Why is it that carpenters always insist on putting it down wrong?
baseboard
- Thread starter Floorist
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What are they doing that’s wrong?
Half the time we do something that I know is just dumb, it’s because the GC scheduled or spec’d it that way. We have a GC that wants all his base set tight to the floor, most want it raised 1/4”? Then we have one that wants it raised 1/4” in the basement (concrete) and tight to the floor upstairs (wood). I’m too old to be wasting my time caring about things that are out of my control so I just roll with it anymore. Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you. As long as my miters are tight, I can sleep at night.
Tack strip was designed to use with base set on the floor.
Tack strip, I’ve heard of tack strip. That’s them pokey things they use for carpet, right? 
It made some millionaires, definitely not any of us who installed it. Just the people that made it.Tack strip, I’ve heard of tack strip. That’s them pokey things they use for carpet, right?
I’m sure when hardwood floors started to lose favor to carpet as the standard floor being installed is when things started to change.
No need to set base tight to particle board or OSB cus you know something is going to cover it up. If you’re doing floating floor the base would be set tight to the floating floor, or shoe molding as they do here. If you’re installing carpet then the base can be set up a touch. Makes it easier for the carpet installer to bust a move as well as the finish carpenter doesn’t have to scribe to uneven floors. Time is money.
No need to set base tight to particle board or OSB cus you know something is going to cover it up. If you’re doing floating floor the base would be set tight to the floating floor, or shoe molding as they do here. If you’re installing carpet then the base can be set up a touch. Makes it easier for the carpet installer to bust a move as well as the finish carpenter doesn’t have to scribe to uneven floors. Time is money.
Tack strip is underbeveled on the wall side to help lock in the carpet when it is trimmed. And who would want to trim carpet long enough to tuck under the base when you can speed down the wall with a trimmer? Takes me a lot longer to cut it long and tuck it under.
When I install carpet I like my base 1/4" off the floor it helps lock the carpet to the tackstrip. So when people step along the wall or pull on the carpet it can't come off. means no return trips for me. So a few minutes tucking saves a lot of time later.
100 years ago
there was no such thing as lvpThere was no such thing as OSB or tongue and groove plywood either.
In the 80s and 90s, one layer subfloors became common.
They put quarter inch or half inch plywood on top of the subfloor in areas that had vinyl flooring.
When they installed baseboards directly off of the vinyl flooring and on to the carpeted area, it's going to be about 3/8 of an inch higher where it meets the carpeting.
Do you drop the baseboards a quarter or 3/8 of an inch when the vinyl, transitions to the carpeted area? Or do you just let it remain 3/8 of an inch off the floor so the carpet can tuck under it?
I worked at a job 40 years ago in a brand new super fancy house. It had doors with four hinges, lots of rough wood and had what was typical then, colonial stained molding.
We put in some super expensive, thick , cut pile carpeting. The contractor place the baseboards directly on the floor and the carpet covered up 30% of the baseboard height.
It turned a $150,000 house into a $75,000 house immediately. It looked like crap because a large percentage of the baseboard disappeared. The expensive colonial base look virtually like a tall weird looking base shoe.
When baseboards with a profile are installed, you're supposed to see the entire profile, not see 1/3 of the profile disappear because of the carpet thickness
Had the contractor, the homeowner and the flooring shop talked about the carpeting choice, that baseboard would have been at a minimum of half inch off the floor.
To this day, homeowners, builders, and especially, flooring contractors, NEVER communicate.
They never have, they never will.
Baseboards layed directly on the floor were cool back in 1920s, 1950s and maybe 1960s.
From the time that shag carpeting came about in the late sixties early seventies, what happened with baseboards changed.
It doesn't make any difference in the homes built the 1920s 30 to 40s, where the baseboards were 4 to 8 inches tall. 3/4 in thick carpet would not affect the visuals on a baseboard that tall.
With two and a half or three and a quarter inch tall baseboards these days, nothing looks nicer than carpet gently smooshed under a slightly raised baseboard. 1/4 minimum, 1/2 inch absolute maximum. less is more.
It leaves a nice edge and you get to see in the entire height and profile of the baseboard.
It's not about the skill involved in tucking neatly to a baseboard flush on the floor, it's the visual look after it's tucked in that matters.
I'm fortunate to always talk with the customers when they're making the flooring purchase. If the home is new or a remodel , I will tell the contractor how high up I want the baseboard.
99.2% or even 99.99875975% of the time I would discourage them from putting baseboards flush with the floor.
The carpet thickness will cover up half inch to 3/4 in of the baseboard.
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Another big argument on this on a DIY forum.
We had a house we trimmed out maybe a month ago and the customer requested we run the trim molding, square profile, to the end of the door jamb instead of just up to the casing. That’s what and how it was installed in their house they lived in for years so that’s how they want it installed in their new house. I thought it looked dumb but the customer is happy and I got paid so in the end it really doesn’t matter.
That does sound dumb. I got sent out to a job once to fix another installer's job. To me, it looked perfect. He had installed the carpet and tucked it to a hearth. Looked smooth. They had me put gold metal around the hearth and tuck the carpet into it. Looked like crap, but that is what they wanted.
That is certainly a strange request? Sometimes you see something different and say gee, that looks cool… This is not one of those times…
If the subfloor isn’t perfect flat , and is one ever ? , then you’re supposed to snap a line on the wall and install the base to the line if it’s tight to the floor in places , yay for that if you want it that way. Tucking Berber is easier and nicer when the base is up 1/4 inch . Over hard surfaces 1/4 round or shoe mold fixes gaps when base doesn’t
I've done very similar on commercial high rise. Even 2-3 story buildings can be very difficult to keep flat and level over say 45,000 square feet per floor over 15 floors. The building can settle enough to really affect those level/flat issues. So we'd correct the VISUAL aspect by snapping lines on the drywall walls where the floor dipped down dramatically and then float with cement patch up to at least avoid that image of the rubber cove/flat base going up and down on sharp angles.
A few time the systems furniture cubicles would be installed on top of the carpet with a consistent height and their leveling adjustements were made in the base of the wall panel. Well, we had to put rubber base on that (flat) scribing the bottom of the base to the carpet. The top portion of the panel has an acoustic material covered with fabric with a metal frame. The top of the base butted to the frame and then it's pretty straightforwards from there. My guys were doing about 400' in a 7 hour shift. Normally they'd be at 500-700' on average.
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Got a production house today, in n out is the name of the game and we’re not doing the garage. No biggie, every miter is a 45 is all that means. Just look at this pile of MDF, it says done and gone by 2!
I can work a nail gun as well as the next guy but when something is off I’m gonna say something. I mark the piece and take it out to recut it. Nope, don’t cut it. As per so n so all corners are to be square and if they’re not then they will be fixed (by someone else). This is my first time working for this builder but my $5 says we’re fixing the base before the sheet rockers float that corner square.
I can work a nail gun as well as the next guy but when something is off I’m gonna say something. I mark the piece and take it out to recut it. Nope, don’t cut it. As per so n so all corners are to be square and if they’re not then they will be fixed (by someone else). This is my first time working for this builder but my $5 says we’re fixing the base before the sheet rockers float that corner square.
A little caulk will take care of that.
Buy it in bulk.
Went back to install 1/4 round and what do you know, they caulked it.
wow, beautiful
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