How To Fix Gaps Between Baseboard And Floor For Perfect Fit! DIY Step By Step Tutorial For Beginners

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On This episode I'll be showing you how to fix gaps between baseboard and floor for perfect fit! This is an easy DIY step by step tutorial perfect for beginners! Finally a video on Youtube that fully explains on how to flush your baseboard with your bowed flooring. No more eyesore gaps between your baseboard and vinyl plank (LVP), laminate or engineered wood flooring! Just follow my easy step by step instructions and you'll get your floors looking like a professional install!

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#baseboards #crownmoulding #Trim

[dsm]

For small gaps like this when I install, especially with MDF I push it down to the floor, it’s flexible. Even with wood sometimes you can lay a 1x or 2x from the floor to the top of base at 90 degrees, put your knee on it to push it down and nail it. With a vinyl or floating floor a little gap is good for floor movement. The thing is also no one wants to pay you to spend 15 minutes on 4’ of base, unless it’s a multi piece design.

[bretburt]

As a licensed (21+ year) Remodeling Contractor, we (Contractor and Homeowner together as a team) always have a choice between ascetics (that is paramount! - at least in my opinion) and level/plumb/square/etc. Multiple times in my career have I found instances where a SINGLE room has a level difference of 3/4" or more. One time was a bit over 1 1/4" in a kitchen alone. Level is much different than Flat. Once you start cutting 1/2" or more off of baseboard, trim, etc. it starts looking dramatically different (the more detail on the trim makes it even worse) and it looks like someone made a mistake. It has a major tendency to compound the change in appearance as it goes around a room if the level is off in the slab/flooring. If you only go for LEVEL, you can (and probably will) make the overall project look like it was done it was done by amateurs. That is where I communicate with the Owner to see what their wishes are for the final end result. It should be the Owners decision on how far to take this process (level vs. flat) and what they are willing to live with...it is their home.

[skyhawaii]

I run into this problem every day as a professional painter. Many of your critics say caulking the gap is the best solution. If so, who's job is it to caulk the gap? Is it the framer's, finish carpenter's, floor installers? The aforementioned trades are long gone more often than not leaving the homeowner and painter shaking their heads as they look at the gaps. Caulking the gap is not a good idea because floors move, houses shift, and the temperature of the house will change with the seasons. After time, the caulking will delaminate, change color, and dust will stick like a magnet. This video is very educating for homeowners, all trades, project managers, inspectors, architects and the like. Thanks for posting it.

[fg]

Pro tip never pound the nails out of the trim because it can make a larger hole to fix. Always pull the nails through.

[PleakTCG]

Much better and great attention to detail. As a new home owner, I'm starting to notice every little imperfection in the home I live in now. lol. Not good for my OCD. Again, great video / tutorials you're providing for a DIYER.

[smartysmarty]

I've been a carpenter for 43 years and this is quite possibly the most insane video I've ever seen, for too many reasons to list, but I'll mention a few. First, instead of jacking the base up with shims and playing stupid games with a compass, you could just mark it while it's on the wall by sliding an object over the floor with your pencil on top of it, marking the base along the way. So if your gap is the thickness of a quarter, then take a quarter and slide it across as you mark the base. THEN, remove the base and scribe it. But, having said that, then you've created a "chase your tail" situation where intersecting baseboards may be too tall or short as you move on. Base isn't meant to be scribed. It never was. This is why they make base shoe. It is especially designed to solve this problem. And if you can't live with shoe for some reason, then caulk is your next alternative. And I'll leave you with one other pro tip too: Anyone using a laser to cut anything for finish work has no clue what they're doing. There isn't a laser on this planet that delivers a thin enough line to accurately make a precision cut.

[Jay-yyol]

I respect your attention to detail. And your commitment, curiosity, courage to set out on the journey to get to a better fit. In the end, we will all have to decide which approach to use based on our time restrictions, tools at hand, nagging from significant other or paying client.

[sherrybateman]

Your attention to detail is refreshing. Most contractors today just slap in some filler and go. No one really wants to do things the right way. As long as it looks good for a few weeks....

[fogsmart]

If the gap is so noticeable that you have to scribe such that the adjoining baseboards suffer significant height difference the you can cut all your adjoining baseboards to the lowe height. Easy to do with wide flat stock and not too noticeable, especially if you don’t have to re-radius the bottom edge with true square edge flat stock. However if the gap in question is truly that bad it should have been seen before you place your flooring. I’ll typically use Ardex Finish and blend the subfloor a bit more parallel. I do often have to shim under the floating floors I lay down as it’s easy to miss on a big install. I use the gap to get a tool in and lift the plank and bend a piece of plastic to shim under. As the offence is near the wall it typically doesn’t affect the joint between planks as long as it’s not too much of a shim thickness - which will void the floor warranty too. Filling with caulking can be done very neatly but suffers eventually from poor ascetics with floating floor movement. So basically I’ve done all methods and they all hav the disadvantages save for fastidious prepping beforehand. On long runs with 3 1/4” base it’s easy to flex down on the gap and shoot a few brads. New homes with engineered floor joists are typically easy peasy flat and level. Older home, homes with long joists and no blocking, not so much. One house I went through $1000 in filler and multiple sheets of bulk luan ply filler in the joint valleys. Customers aren’t willing to pay for that kind of prep if it’s client based work. For the diy crowd, it’s just your time mostly. The newer, stiff SPC LVP, I find, is much more fussy to lay flat with even baseboard gaps of subfloors that have settled.

[shanejohnson]

This method works in many carpentry scenarios. I HIGHLY suggest against it for baseboard that connects to more baseboard. Especially wrapping corners. A scenario I have used this in a bunch is stair treads and risers. No connecting pieces and conforming to bows and bends.

[evanoneill]

You're perfectionist and that greatly appreciated as a consumer. It would be very time-consuming to this, but if the person is willing to pay for that extra time, this seems like the way to go!

[rudytrujillo]

I just had this issue with my daughters house she was selling and caulk worked just fine!

[feasterfamine]

Great advice, just used this scribing method on a 10’ wall with an upwards bow up to 3/4” tall in the middle. With an upwards bow you just put the shims on the far ends but it worked out basically the same, perfect fit.
No luck with using a level though, the corners aren’t level :)

[markmurphy]

Exactly! I don't claim to be a pro at trim, but i have been doing it long enough to know that this option is ridiculas. Push it down! I can do it with pine trim as well, but MDF is much easier. Never had an issue. I have done all type base and crown and one thing i do know if you trim one side (like video suggest) you will have other issues connecting adjoing base with different height levels.

[paradoxdea]

Sir, you have the patience of Job. Amazing work!!

[joedebosco]

In my opinion as a retired carpenter, I do not believe this is a way to fix baseboard to a wavy floor. As others have noted, now that you "shortened" both ends, adjoining boards will no longer line up and therefore all the baseboards in that room will have to be modified. Also, others have noted, if the gap is small, simply push down on the BB before nailing. If the gap is 1/4" as you state, then you have a serious issue that needs to be addressed with the floor --or-- use quarter round as someone else has noted. And again as another person noted -- never pull the nails out from the surface as damage may occur. Pull it from the back side. Respect your attention to detail. I'm just an old fart making some constructive criticism. Keep up the good videos.

[QuinnEdwards]

Instead of a compass, put the pencil tip in the hole of a washer and roll it across the floor. And no need to make it level, your eye will never notice 1/4 of an inch slope.

[DavidMartinez-fqeh]

Very exquisite work but the problem with substracting material is that you will have to work on all sides of the room to match the one that had to be fixed. I am too lazy and would prefer a fix along the lines of ADDING material.

[joangrady]

also much easier, half round!! looks great as well!

[riwm]

In a situation like this, after a test fit, I mark the low point of the floor board (while baseboard is not installed yet). With the floor board a quarter inch gap from the wall, I raise the low point of the floor by inserting plastic strips wedge to raise the floor low point. Its however a lot easier when the floor board is running parallel to the wall as I can pry the floor board higher to insert longer cut out plastic strips to reach the second board. This solution is also in response to PogChamp query. Thanks for the video its nice to learn more option.