Installing trim means you've already gotten through the
toughest parts of remodeling a room. Installation of baseboard trim is
something akin to icing on a cake and should be taken on as an enjoyable
project that signals the end of what may have been a long, hard job.
Along with wall and window trim, it's the finishing touch, the accent,
the piece de resistance - and knowing this should help propel you easily
toward its completion. But don't get in such a hurry that you don't take
care to do it right!
Finger-Joint or Continuous-Grain
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Before purchasing, decide whether or not
you'll be painting or staining after the installation of baseboard trim.
This can make a difference in the price of your trim. For
baseboard that's going to be painted, you can buy the less-expensive
finger-joint trim, which is molding created by joining and machining
shorter pieces together to form one continuous length of trim.
The seams are visible, but very effectively covered by paint. If you
decide on staining the trim, however, you need to go with
continuous-grained baseboard. |
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This higher-priced baseboard trim costs more but results in an
attractive continuity accentuated by the seamless grain of the wood
brought out by stain.Do all painting and/or staining of the molding
before installation.
Begin installation of baseboard trim at an outside corner, if one is
present, in the room. Otherwise, start at the wall on the opposite side
of where the door going into the room is located. Because this is the
first wall people see when they walk into a room, you want this one to
have the best-looking baseboard possible. If you run short for some
reason or the other on the other walls and need to splice pieces, it
won't be nearly so evident.
Angled and Square Ends
Use a power miter saw for installation of baseboard trim at inside and
outside corners. A T-bevel can measure odd angles that don't measure
what should be neat, 90-degree angles (but rarely are!) and when walls
aren't square to floors, baseboard trim can be coped to fit with a
coping saw. For the first section of baseboard trim, the cut is simple:
Make both ends square, no angle cutting is necessary. It's the
subsequent, connecting pieces of baseboard that need to be fitted at
either corner of this piece. Those two pieces also are angled only at
those corners with their opposites ends being square. The remaining
pieces of baseboard are cut with angled ends meeting square ends until
the room is finished.
Finishing Up
Use six-penny finishing nails to fasten the baseboard to the studs,
which are usually about 16 inches apart along the wall. If you do not
have a stud finder, tap along the wall and listen for the hollow versus
solid sound that differentiates between a stud being there or not. To
hide the nail heads or obvious indentations made by the nails, fill with
wood putty to match the stain or touch up with paint, as needed.
Visit OnlineTips.Org for more on finishing trim, including wainscoting
and
how to use coping saws
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