How to Install Base Molding

Video Transcript

"Nigel Gregory with Blue Griffin Handyman. Today I am going to show you how to install base board in your house. The first thing you want to do is go down to the hardware store and choose out of different types of baseboard molding what kind you want and then it is very important to paint it before you install it preferably outside so you can make a mes or what not and when you get inside you can just touch up the areas that get messed up with paint. The first thing you want to do if you don't have enough baseboard to complete the continuation of the wall is make a miter cut like this. It is a 45 degree cut in the wood and then make the opposite cut in the other board and you can put those two together and caulk that seam and you will never know that that piece of board was cut. But if you do have enough then great. Measure the length of the wall, cut the board to that length and then install it at the base. At the base of the wall, inside the wall is about an inch and a half of wood along the bottom and you want to nail at the bottom of that baseboard into that wall, right in that area. So right in this area is the best place to nail the baseboard to the wall. Once you have it installed you might want to use the caulk to caulk the top and/or bottom with painter's caulk to give it a nice clean look and also to keep bugs and so forth from crawling in and out of there. Once you have made your hole for your nail it is also important to sink it in and then put a little bit of caulk or patch over that and then touch that up with the paint that you have left over. That's how to install baseboard in your house. Thank you."