Cover gaps between hard floor and baseboards with our tutorial .

Brie Goldman

The first thing to know about installing skid molding is that it team up with baseboards in most homes to add a finished look to trim . You ’ll discover shoe molding in rooms withhard flooringsurfaces such as tile , gem , shroud vinyl , hardwood , and laminate . For years , quarter - round molding ( a name found on its remnant eyeshot ) was consider the primary base shoe choice . The only real dubiousness was whether you chose 1/2- or 3/4 - inch quartern - round passementerie . But there ’s a across-the-board stove of shoe molding visibility ; you could even make your own base mould .

Installing base shoe molding

Credit:Brie Goldman

The small scale and elementary lines of most mean skid molding make it easygoing to cope the inside corners . After cutting the copes in aroomful of mopboard , it will seem like a quick and light job . The flexibility of base brake shoe moulding rent you bend it to conform with wavy floors that are almost universal in older homes and still quite common in new construction .

The most authoritative thing about brake shoe molding is that you always nail it into the wall , never the floor . Once you ’ve gathered your tools and fabric , watch over our dance step - by - stride instructions for installing shoe molding .

Are Shoe Molding and Quarter-Round the Same Thing?

Not precisely . Both are thin , flexible objet d’art of wood that are instal along the skirting board of a elbow room with punishing floor . Both suffice the same purpose , to fold the gap between the floor and the mopboard . But the terms are not synonymous ( though they are often used that way ) . The difference is their figure ( aka profile ) . Quarter - round of golf is literally form like one - fourth of a circuit , with the height of the trimming the same as its width . When installed against a baseboard , quarter - cycle has a more spectacular tone compared to shoe molding , which is normally marvelous than it is wide . Shoe molding is taller , flat , and more angular . It has a more streamlined and modern look .

What You’ll Need

Equipment / Tools

Materials

Instructions

Choose Shoe Molding

There ’s a wide orbit of commercially available base brake shoe mold profile . Quarter - round passementerie ranges from a dainty 1/4 - column inch size to a monolithic 1 - 1/16 - column inch proportion . A honest base shoe is marvelous than it is wide , enable it to hold back a large vertical gap without seem chunky . you may also make custom baseboard and shoe mold profiles with a table saw and router .

Mark Shoe Molding Measurements

To make shoe mould that dives into the case , cut down the strip to distance , then butt it against the case . Angle your pencil to get a ancestry as cheeseparing to the casing as potential , and pull in a vertical scratch . Before committing to your ruined molding , practice this stride and the next on a few fleck pieces of molding to get the exact burst you require .

Cut Shoe Molding

lay yourmiter sawto make a 45 - degree slice , then take the tiny ding of wood that terminate at the pencil line . If you ’re exploit withstained moldingwith a light finish , a stain marking will apace remove the raw - Natalie Wood look .

Attach Shoe Molding to Baseboard

Pushing down on slight understructure shoe modeling lay down it conform to a wavelike floor for a no - gap conniption . A pneumatic brad nailer makes drive holdfast a one - handed task and eliminates the tedious job of swallow each capitulum with a nail set . A wood block keep your hand safely back from the nail gun .

Cope Inside-Corner Trim Pieces

Cope inside corner for mingy - meet joints that look majuscule even if the corner is out of square . ( And the niche is almost always out of lame . ) manage most lowly shoe molding is simply follow a smooth ancestry .

Place Outside-Corner Pieces

Outside corner of infrastructure brake shoe moulding are mitered , like the mopboard itself . Adding a soupcon of mucilage is inexpensive policy that the joint will stay closed . To avoid split this small - scale lumber , reject the urge to motor nail too near to the end .

Prep Your Baseboards and Moldings for Painting

If your undertaking include paint your walls and trim , paint the wallsfirst . Prep the trimby occupy and sanding holes and repair any damage speckle . Scuff sand any surfaces enshroud in glossy paint or stain . Wipe away dust with a microfiber cloth .

Mark wood base trim with pencil

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Using table saw to trim wood trim

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Attaching base molding to wall with nail gun

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Trimming wood mold with saw

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Attaching baseboard trim with glue

Credit:Brie Goldman