The size, style, and appearance of your baseboards will make a room look great or make it look old and shabby. However, replacing your baseboards is really a rather simple and straight forward process that the majority of us are able to do by using a few basic tools.
You need to have some standard power tools a drill, a compressor using a finish nail gun( or a Paslode type airless finish nailer), along with a miter or compound miter saw. The remainder of the tools are just basic hand tools (see Coping Baseboards Article for list of tools needed). Coping your baseboards will produce the best result for all your inside corners for installing your baseboards. Nonetheless, there are a few tips for mitering outside corners and for leaving space under baseboards so carpet can be installed properly.
In case carpet are going to be installed in the room you are putting base inside the room and baseboards will look better if you space the baseboard up from the floor. When the carpet is an extremely low pile glue down carpet you will have to set up the baseboards after the carpet is installed for most effective results. If the carpet a low pile that will have tack strips holding it in position then you simply must place small 3/8 inch plywood blocks underneath the baseboards every couple feet in case the carpet is a standard pile carpet then use ½ inch plywood. This allows the carpet to be hidden under the baseboards and also permits you to see numerous baseboard. If this is not completed your baseboards will probably appear to be up to ½ inch shorter .
Because drywall involves a corner bead that commonly sticks out a bit from the plain of the wall a 45 degree miter cut can lead to the front profile of the baseboard creating a space that will have to be spackled or caulked. To acquire best mitered outside corners cut your miters at 46-47 degrees. This would allow the outer profile of the baseboard to come together correctly.
Painting baseboards after they are installed is usually very time consuming. To eliminate time and still get a great finished product i suggest you prime and paint the baseboards prior to installing them. Soon after installation simply apply one touch filler or vinyl spackle to all nail holes until slightly overfilled. Make it possible for filler to dry and lightly sand until flush with baseboard. A quick touch-up with paint for these sanded areas should make nail holes disappear. Repeat process for areas that require further touch-up. After paint has dried utilize a water cleanup paintable caulk to run a small bead of caulk along the top of the baseboards where it contacts the wall. Utilize a wet finger to smooth out the caulking, cleaning and moistening you finger with a wet rag.
For stained baseboards nail holes really should be filled with an oil-based color puddy. These puddies come in a number of different colors/shades. By mixing a number shades together you can produce a color than matches your baseboards stain color. It is best to only mix enough putty to produce a ball the size of a quarter, make sure to place any unused putty back in its container so very easy harden and also works extremely well later on.
Now that you will be armed with ways to make your baseboards look wonderful, break out the tools and get to work.