Get Perfect Inside Corners the Easy Way (No Coping!!!)

Here I demonstrate how to cut and install baseboard corners for perfect inside corners every time WITHOUT COPING.

--Contents of this video ----------------------------
00:00 - Why coping is a waste of time
00:36 - The secret to perfect inside corners
00:44 - How to cut baseboard inside corners with a miter saw
01:25 - How to install perfect baseboard corners
02:28 - Installing baseboard corner over carpet
03:03 - Why would any cope baseboards? The benefits of coping baseboards

--- Helpful Links ----------------------

There are two ways to cut baseboard corners for inside corners. You can cope them or miter them. Mitering your baseboards is far easier, but coping is considered better.

However, in most cases, coping baseboards is overly challenging and a waste of time. In this video, I demonstrate "The Popsicle Stick Trick" for getting perfect inside corners with a mitered joint. This will both save time and make your baseboard project easier.

The first step is to cut your baseboard inside corners at an angle of 44 degrees with a miter saw to compensate for the drywall mud buildup. Cut them just a hair shorter than the distance between the walls to avoid having to make multiple cuts.

Then, check to see if there is a gap in your mitered joint. If so, then this is where the popsicle stick trick works its magic.

Watch the video for full details.

---Related Videos ------------------------------

---About my Youtube Channel ----------------------
I create high-quality tutorials and tool reviews that save you time and money and help you get better results with your home projects. No BS, just straight-to-the-point info. Basically, I create DIY videos that don't suck.

---About Handyman Startup ---------------------------
Handyman Startup is a website designed to help you turn your DIY skills into a profitable handyman business. Learn things like how to start your business from scratch, how to get customers, and how to price your services - even if you only have limited handyman skills.

---Related Links ---------------------------------

[jeffwangerin]

A guy showed me a trick years ago. It works much better than shims or popsicle sticks. Put a drywall (or any) screw in the bottom corner of the wall, you can adjust the depth to control how far the boards sticks out. 👍

[kyles]

I have found that this makes projects go much faster. After 7 or 8 corners the sugar rush from eating so many popsicles helps me whip out the rest of the project in no time!!

[kwjtomf]

I see all the professionals jumping all over this but read the title. This is for DIYers and beginners, not professionals. If we want it professionals to do it, we hire them but if you're doing it yourself, this is a great hack.

[XxStratAttackxX]

As a veteran carpenter I reject this. Coping will always be better and you made all my points for me pretty much. The pressure fit of a coped joint keeps it closed tight as well. And it is faster than this shimming method. I have no adjustments to make, I can simply spring my piece into place and nail it off. Doesn't take me more than a minute tops to cope a piece of base depending on how long it is using a normal Coping saw.

[michaeljuers]

We use a drywall screw in the bottom plate to compensate for the drywall bevel. It’s quick and adjustable!

[bobbycrider]

I trimmed houses For a living. When running base board in a new house, you use 3/8" shims to hold the baseboard up high enough for the floor covering. There is no time to try sticking shims here or there to make the joints fit. I could have a corner cope, and ready for my laborer to nail it. The outside corners were mitered, glued, and nailed. The painters were always glad, knowing I was the one that did the work.

[cwally]

Cope inside corners. Use drywall screws to build out the bottom of the baseboard if needed. Done!

[wooddoug]

Excellent tip. I've used several materials to shim the bottom in my 45 year career. I eventually settled on corrugated cardboard. It self adjusts through compression. I also cut my trim 1/16th long, not short. When bowed in this immense pressure compresses the cardboard and may slightly bed the end of the base into that built up mud.

[carpenterabc]

When I install hardwood base boards for staining, you can't caulk your errors, so I usually do compound miter cuts with some test pieces before I do use the actual piece. Although, I will do coping sometimes. The shim behind the piece is my last resort, if I still see an opening. I always cut the piece a 1/32-1/16 longer to make sure I get tight corners.

[KenHill]

When inserting the popsicle stick from the top down, don't force it all the way down till it bottoms out. Pull it back up a little bit, snap it off, and then push it down behind the baseboard so that it is hidden when you caulk the top to the wall.

[yeeaahBUDDY]

I actually used these same paint stirring sticks to shim out the bottom of my baseboard last year, on all of the baseboard, not just the corners, due to the paint buildup on the walls. You just drop it against the wall at the floor, place your baseboard and nail it on. Much cheaper and quicker than using screws.
I went back and forth on coping versus mitering the inside corners and finally found a way to get my coped corners looking decent. So many commenters here saying cOpInG iS EaSiEr AnD fAsTeR, but I call BS. Maybe if you've done it on dozens of projects and had the practice to get it down, but for a new DIYer, getting the coping right is not easy at first. I ended up gluing a piece of sandpaper onto a small scrap piece of baseboard and using that to sand down the last little bit of excess in the cope. To get the cope right I had to use 4 steps. It was
1. miter saw
2. coping saw
3. dremel tool with small sanding drum
and/or
4. sanding block
Pretty time consuming. It was my first baseboard project, but in the end it looks great so I'll take it.

[whatismauramaking]

HA! Today I decided to do baseboards for THE 1st TIME EVER 😅 oh no pressure I’ve watched THOUSANDS of YouTube videos about how to do it and don’t cut too short or sneak up on the cut. Well luckily I started on a small closet 😅 4 hours in I just FINALLY finished the little closet 😂😂… finished as in cut the pieces but they are not nailed in as yet. So glad I found this video because I’m having a lot of rocking, because the walls are uneven 🤦🏽‍♀️ THANKS FOR THIS TIP I’m off to dollar tree now 😅

[booboo]

I'm a finish carpenter and home builder for 40 years. If I saw you doing this in one of my houses I'd hire another finish carpenter.

[stevemiller]

I prefer coping but, on times that I have mitered I have used two roofing nails side by side with heads overlapping near the base of the board. Put the baseboard in place and just tap with a wooden block to fit. Works better than using a screw where you have to remove the board to make adjustments.

[ronhoffman]

I found that if you cut the baseboard about a sixteenth over the needed length, then ben d the baseboard in the center and wedge it in by nailing it tin the center the joints always astay tight even for stain grade trim. The popsicle trick is useful for un plumb vertical walls or curved floors.

[bobbycrider]

Sorry about my earlier comment. I was taught to make a homemade miter box. We cut with a handsaw, and we drove our nails with a hammer. My grandfather would have back-slapped me if I would have mitered an inside corner. I was even taught how to cope 45 degre and similar angled corners. I feel like it was an advantage to first learn the old way.

[j.n.]

Fun fact, this tip helps get tight joints in coped baseboards also. Even easier and cheaper, use drive a drywall screw into the wall about 1/2 inch from the floor and use a square to adjust the screw so the head is flush with the drywall above it. Its a "trick" thats been around for years. You cope baseboards to account for strange angles in corners. Drywall mud in corners often builds up and results in a wall that is slightly curved in the corners. Its difficult, time consuming, and often material intensive to get inside corners right when mitering, especially when using thinner baseboard material that flexes easily. This tip can help with that to an extent. Coping allows for greater flexibilty in that you get 5 or so degrees (depending on the profile) of play where you still get tight joints. Coping gives superior results, limits recuts (often saving time in the long run), and avoids material waste. However, not all profiles can be coped, so learning to miter trim is still important to learn.

[Zupdood]

Once you learn to cope with the assistance of your miter box,
it really goes quickly… and you’re not depending on caulk to hide your gaps, like I think we’re seeing here.

[waterbug]

1:23 "Just don't cut them too short." Hahahaha...solid advice right there.

[steveniemyer]

Perfect video example of cut to fit, caulk to fill, paint to hide 😂