So here's the dealio; we're having our downstairs tiled (~950 sqft) and SWMBO and I want new baseboard which isn't the plainjane contractor style @ $0.05 per yard. Enough will be purchased to cover the whole house (upstairs will be installed after being carpeted).

I have the skills and tools to install the baseboard however what I don't have is the technique to apply caulking well enough to 100% of the time to hide the ripples (and in a few areas tidal waves) along with anything from +/- 7 degrees on the 90 degree corners, to not look like ass in some place(s). (House was built is the mid/late 70s.)

Part of me is thinking I can easily do the cutting and nailing then learn the caulking beginning in the furthest corners of the house or, pay someone the $$ to install and I can bitch if it ain't perfect.

So what say thee - save $600 for a job which isn't perfect and I live with or, py the hard earned boolit monies to have some else do it right the first time?

Caulking.....ugh. Use a wet rag to wipe your fingers.

Mount the baseboards and leave them uncaulked for a few weeks, they sometimes will shift a little, making the caulking not look right anyways.

Caulking is easy. You can tape both sides of the joint. lay a bead of caulk and with a wet finger run it down the caulk. The trick is using a wet finger or wet sponge. I prefer using my finger......if you're good at caulking you can forgo the tape also and just carefully run a wet finger......make sure to use paintable caulk.....or just hire someone after the fact to caulk everything.

If painting them, I'd caulk first, but no issues if you do it after painting either if you're using white paint. If staining them and leaving them a wood color, I'd stain them first and caulk after the staining is finished and dry with a wood colored caulk.....

I use dry rags or paper towels to wipe the excess off of my fingers.....have a five gallon bucket or garbage can handy to toss them right into...….working with the caulk in the first minute is the key......

I did the entire upstairs of our house when we were renovating it last year. There are a lot of really great resources online with how-to's and little tricks to make your life easier. I had never done it before, but the carpet installers asked me who our trim guy was because it looked so good.

And no, I didn't even offer him a twenty to say that. LOL.

Measure once, twice, and maybe even thrice. I spent far more time measuring than anything else. Learn how to cope the corner joints. It's not too tough and gives really tight seams. Practice in closets, that's where I worked out some of the problems and they really don't get seen. The caulking is not hard. The biggest bit of advice I got was cut the tip of the tube smaller than you think you need to. Practice, practice.

Finally, outside corners caused more profanity than normal. Buy one of those digital angle measuring tools. It really helped me dial in the miters. They weren't as nice as a pro, but some caulk helps fix that. Good luck. The satisfaction was priceless.

Get some knee pads. Lose about 50 pounds. LOL. Otto has some good advice. Mine is to cut the running joints @ 15 degrees. Also, cut a couple of small pieces with miters on both ends as test pieces. 1970's sheetrock outside corners have a metal corner piece that is mudded: use a framing square to check for mud build-up, a common occurrence.

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digital angle measuring tool

Otto, as my daughter is finishing up with her Masater's in some sort a super long worded, math degree - maybe I'll those skills of angularity to work for her.

Oh and knee pads are already in the tool box (and no, it had nothing to do with being in the Navy LOL)

I sometimes have the skills to do projects myself, but prefer to pay someone else to do the job. The biggest problem for me is finding a skilled crafstman. Time is more important than money. I did my exterior painting several times, but enjoyed having someone else do it for a change.

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

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digital angle measuring tool

Otto, as my daughter is finishing up with her Masater's in some sort a super long worded, math degree - maybe I'll those skills of angularity to work for her.

LMAO

Officially, what I have is the Husky Digital Sliding T-Bevel / Angle Finder. Home Depot SKU 1001389620

It was a godsend of a little gadget since our house is 50 years old and all the 90 degree corners...well...weren't. I think Arc may have actually recommended something like it when I was picking the brains of the brain trust. It really is nice when you find out the corner isn't 90 degrees, but 93. Makes cutting the outside miters so much easier. Also, for the inside corners...seriously, a cope saw and a bit of practice will make your corners gold.

Typically with flooring the following "rules".

If tile, linoleum, wood as such flat (relatively smooth) surface, then baseboard to the sub-floor, then flooring and caulk if required.

For vinyl or similar products, then same, and shoe molding is used.

Carpet should have baseboard offset above sub-flooring to allow "tucking" under base.

But it's not law, so personal preference is the ultimate factor.

Can you survive WITHOUT baseboards? My wife and I built our log home 30 years ago. We did use hot water baseboard heat (still in place) but don’t any more. Have never installed baseboards. Wall to floor fit is pretty close. Looks fine.

A question...can't you 'cope'? If you can, and well, 'most' of your joints will need little to no filler. Then you can spend all your time trying to get your outside miters accurate. Base is more tedious than anything else, but because I can do it, I always do.

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Originally posted by bigdeal:
A question...can't you 'cope'? If you can, and well, 'most' of your joints will need little to no filler. Then you can spend all your time trying to get your outside miters accurate. Base is more tedious than anything else, but because I can do it, I always do.

I can cope, it's the wavy walls for which I cannot cope.

And no, no baseboard is not an option due to the gap between the drywall and slab.

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

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Originally posted by bigdeal:
A question...can't you 'cope'? If you can, and well, 'most' of your joints will need little to no filler. Then you can spend all your time trying to get your outside miters accurate. Base is more tedious than anything else, but because I can do it, I always do.

I can cope, it's the wavy walls for which I cannot cope.

And no, no baseboard is not an option due to the gap between the drywall and slab.

Wow, your walls must really be wavy. I've seen some wavy stuff before but nothing I couldn't deal with by pulling the base mold in at every stud in the wall with the nail gun.

Shoe mold.

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Originally posted by bigdeal:

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
A question...can't you 'cope'? If you can, and well, 'most' of your joints will need little to no filler. Then you can spend all your time trying to get your outside miters accurate. Base is more tedious than anything else, but because I can do it, I always do.

I can cope, it's the wavy walls for which I cannot cope.

And no, no baseboard is not an option due to the gap between the drywall and slab.

Wow, your walls must really be wavy. I've seen some wavy stuff before but nothing I couldn't deal with by pulling the base mold in at every stud in the wall with the nail gun.

A chair rail in the dining room allowed for a 1/4 gap before trying to "push" the moulding against the wall. Still resulted in an 1/8 inch because of the stud locations.