My father-in-law built his own house, including clearing the land itself plus building almost all the furniture inside. Impressive, no doubt, but it’s been five years since construction finished and there’s still one glaring omission: baseboards.
Often forgotten—“I’ll get to that later”—baseboards do more than simply hide the nexus of floor and wall; like how shoes make the outfit, baseboard is the bottom moulding that ties together a room. People might not notice their absence, but they notice something isn’t quite right.
Luckily, adding new baseboards (or replacing battered ones) is quick, weekend work that involves a few basic skills essential to every DIYer: cutting mitres, how to use a coping saw and final sanding.
While you can simply purchase basic baseboard moulding (typically a board with minor or no profile), adding some flair is quite simple. You can, for example, install board right onto the wall, and then affix a rounded “shoe” profile on the bottom (where the board meets the floor) and a cap above the board (gives added visual interest).
Plan ahead
Whichever method or material you use, the first step is to map out the room so you know exactly what lengths of trim you will require and which joints go where. For example, if you decide to use the three-part baseboard (board plus show plus cap), understand that inside corners require two boards that simply butt together whereas the caps and shoes will need to be coped.
Tools
This job requires very few tools, most of which you already have on hand. You will need: a drill equipped with a 1/16-inch bit to pre-drill nail holes for scarf joints; a mitre box to cut corners (cost: about $45); a carpenter’s square; a coping saw; stud finder; metal files for fine-tuning cope joints; a caulking gun to seal the joints; and a trim brush for applying a finish.
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