Toe kick: Paint or finish like floor?

If a room has hardwood floors and baseboard molding, is it customary to paint the quarter round toe kick the same color as the baseboard, or should it be finished like the floor itself?

Or is it just personal preference?

Reply to
Ray
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I'm voting for personal pref and mine is making it the same as the cabs.

Reply to
C & E

The quarter-round molding is traditionally painted the same color as the baseboard.

Reply to
Phisherman

Either way works. We have quarter round same as floors and I like it. Material for quarter round becomes important. Stain + Poly finish scuffs less than paint. TB

Reply to
tbasc

The only style I have seen is q. round painted same color as baseboard. It would be a little easier to paint that way - generally small gap below quarter round that allows sliding something under it to keep paint off the floor while you are painting.

Reply to
Norminn

Ah ha. That use of "toe kick" is confusing. Toe kick usually refers to the space under a cabinet. Yet the OP didn't say anything about cabinets and asked if the quarter round should be the same as the "baseboard molding." That two is confusing since the proper term is just baseboard (it is normally molded).

Anyway, since one doesn't normally use baseboard in the toe kick area of a cabinet, the OP must be talking about walls with a baseboard. If he were talking about under a cabinet then quarter round or base shoe the same as the flooring would be appropriate.

The answer is that regardless of the number of pieces and the names of the pieces used for the floor trim, the pieces should all be finished the same. Single piece baseboard is the most common modern type, double piece that includes a "base shoe" is probably more common that a double piece that includes quarter round. Then of course there are even more complicated wood trims that have at least 3 pieces.

Reply to
George E. Cawthon

Actually, I probably should have said "shoe molding" (which is the quarter round). And it is for walls, not cabinets. And there are actually three pieces, the molding, and ogee cap and the quarter round shoe. Sorry for the confusion.

But then again, you should have said "too" instead of "two" ;))

Reply to
Ray

After looking at quite a few houses while house hunting, I decided that the better maintained homes had the quarter round finished to match the floor.

--Betsy

Reply to
betsy

">> If a room has hardwood floors and baseboard molding,

Why are you using 1/4 round ?

Reply to
Rudy

Probably because he can't cut the boards accurately...

Or didn't want to take off the original baseboards on the walls?

Perhaps one of the floating floor type systems?

Reply to
Grumman-581

Actually, they are the original 6" baseboards with ogee caps and hardwood floor, circa 1920. A previous owner of the house carpeted over the floor and up over the baseboards (believe it or not) to make a sort of "carpet pit"

The carpet installer removed the original shoe molding to put the tack strips down. Now that I'm liberating the original floors, I need to re-install the shoe molding.

See, simple reason...

Reply to
Ray

Actually I did say too, my fingers just typed two; my fingers often type homophones. Started about

3 or 4 years ago, age maybe, or the computer switches it. I prefer the latter explanation. :)

However, shoe is a molding so the word "molding" is redundant. But, shoe and quarter round are not the same. Quarter round is a quarter of a round, shoe is not, one flat edge is longer than the other.

Reply to
George E. Cawthon

Don't ask, don't tell...

Reply to
Grumman-581

Of course I tell, it's an excuse!

Reply to
George E. Cawthon

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