How to Install New Base Trim Over an Existing Carpet | Home Guides. Well- chosen baseboard gives carpeted rooms a sleek finished look.
If you decided to lay your carpet before installing the baseboard around the bottom of your walls in your home, you actually have a somewhat easier job than if you had to install it with space for a carpet to be put in later. You will want to paint or stain your baseboard material before installing it, however, to avoid getting paint on the carpeting. If you are using a standard 2- or 3- inch tall baseboard, you can use a simple miter box or miter saw to produce nice- looking corners. Measure horizontally along the bottoms of the walls all around the room you plan to finish and add 1. Obtain enough baseboard to cover the distance you measured.
Baseboard is sold in sticks between 6 and 1. Paint or stain the baseboard in the finish of your choice, using a paint brush, and let it dry before you continue. Lay out the baseboard along the bottoms of your walls to see where you will need to make your cuts and where you will need more than one piece of baseboard.
Rough- cut the baseboard sticks to 3 or 4 inches longer than needed to fit their spaces along the wall. Use the miter box or electric miter saw to cut 4. On one, cut the wedge from the outward- facing surface, and on the other, cut the wedge from the inner side. When placed back against the wall, one overlaps the other for a much less visible join point than if they were fitted together with flat ends. Cut the ends of the boards that will meet at inner corners using the miter box or miter saw. Unless your corners are odd ones, such as you would find in an octagonal or triangular room, miter these board ends to fit 9.
Lay the baseboard back in place with all mitered points fitted into the corners and with the joining points snug. Mark the cuts carefully for your outward corners and points where the baseboard will terminate against a door or other interruption. Miter the outside corners and cut the ends as needed at termination points. If you are going up and around doorways with your baseboard wood, mitering the points where they turn upward gives a nice, professional- looking finish. Lay the baseboard out for the last time.
Nail the baseboard in place, with the sticks resting only lightly on the surface of the carpet. Do not push down on the baseboard so that it presses into the carpeting. The idea is that you should be able to install new carpet in a future remodel without having to remove the baseboard. Nail the join points and corners first to ensure that they fit tightly together with an even top line, then fill in the rest so that you have a nail approximately every 2 feet.
How to Install Baseboards Over Carpet. you can install them after installing carpet. How to Install Baseboard Trim for Carpet Areas.
Putty any noticeable nail holes and imperfect seams, using your finger to push putty into these spaces and a damp rag to smooth it over. Perform a final touchup of the paint or stain.
Things You Will Need. Baseboard trim. Paint or stain. Narrow paintbrush. Nail gun or hammer. Finish nails. Electric miter saw or a miter box with manual miter saw.
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- If you decided to lay your carpet before installing the baseboard around the bottom of your walls in your home, you actually have a somewhat easier job.
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Small container of wood putty. Rag. About the Author. Billie Jo Jannen is a politics and lifestyle columnist in rural San Diego County and a senior copy editor for Demand Media.
Her writing and editing career spans 2. Jannen's eclectic education includes engineering and horticulture, and she represents the Rural Economic Action League in regional economic development planning. Photo Credits. Keith Brofsky/Photodisc/Getty Images.
How to Install Base Board Trim for Carpet Areas. You can install the baseboard over carpet that’s already in place.