I am about to put in new baseboard around my basement walls. The floor will be carpeted. I seem to recall, though I cannot recall where, I have seen the baseboard mounted 1/4" above floor level, rather than flush with the floor.
Is that correct, or should I just make it flush with the floor?
Thanks!
H
I'd keep it up about 1/4" or so. Remember that you need to put your finish floor down and that your base boards work on convertion. You need air flow from the bottom of the base board over your elements.
-paul
on 8/27/2007 3:24 PM H said the following:
Why not wait until the carpet is installed? It will be easier for the carpet installers.
I want to get the room painted before the carpet goes in.
So, paint the baseboards but don't install them.
- I want to get the room painted before the carpet goes in.
Prime and paint the baseboard on some sawhorses before the carpet goes down. Install it after the carpet goes in, then just touch up the nail holes.
Odds are you going to have to touch up the baseboard anyway. The installers are bound scuff it up in a few spots, especially if the paint is fairly fresh.
How is it easier? I have replaced a carpet in a room where I was also replacing baseboard trim. I thought it would be easier to get a clean look by installing the baseboard before the new carpet. Worked out fine for me. Oh, and I installed it on the floor. No intentional gap.
Caulking???
Why not just do a proper job to start with?
"Proper" without caulking? How do you do that? There are all sorts of imperfections in a wall, and caulking covers them.
A good craftsman can get the corners practically perfect. But my walls aren't perfectly flat. I caulked along the top edge and it looks nice. I also caulked the hack jobbed miter cuts because I'm not a good craftsman. Those look good too.
Precisely.
- Proper installation of the baseboard also involves caulking...and subsequent
- repainting...which I would rather do before the carpet goes in.
If you know so much about the proper installation of baseboard, how come you don't know if it goes on the floor or not? Kidding! ;-)
I'll grant you the caulking point, but I bet you'll be touching up the paint after the carpet gets installed anyway.
A good carpet guy will keep the rookie helper in the small closets to minimize damage (smiley faces from hammers).
-- Oren
"I didn?t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you."
Having been in the trim business for over 30 years, I will tell you how the raising the trim off of the floor came about, then you can decide what to do.
Back in the good old days, houses had door casing and baseboard moulding. They had the same detail, but the baseboard was taller than the door casing. You can still find this in any major moulding catalogue. Door casing will be matched to a baseboard with the baseboard wider at the base.
When you put the baseboard down and then install carpet, about the same amount of the moulding shows in both places and they appear to be the same width.
Back when the housing booms started and people were trying to cut corners everywhere they could, they stopped buying separate base and casing and just bought casing. You did not have to have two different trims and the casing cost less. If you raised the casing up off the floor, you would have the same reveal on both.
There is no other reason to raise the base off the floor. Ask any carpet installer. They do NOT need to have the base raised off the floor for any reason.
In Las Vegas, I've watched crews "shape and shim" interior walls (before sheet rock). They plane the inside stud or add shims (4 ft
+/-). Using a long level they check the walls and fix problems. This happens in the _Street of Dreams_ homes.The best book I read (imo) declares caulk as an essential tool/need for trim!
-- Oren
"I didn?t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you."
We've become accustomed to second rate skills in most everything today. IMO, caulking just screams H A C K. Check out some of the best older homes and look for the caulk.
I really do appreciate older homes and the talent too build them.
What I don't like is that all the wires and recent breakers in the panel (recent observation) are in Spanish.
-- Oren
"My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."
Probably installed by the same guy with the tube of caulk doing trim work today.
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