Introduction & Basic Overview of Base Molding Installation

Series Summary

The strip of wood that lines the bottom of a wall to the beginning of the floorboards is commonly referred to as the molding. Base molding is the small strip of wood (or other material) that protect the part of the wallpaper or paint job that withstands damage from foot traffic, furniture and other normal wear and tear at the bottom of the wall, and crown molding is the material or strip of wood that lines te top of the wall, primarily for decoration. Base molding is typically used in conjunction with wood floors, but can be used for practical or decorative means with carpeted or tiled floors as well. Installation of base (sometimes called shoe) molding is relatively simple, but does require a fair amount of knowledge when it comes to measuring the pieces and using nail guns to install the wood, especially in the corners.

In this free video clip, our expert will explain the essentials of base molding, helping you understand the uses for it, as well as how to cut the wood, measure it, and install with nail guns. Learn how to cut the corner pieces, how to use a compressor and nail gun, and tips for applying inside and outside corner molding pieces correctly.

Video Transcript

" Hi! My name is Tim Eaton and on behalf of Expert Village, today I am going to show you how to install shoe molding. In case you did not know, shoe molding is a little piece of wood like that. We cut it this length just to show you what it looks like. It basically goes down right here. We have got new wood floors installed here and there is baseboard already installed and the shoe molding basically finishes this, to make sure there is no crack here. Keeps the bugs out, makes it look better, adds some dimension to the baseboard itself and basically we are going to show you all the methods of installing including outside corners like what we are going to have to do there. We have got two pieces joining in an outside corner and inside corners and that will be about it."