I hate baseboards...

[Dave Balderstone]

Never mind the fact that the previous owners not only painted, but sanded and refinished the hardwood floors WITHOUT taking the old baseboards off, so that the 1/2 inch along the wall is 1/16 higher than the rest of the floor, with globs of rock hard poly everwhere. An hour on my knees working with a chisel...

Or that I couldn't find a profile I liked at the height I need to cover prior mistakes, so had to build my own. That was a few hours on the router table, after I finally designed and built the jig I needed for the job...

And that's just the dining room. The living room is next. (Shudder)

Time to stop and have a beer, while I think about how I'm going to make the return air vent covers because nobody stocks the size that was used

40 years ago when this house was built...

djb

[Ernie Jurick]

I feel your pain. Our condo was put together by the El Cheapo Moonlight Construction Company. All the woodwork is held in place with staples. I've been slowly ripping it out, bringing the walls down to meet the floor and eliminating all the tacky brown-painted trim. Some people....

-- Ernie

[J.B. Bobbitt]

held in place with staples.....

Sounds like "Barf Construction" (motto: "We just throw it up")

-JBB (credit: Do Wa Wa)

[Dave Balderstone]

And their kids...

;-)

djb

[Luigi Zanasi]

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 20:18:43 GMT, Dave Balderstone scribbled

Here are a couple of my bookmarks to give you some ideas (or INSPIRATION, as JOAT would put it.):

"no" with "yk" twice in reply address for real email address

[Dave Balderstone]

The dining room in question is slated to have the window replaced with French (oops... Freedom) Doors leading onto the next year deck. The north wall will be ripped out when the kitchen renovation happens next year or the one after. So the wainscoting is at *least* a year away unless SWMBO decides she doesn't like the wallpaper on the south wall after all.

Casing on the doors... You bastard! I had hoped that SWMBO had let that one slide, but of course she leaned over my shoulder with a sweet "What are you reading?" just as I opened your reply.

I hate you...

djb

[MSH]

Most floors get sanded without removing the baseboards. You can get any size vent you want made. Try Wood Air Ventures.

M Hamlin

[Dave Balderstone]

Resulting in what I found when I removed the baseboards. Thanks for the insight. Who'd a thunk that what I saw was real? It would be fine if I was going to retain the profile of the existing baseboards, but sucked rhino here, because I was *installing a new profile*. Oops, didn't I mention that? No, I did mention that. Whew!

I can get *anything* I want made, if it doesn't violate the laws of physics or society and I don't get caught (in both cases). If I had enough money, I could commission a glow-in-the-dark left-handed nose flute, and find someone here on the wreck to build it for me or at least track down a free plan for one...

Think I'll try my shop, but thanks.

djb

[MSH]

Yes you mentioned a lot of things, what you haven't mentioned is wtf a new profile has to do with the whether the baseboards were removed during a sand job. And actually it would *not* be fine if using the same *height* base, especially if you're too lazy to paint.

Custom vents are not much more than stocked items. Sorry for trying to help you, I didn't realize you just wanted to whine. Have another drink.

MH

[Silvan]

Hey, those are the guys Dad hired to put on his new roof.

[John Thompson]

(giving David patronizing pat on head) :)

There, there now. You just don't realize how GOOD you have it, compared to our 101 year old house. The baseboards are about 10" high, with some various angles and rounds at the top to form a bead, one piece boards. Naturally, the plaster and lath wall underneath is cracked from the nails, and the paint buildup is very thick, so one could not just replace this baseboard with something smaller without major rework of the wall somehow. We have LARGE cast iron heat duct registers in the floor...I've never seen any supplier with replacement registers that even come close. Wish I could, got one in the kids room that needs to be covered over. Will probably wind up making a plywood frame for it with a smaller, stock register. Thought about machining an aluminum plate in a CNC mill at work but not sure it'd be strong enough to hold up under an adult persons weight.

What really burns me up though, is that the previous owners PAINTED OVER THE STAINED TRIM! There are areas where the paint has peeled away, and you can see how the wood (unkown) has gotten to that rich dark look only old, stained, wood can get. There is no way I'm gonna be able to get all the paint out of the grooves and rossettes without damage, much less removing the original finish. Perhaps that would be a good use for all that oak I've got, if I can find someone with a plane/mill (?) that can use custom cutters.

[Dave Balderstone]

Lived in one like that in my late teens, so I can picture what you're facing. Thanks, I feel better now.

:-)

djb

[Silvan]

Reminds me of a friend's house growing up. I think the '30s were a bad time for old houses. People lost their minds.

His place had carpet over linoleum over beautiful hardwood floors, among other crimes. Too many crimes to mention, really. I guess the stuff that seems cheap and crappy to us today was new and exciting once, and back in those days *everybody* had hardwood floors, but not everybody had

*linoleum* or *carpeting*, so they were showing off or something.

Or else somebody was too lazy to refinish them somewhere along the way.

The original finish will disappear, but I'd try 3M Safest Stripper to remove the paint, if that stuff is still around. I used it on an old dresser with lots of intricate bits, and I got paint out of every nook and cranny through the careful use of toothbrushes and toothpicks and such. That goop softened everything up great, and it was a lot less noxious than some other strippers I've used. (I refinished with something once that made my hands feel tingly through four layers of heavy gloves. Gack!)

[Leon]

During the summer, my son and I took up in 1 day and put down all new base boards in 2 days after the ceramic tile was laid through out the whole house. Thank goodness for good knee pads and the finish nail gun. Then there seemed like 3 trillion feet of caulk to put down at the bottom and top of the moldings. ;~)