DIY Perfect Baseboards

DeeDee
by DeeDee
6 Materials
$40
2 Hours
Medium
As promised, I'm back with more of our Entry Hall Makeover. Today I'm going to attempt to tell/show you how to get your very own perfect baseboards with the perfectly finished off ends.
We are not pros by any means, total DIY people here.  Everything we do we look up on Pinterest, YouTube and Hometalk of course!  If you don't already know, those three sites are the best for the DIY types. *wink*
A few weeks ago my honey installed our nice new wood look tile floor and of course it was beautiful so we couldn't leave the bottom edge of the wall exposed like this for very long.  We wanted to add the baseboards back so it would look finished and gorgeous.  Check it out HERE for how we did the floor tile.
You will need to choose the type of baseboard look you're going for first.  We chose a very simple look.  The baseboard itself with a quarter round finish.  This is two separate pieces of wood.  You will also need a chop saw like you see above, or just a miter saw will work.  The reason being, you will need to be able to cut the wood pieces at an angle and it is much easier with the chop saw or a miter saw.
Here you can see the tall flat pieces (baseboard) up against the wall and then the skinnier rounded pieces (quarter round) touching the base board and the floor.  My honey's method was to make all the cuts first and lay everything out for what it would look like, then nail everything into place.
See the before picture above?  This is what we ended up with when he was all done cutting all the pieces to size.  He was NOT happy with that look and he wanted it to look more finished off.


The after picture is what he ended up with after reading the very informative article we found online.  So much better huh?


Visit our blog at the link below to get the step by step trick to perfect baseboards!
Here are the pieces before they are joined together.  You will need to add a bit of white caulk to the end cap before nailing it in to place, this will help secure it.  Next step is nailing it all in place.  We used our nail gun for a speedier process, but you can also use the old fashioned hammer and nails as well.



Look how nice and finished off those ends look now.  After these are painted, they will be perfect!
To finish off your baseboards completely, you will want to use a white paintable caulk.  Run a very small bead of caulk along all the open gaps.  With a damp finger, run your finger along the caulk bead to smooth it out.  Wipe excess into the nail holes and then if needed, have a damp cloth in your hand for any unneeded caulk.
Gorgeous!  All I have left to do is put a nice fresh coat of white paint on them and we'll be golden!
Fresh paint for everything coming up and some new decor too! Stay tuned!


Visit our blog HERE for more details!
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DeeDee
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 17 questions
  • Pineapple Pineapple on Jan 01, 2023

    Are you going to do something to those stucco walls?

  • SONIA MEIER SONIA MEIER on Jan 01, 2023

    Why not paint them first

  • B B on Dec 23, 2023

    If you removed the baseboards before putting floor down why bother with quarter round at all?

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4 of 92 comments
  • Katen Katen on Dec 23, 2023

    Trim carpentry isn’t hard but until you get experience it’s kind of a pain. Devil is in the details. Yours looks very nice but as your first try shows, patience and willingness to a learning curve is needed. Nice look

  • Lynn Lynn on Dec 24, 2023

    We are putting plank vinyl flooring in our whole house and recently finished one of the bedrooms. We left the baseboards in place but cut quarter round to finish off the room. It is amazing what a difference it makes in how finished the whole room looks! Nice job!!

    • DeeDee DeeDee on Dec 25, 2023

      Thank you so much! I bet yours looks great!👍🏻

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