Baseboard is the shoes for your walls it is the last trim to be applied in most homes and finishes the look. There are hundreds if not thousands of different options in baseboard. Profiles, materials, height, thickness, some are meant to be painted some are meant to be stained some are made of hardwoods that are expensive and then some are made from MDF which are very inexpensive. I recommend visiting your local lumberyard to purchase your moldings. The people at these places have years of experience and most of them have worked out in the field in some respect. They are more knowledgeable and helpful than the kids that are employed at the Big Box stores, and the quality and selection is far superior at the local lumberyards. And the most important benefit is price which is usually lower at the lumberyards! Check out the prices for your self, even if you find a higher price if you factor in the time saved finding the right product and going through the register and the peace of mind, is a few pennies still more expensive? The Big Box stores have the price gaurantee Right! For identical items, well when you have items specifically packaged and manufactured cheaply for your store the consumer can't find an identical item and guess how the prices compare on the indentical item with a different item number. Take a Guess? Enough said that is why I recommend, DO NOT SHOP at the Big Box stores. You are puchasing lower quality products with brand names on them for a lower price and lower life expectancy! That you will have to replace sooner. And you have to deal with unexperienced employees that know nothing about the products they are selling. Are you really saving money?
Tools you will need: hammer, 2 1/2 finish nails, flat bar (pry bar), 3" putty knife, hand mitre box.
Alternate tools: If you have access to a power mitre saw use it your cuts will be more accurate. Some rental stores have mitre saws.
Well hopfully you went to the local lumberyard and found some baseboard. Before you went I hope you took a measurement of how much you need. Keep in mind most lumberyards stock 16' lengths. I will assume you will need to remove some old baseboard. (SECRET) Run your utility knife along the top of the baseboard to cut the chalk/paint that fills the space between the base and the sheetrock at the top of the base. If this step is skipped when the baseboard is removed off the wall the sheetrock paper will be pulled off the wall creating more work so make sure you cut thru the chalk. Next find studs you could do that with your knuckle and listen for the denser areas or a electronic stud finder which might find a pipe or wire also so be careful and check that it is indeed a stud by driving a small nail thru the sheetrock and get that wood feel. After you have found the studs all around the room take your putty knife (SECRET) and put it against the wall on top of a stud then pry against your putty knife with the pry bar and remove the base board. If you pry the baseboard with out having the bar on a stud the bar could be push right through the sheetrock. Once the baseboard has started to be removed you may be able to pry behind the base with out the protectio of the putty knife but be careful not to damage the sheetrock that will show later. Remove any nails that may be remaining. You also need to remove any large strips of chalk that could hold the new base away from the wall to do that take your putty knife and run it parellel to the floor at 45 degree angle scraping the chalk off the wall. You need the knife on a downward angle to stop the sheetrock paper from ripping upward as long as your knife is angled down the paper can't rip up.
Now that you have nice clean walls vacuum all around the edges. There are two ways to join the base at the corners one is a mitre joint the other is a cope joint. If you know how to cut a cope loint great that is the method I prefer! If not refer to my article on How to cut a cope joint I will explain in this article how to install using a mitre joint. Start cutting the first piece of base for the longest wall because if you make a mistake you can always cut it up for the shorter walls. Cut 45 degree angles on both ends to receive the base on the opposing walls. Put the base in place and push it down to the floor if your floor has alot of bumps I suggest using a shoe molding at the bottom of the base or you could scribe the base to fit the bumps. Refer to How to scribe if needed. Using the stud marks you made earlier nail the base in to the studs making sure the base is pushed down to the floor before nailing. Continue around the room starting from each and of that longest wall. If you come to an outside corner just cut the 45 the other way and put a little glue in the joint before nailing the other half of the joint. once finished run a small bead of chalk along the top to fill the space fill the nail holes and paint.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
How to hang a door.
Hanging a door has a certain mystique behind it but it is not that difficult when you follow certain guidelines. Let's start by defining the terminology of a door. Jamb: the part that the door is "hung" from where the hinges are attached. Stop: the small molding that the door hits against when it is closed. Hinge: the metal knuckle that attaches the door to the Jamb.
Tools/materials you will need: 4' level or larger, hammer, nail set, 2 1/2" finish nails, wood shims typically cedar, small hand saw, utility knife, Flat bar "pry bar", small putty knife 3", screwdrivers flat and phillips, measuring tape and pencil, combination square or framing square.
Alternative tools: air compressor, pnematic finish nail gun (15 or 16 gauge nails), 2 1/2 finish nails to fit the gun, some kind of power saw if you choose (I prefer to use a hand saw).
Before we can hang anything you need to purchase a door. Decide the style and size of the door, flat panel, 6 panel, masonite, etc. If you are replacing an existing door measure the old door. Figure out the thickness of your wall where the door will be hung typically if the wall is of 2x4 construction with 1/2" sheet rock on each side you will need a jamb thickness of 4 9/16" if the wall is of 2x6 construction you will need a jamb size of 6 9/16. Also you will need to decide the direction the door will swing. The easy way to determine the swing also called the handing is to stand in the doorway with your back to where the hinge would be and then imagine the door in the closed position, if the door were opened does it swing to your right? If so it has a right hand swing. If it swings toward your left then it has a left hand swing. Your local lumber yard can help you in the door decsion they have experts there with years of experience, unlike the Big Box stores. From the outside the lumber yard may look more intimidating than the Big Box stores (HD, LOWS) but upon dealing with them on a regular basis you will find they are much more knowledgeable and helpful. The other benefit I have found is if you really compare prices they are usually cheaper and the quality of the products is always better.
Well now that you have a door in hand set it aside until the next paragraph. Assuming you need to remove an old door start by running your utility knife all around the outside of the trim where the trim meets the sheetrock to cut the chalk or paint filling the gap between the trim and sheetrock. (SECRET) If this step is not performed when you pry the trim off the wall, some of the paper on the sheetrock may stay attached to the door and we don't want more work. Although I will cover the repair in a future posting. If the trim is to be reused also run your utility knife where the trim meets the jamb again to cut the chalk or paint. So as not to damage the trim during removal. Once those cuts are made gently insert the flat bar between the trim and sheetrock with the putty knife behind the flat bar to spread the load and not mark up the sheetrock. If needed use the hammer to drive the flat bar in the space by hitting the end of the flat bar. With the bar started behind the trim gently pry it off the wall slowly moving up the leg of the trim and then across the top and down the other side. Take the trim off both sides of the opening then unscrew the old door hinges from the jamb and discard the door. Starting at the bottom of one side of the door jamb use the flat bar to pry the jamb away from the wall studs. It may neccesary to break the door jamb to remove that one side and then the top using the same methods. Clean the wall opening of any nails or shims left behind from the old door.
Now you are ready to hang the new door. Bring the door to a location where you can cut it and make a little mess. Go to the door opening and lay your level on the floor parallel to the wall as close as it can be. Figure out which side of the opening is lower Hint: the bubble in the level will be closer to the higher side. When the lower side is determined take your measuring tape and measure 80 1/2" if you have carpet 80 3/4" if you have hardwood from the floor up toward the ceiling and make a mark on the edge of the wall surface. Take your level and place the bottom edge of one end on the mark you measured out and move the other end of the level which should be on the other side of the door opening on the wall surface until the bubble reads level Hint: when the bubble is centered between the two lines it is reading level. With your pencil draw a line under the other end of the level on the wall near the edge of the sheetrock. From those marks measure down to the floor one of them should be the measurement you made and record the other one notate which measurement is on the hinge side of the jamb, these will be used to cut the new jamb to the proper height. Take all of the packaging off the door except one nail or plastic lock on the latch side of the jamb these items will keep the door closed while moving it to the opening. Take your measuring tape and mark out the measurement on the hinge side of the new jamb you may possibly need an assistant to hold the tape against the bottom of the top part of the jamb and make your mark near the bottom of the jamb that will sit on the floor. Use your combination square to draw a line all the way across the jamb that will be your cut line. Perform the same steps on the other side of the jamb using the other measurement. Use your small hand saw to cut on both lines you just made. The door should be now cut to the proper height. Now we need to gather a couple tools that we need to hang the door. The hammer, nails, level, and shims place these tools very close to where you will be hanging the door. Take the door to the opening where it is to be hung. Stand the door up and remove the nail or plastic keeper I mentioned before. Be very careful not to let the door drop, fall down, or swing open when the nail is out.
Put the door into the opening paying attention that it is swinging the way you wanted it to and the measurements you cut are in the right locations. With the door standing centered in the opening put some shims on either side of the jamb at the very top to hold the door temporarily. Assuming there is baseboard molding on either side of the door that you need this door to be centered on, with the door in the closed position take meaasurments from the baseboard to each side of the jamb. Move the door from side to side to make it centered between the baseboard. Once the door is centered on the bottom only, put some shims behind the bottom hinge so that the shims are snug and not pushing the door out of center. Put one nail into the jamb next to the door stop to hold the door while you shim the top hinge. Slightly open the door and put the level on the edge of the door and shim the top hinge so that the door is level. Nail the jamb to the wall with two nails the first one next to the door stop then open the door and put the other one on the jamb where the door closes.
Now go to the swinging side of the door and close it. Look at the gap between the door and the jamb near the hinges the gap should be about an 1/8" of an inch. Look at the gap along the top of the door it should be about the same. This is where the accuracy of your measurements will show. If the gap at the top is too small you can lift the latch side of the jamb a little to make that gap bigger but if the jamb is more than a 1/8 off the floor the installation will look sloppy. So to correct a gap that is too small and you need to lift the jamb too high add some shim to the top hinge which will lower the latch side of the door. If the gap at the top of the door is too big you have two choices you can take the door out of the opening and cut the jamb the amount need to make the gap nice, or you can take some shim out of the top hinge which will lift the latch side of the door. The door should only be adjusted at most 1/8" with the shims, if more is needed I suggest recutting the jamb. If the door is adjusted with the shims too much it will be hung out of level which could make the door open by its self, or rub the floor.
When the gap looks similar to the gap near the hinges look at the gap on either side of the door near the very top corner. You may need to shim the jamb one way or the other to make the door centered in the jamb then put a nail near the top of the side of the jamb through the shims. Then using the door gap as a guide shim the jamb about half of the way towards the floor and put a nail through jamb and shims. Then do the same at the bottom of the door. Now the door gap should look even all around the door if it does go back to the hinge side of the door and put two more nails through the jamb and shims near the hinges. Also shim the center hinge at this time if the door is so equipt be careful the shims are snug and not pushing the door then nail the jamb through the shims.
At this point you can reinstall the old trim or probably you will want new trim on your new door. But that is a lesson for another article. If anything in this article is unclear feel free to email me your questions.
Tools/materials you will need: 4' level or larger, hammer, nail set, 2 1/2" finish nails, wood shims typically cedar, small hand saw, utility knife, Flat bar "pry bar", small putty knife 3", screwdrivers flat and phillips, measuring tape and pencil, combination square or framing square.
Alternative tools: air compressor, pnematic finish nail gun (15 or 16 gauge nails), 2 1/2 finish nails to fit the gun, some kind of power saw if you choose (I prefer to use a hand saw).
Before we can hang anything you need to purchase a door. Decide the style and size of the door, flat panel, 6 panel, masonite, etc. If you are replacing an existing door measure the old door. Figure out the thickness of your wall where the door will be hung typically if the wall is of 2x4 construction with 1/2" sheet rock on each side you will need a jamb thickness of 4 9/16" if the wall is of 2x6 construction you will need a jamb size of 6 9/16. Also you will need to decide the direction the door will swing. The easy way to determine the swing also called the handing is to stand in the doorway with your back to where the hinge would be and then imagine the door in the closed position, if the door were opened does it swing to your right? If so it has a right hand swing. If it swings toward your left then it has a left hand swing. Your local lumber yard can help you in the door decsion they have experts there with years of experience, unlike the Big Box stores. From the outside the lumber yard may look more intimidating than the Big Box stores (HD, LOWS) but upon dealing with them on a regular basis you will find they are much more knowledgeable and helpful. The other benefit I have found is if you really compare prices they are usually cheaper and the quality of the products is always better.
Well now that you have a door in hand set it aside until the next paragraph. Assuming you need to remove an old door start by running your utility knife all around the outside of the trim where the trim meets the sheetrock to cut the chalk or paint filling the gap between the trim and sheetrock. (SECRET) If this step is not performed when you pry the trim off the wall, some of the paper on the sheetrock may stay attached to the door and we don't want more work. Although I will cover the repair in a future posting. If the trim is to be reused also run your utility knife where the trim meets the jamb again to cut the chalk or paint. So as not to damage the trim during removal. Once those cuts are made gently insert the flat bar between the trim and sheetrock with the putty knife behind the flat bar to spread the load and not mark up the sheetrock. If needed use the hammer to drive the flat bar in the space by hitting the end of the flat bar. With the bar started behind the trim gently pry it off the wall slowly moving up the leg of the trim and then across the top and down the other side. Take the trim off both sides of the opening then unscrew the old door hinges from the jamb and discard the door. Starting at the bottom of one side of the door jamb use the flat bar to pry the jamb away from the wall studs. It may neccesary to break the door jamb to remove that one side and then the top using the same methods. Clean the wall opening of any nails or shims left behind from the old door.
Now you are ready to hang the new door. Bring the door to a location where you can cut it and make a little mess. Go to the door opening and lay your level on the floor parallel to the wall as close as it can be. Figure out which side of the opening is lower Hint: the bubble in the level will be closer to the higher side. When the lower side is determined take your measuring tape and measure 80 1/2" if you have carpet 80 3/4" if you have hardwood from the floor up toward the ceiling and make a mark on the edge of the wall surface. Take your level and place the bottom edge of one end on the mark you measured out and move the other end of the level which should be on the other side of the door opening on the wall surface until the bubble reads level Hint: when the bubble is centered between the two lines it is reading level. With your pencil draw a line under the other end of the level on the wall near the edge of the sheetrock. From those marks measure down to the floor one of them should be the measurement you made and record the other one notate which measurement is on the hinge side of the jamb, these will be used to cut the new jamb to the proper height. Take all of the packaging off the door except one nail or plastic lock on the latch side of the jamb these items will keep the door closed while moving it to the opening. Take your measuring tape and mark out the measurement on the hinge side of the new jamb you may possibly need an assistant to hold the tape against the bottom of the top part of the jamb and make your mark near the bottom of the jamb that will sit on the floor. Use your combination square to draw a line all the way across the jamb that will be your cut line. Perform the same steps on the other side of the jamb using the other measurement. Use your small hand saw to cut on both lines you just made. The door should be now cut to the proper height. Now we need to gather a couple tools that we need to hang the door. The hammer, nails, level, and shims place these tools very close to where you will be hanging the door. Take the door to the opening where it is to be hung. Stand the door up and remove the nail or plastic keeper I mentioned before. Be very careful not to let the door drop, fall down, or swing open when the nail is out.
Put the door into the opening paying attention that it is swinging the way you wanted it to and the measurements you cut are in the right locations. With the door standing centered in the opening put some shims on either side of the jamb at the very top to hold the door temporarily. Assuming there is baseboard molding on either side of the door that you need this door to be centered on, with the door in the closed position take meaasurments from the baseboard to each side of the jamb. Move the door from side to side to make it centered between the baseboard. Once the door is centered on the bottom only, put some shims behind the bottom hinge so that the shims are snug and not pushing the door out of center. Put one nail into the jamb next to the door stop to hold the door while you shim the top hinge. Slightly open the door and put the level on the edge of the door and shim the top hinge so that the door is level. Nail the jamb to the wall with two nails the first one next to the door stop then open the door and put the other one on the jamb where the door closes.
Now go to the swinging side of the door and close it. Look at the gap between the door and the jamb near the hinges the gap should be about an 1/8" of an inch. Look at the gap along the top of the door it should be about the same. This is where the accuracy of your measurements will show. If the gap at the top is too small you can lift the latch side of the jamb a little to make that gap bigger but if the jamb is more than a 1/8 off the floor the installation will look sloppy. So to correct a gap that is too small and you need to lift the jamb too high add some shim to the top hinge which will lower the latch side of the door. If the gap at the top of the door is too big you have two choices you can take the door out of the opening and cut the jamb the amount need to make the gap nice, or you can take some shim out of the top hinge which will lift the latch side of the door. The door should only be adjusted at most 1/8" with the shims, if more is needed I suggest recutting the jamb. If the door is adjusted with the shims too much it will be hung out of level which could make the door open by its self, or rub the floor.
When the gap looks similar to the gap near the hinges look at the gap on either side of the door near the very top corner. You may need to shim the jamb one way or the other to make the door centered in the jamb then put a nail near the top of the side of the jamb through the shims. Then using the door gap as a guide shim the jamb about half of the way towards the floor and put a nail through jamb and shims. Then do the same at the bottom of the door. Now the door gap should look even all around the door if it does go back to the hinge side of the door and put two more nails through the jamb and shims near the hinges. Also shim the center hinge at this time if the door is so equipt be careful the shims are snug and not pushing the door then nail the jamb through the shims.
At this point you can reinstall the old trim or probably you will want new trim on your new door. But that is a lesson for another article. If anything in this article is unclear feel free to email me your questions.
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