How to install a one peice baseboard.

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.