How do you install base board?

Answer 1

You will need cedar shims-- caulking-- Auto Body Filler (Bondo)-- 80 grit Sand discs-- Orbital Sander, Neumatic Nailer w/ 2 -1/2 inch nail belts-- w/ air compressor or just a battery operated nailer with 2-1/2 inch nail belts.

Weather I am doing Crown or Baseboard...I myself like to start from behind the door or from the left side of the room working to my right.

As I set my boards and reach the 90 degree inside corners I cut my baseboard corners at 45 degrees for a perfect mating match. I use shims behind the baseboard near the corners edge where I must.. to meet and mate my corners to a perfect match and then I nail it and use my sand-block to sand the top of my mating corner to create an invisible seam line.

sometimes the wall is wavy and so I will use shims to keep the baseboard from setting too close to the wall to avoid creating a wavy look.

sometmes the floor is not so straight and I must use shims to hold up the board above the floor a bit until I nail it in place.

1. rule = always be aware of your surroundings and know if you are nailing into a water way wall (a wall where there are or may be water pipes which lead to showers or other Plumbing fixtures and or water lines)

2. rule = find your studs by tapping holes into the wall with a separate nail above the floor but not passing the edge line of the baseboard to be installed.

You must know what type of flooring is going down so that you know how high off the floor you will place your baseboard. The usual height is about 3/8 - 5/8 of an inch above the floor. I just use a scrap piece of base for this and I use the non-contoured edge.

Know your most likely angles to be cut.-- some walls have 1 inch corners these are conrners which are not sharp 90 degree corners but rather are 1 inch round corners which usually require a 1 inch piece of base board with a 21 -1/2 degree miter cut on either side of the 1 inch piece when this id done...The wing boards as I call them will also need 21 - 1/2 degree cuts as well for that perfect mating match

A measuring tip== The hammer is 13 inches long and your studs are 16 inches apart from center of one stud to center of the next stud.

I put my hammer head into the corner and about 1 inch past the butt of the handle I usually find a stud and mark it with a pencil and then I simply use my hammerhead again starting from my stud mark and this time I add 3 inches past the butt of my hammer to find my next stud.

----The reason for this is because in the corner I cannot reach the inside corner stud which is about 1-1/2 inches past my hammers- head behind the drywall where I can't see.

The job is not complete if the ends of the baseboard are not capped ---

to cap the end of a board cut the boards end at 45 degree and from a separate scrap piece cut another piece about 1/2 inch wide with a 45 degree cut and dry fit them together-- if they are a perfect match then use tape to join them and using a 3/32 drill bit dril pilot holes into the joining pieces and then remove the tape, add glue, join the pieces and place nails through the holes you drilled-- these pilot holse are to keep the small thin piece of wood from breaking when you hammer or shoot a nail into it. when this is done drive the nail in with a nail punch and fill in the hole with wood filler and sand smooth. I hoped this helps you. Remember practice makes perfect so always practice with scrap pieces before using the actual pieces.