Do you need to install quarter round trim someplace in your home? It’s not as hard as you might think! Honestly, if I can do it, you can do it too.Growing up, I tagged along with my to help him with projects around the house. Consequently, I picked up a lot of DIY skills from being his assistant! I was always fascinated because he knew how to do it all. I’m so glad his lessons stuck with me as he was the master when it came to things like trim work!This post will be much shorter than the! Quite honestly, I couldn’t be more pleased with how everything is coming together in my home office.
I love the farmhouse feel this room has taken on.Generally speaking, quarter round trim is inexpensive, and it adds a lot of bang for your buck! Plus it gives a clean finished look to your baseboards and hides a lot of imperfections. Gather the supplies. Measuring tape. Pencil. Safety glasses.
Trim paint. Drop cloth (or something to protect your work area) I used heavy duty craft paper. Small paint brush. Rag. Finishing nails. Caulk (make sure it is paintable). Caulk gun.
Hammer. Quarter round (to determine how much you will need, measure the length of all walls and add a bit more in case you make a mistake cutting)., I used wooden onesSelect your quarter round size according to the gap that you are trying to cover between the baseboards and the floor. The size of the quarter round trim, in turn, will need to be taken into account when selecting the proper length of finishing nails as well.As you can see in the photo above, I had quite a gap to cover between my subfloor and the baseboards!Let’s get started!IMPORTANT: Take the measurements along the baseboard to determine the length of your trim piece. Then at each end, miter the quarter round to angle in towards the middle.
As my Daddy always used to say, “measure twice, cut once!”Step 1 – Measure one wall at a time and proceed to step 2.Step 2 – Begin mitering your trim pieces making sure to cut at the appropriate angle on each end. Then check to make sure each trim piece fits in its position.I suggest you number each piece on the back as you cut it. Pick a starting point, such as a door frame, then proceed clockwise around the room numbering each piece. Doing this will help to avoid confusion when you start attaching the painted trim pieces. Good to know info about trim.Since most trim comes in 12-foot lengths, you might need to piece the trim if your runs are longer than that. To do this, miter both pieces of trim so that they overlap somewhere around the middle.
This extra step makes the seam less noticeable. When I did this, I used a 22 1/2 degree miter to hide where I pieced mine together.Step 3 – Once you’ve cut all your trim pieces, begin applying the paint to the rounded side as well as to the mitered corners. If you purchase primed trim, you will only need to add one coat of paint.
Raw wood will require two coats. Remember to follow the directions for proper application and drying times on the paint can!Attaching and caulking the trim.Step 4 – After the paint has dried, begin attaching the quarter round. To do this, hold the trim snuggly against the baseboard using a finishing nail, drive the nail downwards at a 45-degree angle.
Start a few inches from one end and work your way along the entire piece of trim.Depending on how level your floor is will also determine how close to place your nails. I suggest every 2 to 4 feet. After each one, use the nail set to countersink the finishing nail just below the surface.Step 5 – Now that you have all of your trim attached (Yay, you!) it’s finally time to start caulking! Following the directions on the tube of caulk begin applying it at the top of the quarter round and each mitered corner. Also, use the caulk to fill in at each nail hole.Smooth each section of caulk as you go, wiping up any extra with your rag. Due to the extreme unevenness of my floor, I opted to caulk along the bottom of the quarter round as well. There are MANY schools of thought on this, with many professionals saying it is not needed.
But since I wanted the unevenness of my floor hidden, caulking this area took care of it! Go online – Google is your friend.There are tons of great tutorials online on different ways to apply caulk. It’s not hard! Some useful tips to remember are to work in 2-foot sections and to release the trigger lock on the back of the caulk gun after you apply a bead of caulk. Releasing this stops the flow of caulk. Otherwise, it will ooze out of the caulk gun and make a mess!Step 6 – After your caulk has dried, go back and paint over it touching up any other areas that might need it.To me, applying trim makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something! I guess it’s because it always makes a project look complete.Be sure to save the image below to your DIY board on Pinterest!
Don’t forget you can also on Pinterest!Last but not least.In addition to installing the trim, you will need to use a transition strip at each doorway. This strip will hide the seam between the different flooring surfaces. I have vinyl in my laundry room and carpet in the hallway that I had to transition to the.Transition strips come in several different types. Some are wood, and others are metal.
I used wooden ones, painting them to match the base floor color. Just choose what you think will look best in your home.Step 7 – Prepping the transition strip. Depending on the width of your door, you may not even need to cut this to fit. If you do, use your miter box and saw to cut it to the desired length.
Be extra careful if you have to cut a metal strip down! You will probably have to use a blade that designed for metal.Step 8 – Paint or stain the piece if you are using a wooden transition strip. Then attach it per the instructions. The ones I used came with screws.Once the transition pieces are in your project is complete!See, it wasn’t hard at all! Now pat yourself on the back for a job well done!I LOVE how adding the trim made the floor in my office look finished!Here is a photo of the stenciling that I added to the center of the floor. What do you think?So what’s next on the blog?I received some from a sponsor that I will be using to create some fun and easy projects! I hope you will stop back then to see what it’s all about, especially since Christmas is coming and these might make great gifts!As always, thanks for following along, friend!
Hi Ann, Thank you so much! I was pleased with how well it came out. It was so much better than the worn out carpet. You can see additional photos and directions in the post, How to Paint Your Subfloor, which was the project before this one.
How To Install Wall Moulding
We sold the house in May of 2018, and the floor still looked great six months after I painted it! There were a few places I had to touch up where it had been scratched from moving furniture, but that was to be expected.
You can also see the floor stenciling a bit in the post, Furniture Makeover – DIY and on my Instagram and Facebook pages. It was done in a diamond shape in the middle of the floor. I will add a photo of the stenciled floor to this post – I should have done it when I wrote it! Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you will sign up for my newsletter as well as following me on social media!
Hello friends, I'm Michele.I'm a happily married Mom with 3 amazing adult daughters! I am also 'mom' to a precious dog, Emmylou and a kitten, Dory-Ann Gray! We have 7 hens and 1 rooster that keep us entertained! Plus I have two adorable 'grand' dogs.I love working with chalk paint, decoupage, crafts of all kinds, and anything DIY. I don't mind getting my hands dirty on projects, that's part of the fun of creating!My home is filled with my favorite things! I collect birch wood pieces, nature inspired art, vintage linens, and I adore farmhouse decor.
All of these treasures help to make my house a home.I was diagnosed with breast cancer in March, 2017. Since I completed my radiation treatments, I consider myself cancer free!I have several posts about my journey with this disease as I hope to give others encouragement as we go down this road together.I hope you will follow along with each new post as there is never a dull moment in my house! Sign up for my newsletter and you'll see what I mean!
Also be sure to follow along on Pinterest and Facebook! See the links below!LET'S CREATE TOGETHER!
Despite their lowly position along the floor, baseboards are one of a house's defining features. If they have stature, a room becomes regal; when they are skimpy, that same space looks dowdy.Baseboards were often three-piece affairs consisting of a flat plank, a decorative cap molding, and a rounded shoe molding to cover gaps along the floor.
'In old houses, you often see the fanciest baseboard in the front room downstairs,' says This Old House general contractor Tom Silva.In houses built after World War II, however, fancy gave way to cheap, and the vital floor-to-wall transition became the domain of thin, featureless one-piece trim. Fortunately, it's easy to replace modern moldings with taller, thicker, two- or three-part baseboards.Running baseboard is also good for perfecting carpentry skills. The joints required are simple butts, miters, and copes, and the same basic installation steps apply to all trimwork.
When starting from scratch, Tom Silva prefers the look of a base that's at least 6 inches high and ½ to ¾ inches thick, topped with a separate, deeply profiled cap molding. But if he's remodeling a house graced with good-looking baseboards, he tries his best to match the new trim to what's already there.Making a new baseboard the same height as the original isn't difficult; finding a cap molding with the same profile can be, especially on an old house.
Sometimes he'll get lucky and locate the profile he needs from the 100 or so that good millwork shops keep in stock. Sometimes he'll combine two or more of those moldings to create a shape that is close. But when an exact replica is needed, he'll have custom molding milled up.Planning AheadTo determine the amount of baseboard material you need, measure each straight section of the wall and round up to the nearest whole-foot dimension divisible by two. A week before installation, bring the wood inside to acclimate. Start running baseboard against inside corners and work toward outside corners.
When starting from scratch, Tom Silva prefers the look of a base that's at least 6 inches high and ½ to ¾ inches thick, topped with a separate, deeply profiled cap molding. But if he's remodeling a house graced with good-looking baseboards, he tries his best to match the new trim to what's already there.Making a new baseboard the same height as the original isn't difficult; finding a cap molding with the same profile can be, especially on an old house. Sometimes he'll get lucky and locate the profile he needs from the 100 or so that good millwork shops keep in stock.
Sometimes he'll combine two or more of those moldings to create a shape that is close. But when an exact replica is needed, he'll have custom molding milled up.Planning AheadTo determine the amount of baseboard material you need, measure each straight section of the wall and round up to the nearest whole-foot dimension divisible by two. A week before installation, bring the wood inside to acclimate. Start running baseboard against inside corners and work toward outside corners. Measure and cut the baseboards for each wall. Boards that meet outside corners should be a few inches longer than the wall to allow for miter cuts.
Number the back of each board and write that same number on the wall where the board will go.Find and mark the studs in the wall; they'll serve as the firm base for nailing the baseboard.Tip: Studs are usually placed 16 inches on-center, so after locating the first one you may be able to locate others using a tape measure. On older homes, verify locations with a nail. Set a 4-foot level on the floor next to the wall to see if the floor is level. If not, move the level across the floor to find its lowest point.
At that point, tack a scrap piece of baseboard to the wall with a nail.Using the top of this baseboard piece as a benchmark, make horizontal marks every few feet at the same level on the walls around the room. Snap a chalk line between the marks around the perimeter of the room to show where the top edge of all the baseboards should land when they're installed.Starting at an inside corner, hold the first board against the wall, level it, then tack it in place with a nail or two.Set your compass points to span the vertical distance between the chalk line and either of the board's top corners.
Without changing the spread of the compass's legs, hold the pencil on the baseboard and the point against the floor. Slide the compass along the floor over the board's length, keeping the points aligned vertically.With a circular saw set for a 2- to 5-degree bevel, cut alongside the scribe line so the face of the cut will be on the side toward the wall. Trim the beveled edge down to the line with a block plane. When the scribed baseboard is put back on the wall, its top edge should line up with the chalk line snapped in Step 3.Tip: Beveling the board's bottom edge makes it much easier to scribe-fit. To make sure an outside miter joint stays tight, connect the two halves with glue and Number 10 compressed-wood biscuits. First, hold the two boards tightly against the outside corner and pencil a mark in two places across the joint.
The marks should be equidistant from each other and from the edges of the board. Then remove the boards, set the biscuit joiner perpendicular to the cut face, and adjust the depth of its fence so the cut will be nearer to the back side of the boards.Align the tool's centerline with a mark and plunge-cut a slot into the face of the cut. Do the same thing at the next mark. Squeeze carpenter's glue into both slots and over the face of each half of the miter cut.
Then slip a biscuit into each slot on one board and bring the two boards together.Place the boards back on the wall and drive two 8d finish nails into the wall on each side of the miter. Between these nails, drive a 4d finish nail through the joint and into the end grain of the opposite piece.
Tap nail heads below the wood surface with a nail set.Where two boards meet on a straight run, make a scarf joint by mitering the ends in opposite directions at a point where there's a stud. Glue and overlap the miters, then nail through the piece that covers the joint (not through the joint itself) and into the stud.For inside corners, simply butt the baseboard ends together, then nail them to the wall. When using a cap molding, place it on the base to see if the back of the molding fits snugly against the wall.
Secure it at each stud with an 8d nail driven at a slight downward angle through the thicker parts of the molding.If there are gaps behind the molding and no stud to nail into, squeeze a bead of construction adhesive on the back of the molding at those spots and nail the molding to the studs, as above. Then nail the molding to the wall between the studs to hold it in place until the adhesive sets.