measure, along one wall to the next corner. Transfer the measurement to a piece of baseboard trim with a pencil.
-
2
Stand the trim on a miter saw, in the same position it will be on the wall, so the back of the trim is up against the fence of the saw. Position the mark for the corner under the blade.
-
-
3
Swivel the blade 45 degrees inward, so it points toward the trim. Make the cut. Position the other mark under the trim, swivel the blade in the opposite direction (which will again point toward the trim) and make the cut.
-
4
Repeat the whole sequence for the second piece of baseboard, coming off the other side of the same corner.
-
5
Set the two cut baseboards in place, so they meet at the corner, with the mitered cuts pressing against each other. Secure them to the wall with a trim nailer, shooting in nails along the bottom and top edges, every 12 to 16 inches
-
6
Repeat for each wall, until the whole room is bordered in baseboard.
-
7
Measure, cut and install the shoe molding in the same manner, taking your initial measurements along the bottom of the baseboard, at the floor (the measurements will be slightly shorter than the baseboard measurements were).
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If any of the corners are outside corners (the kind that jut out into a room), swivel the blade away from the trim instead of toward it for the cuts on both sides of the corner.
Wear goggles when making your cuts.
