Paneling and Trim - I Need Baseboard help..Angles for Corners, etc...

Hey friends

Im finishing my basement and ready to put up like my 240 linear feet of baseboards around the perimeter. I got theProp pack of 10 peices 12' lengths MDF Wood 3 1/4" height.

#1 ...Is 1/2" off if concrete floor good..i'll be having padding/carpet installed when im done

#2...a neighbor gave me his airgun and compressor to use and 2" nails...how far apart should i be putting the nails in? every couple wood studs? and where on the base board should i nail? about center (from bottom to top)

#3...i have a compound miter saw...what are my angles for outside and inside...will i need to use my coping handsaw for the inside or is there an easier way. I have like 14 inside corners and 10 outside corners to do total

Thanks
BAM

Generally, 1/2" off the floor is fine. You could check with your carpet installer to see what is preferred.

The nails are a bit short, you should use #8 which are 2-1/2" long. Nail into every wall stud.

The angles are half the angle of the corners. Usually, these are 90 degrees to cut in 45 degree halves, but in reality they are something different. Coping the inside corners is the easiest way to get a perfect fit. The outside corners are good to measure and cut one-half. A try square with a 45 is a good way to get a feel for the angle. Otherwise, an angle gage from the hardware store will do fine.

This is my first time installing baseboards. I have only put up a couple pieces and now I see why you need to cope the inside corners. The walls are not perectly straight, and a little movemnet will through your angle off. I'm staining my baseboards, so the joints to look perfect. I have only nailed up 3 pieces of baseboards, so I'm on my way to home depot now to get a coping saw and start practicing with it.

#2...a neighbor gave me his airgun and compressor to use and 2" nails...how far apart should i be putting the nails in?

This I don't understand. Baseboard typically isn't any thicker than 3/4". Why on earth would someone need to use 2" nails? Since you have a compressor and a nail gun, make sure the gun is a brad nailer and not a finish nailer. I have never had to use nails greater than 1-1/2. Not only is it ugly to use "Carpenter Nails/thicker nails" IMO, but the nail holes are a lot harder to hide with the thicker nails.

I would also look online at www.rockler.com to find fill sticks/wax sticks to cover up the nail holes "After the finish is on it" Always prefinish your wood before you cut/install it.

You're not going to be moving the walls, so you're going to have to caulk the top edge anyways.

I personally hate to cope. I use test pieces to find my angle. Also, a trick of the trade is to wipe some of the stain on your cut miter and that will help hide little gaps.

Ok guys...just to update you on what i did...i did the baseboards before the carpet...most people said do baseboards first, in case you need to change out the carpet, you wont have to take off the baseboards

the guy that will be doing the carpet told us to put the bottom of the board 1/2 inch off the floor...that way, you'll see more of the boards when the carpet is installed...so i taped 3 paint stirrers together (1/2" total) and i used three of these (so 9 total) and put under each board that was to go up

i borrowed a neighbors air compressor braid gun that shot in 2" braid nails (i said nailgun in my 1st post, that was my fault)....man this was great and so easy...so i recommend renting one of these if you cant borrow one...most nails got sunk in, but there were a few that i had to sink in with a nail punch...no big deal...you should do this anyway, you'll see that it makes your board tighter to the wall anyway

i used my compound miter saw for all my cuts (all inside and outside cormers were all approx 90 degrees)...its very easy to line up the outside corners and the insides werent too bad...leaves alittle gap at the bottom...but the top came together nicely...you'll see that alittle sanding and white caulk make a huge difference.,...well worth the extra hour to do this...my cuts look great (in my humble opinion)

thanks for your help

bam
:)

Hey BMeadBam,

I'm installing baseboards too. I'm actually putting up new ones and staining them. Here are some pics of what I have been doing...

http://rockenbach.net/baseboards/

hey JRockFL

they look very nice...the stain goes well with the wood floor

looks like a faux finish too on the walls?....we have the same color in our dining room...we did the rag on technique...what a project that was too, but well worth it...or is yours a wallpaper?

bam
:thumbup:

Thank you! I'm hoping to finish up the living room and dining room this week. We did a ragging technique too. There are 3 colors. First, the base color, then rolled on a mid color and then ragged with the darker color. It was a big project! But I like how it came out.

Originally, I was going to just paint the baseboards a dark brown. I started to paint, and it just didnt look good. The line on the top of the baseboard was not straight and I just wasn't satisfied.

Have any pictures of your work??

JRock

I dont have any pics, but alot of my friends and co-workers are asking about the big project that took my wife and I 6 months to do....but actually, we were on schedule with our anticipated completion date....only subbed out one thing...taping/spackling/sanding (well worth paying those guys)

i'll post again when i get some pics

good lick with your projects!
BAM

You use 2-1/2 inch nails through 3/4" baseboard and 1/2" sheetrock to give 1-1/4" of nail in the stud to hold the base in place. Nails 2" long don't provide much hold, but are probably sufficient since they are air-driven. Rather than the term nail, brad is more accurate and appropriate for baseboard.

I just removed about 500'+ of trim, that had been in place for over 35 years, all held in with 1 1/2 inch brads. While it came out easy enough there was zero sign of loose fitting.

I will be installing all new baseboard with about the same size brads. Perhaps up to 2" but unless I plan to hang shelves on my baseboard I can see little or no reason to go bigger.

my 2 cents