Cutting off the bottom of baseboards without removing them from the wall?

[lawrence munninghoff]

What would be the best way to cut off the bottom of baseboards before installing hardwood floors? Has anyone tried the dremel ultra tool for this?

[George Bokros]

First question, why not remove them? If you must cut them then the best option may be a jamb saw. They use it to cut the door jambs when you install thicker floor covering like a laminate over a floor that had just vinyl or you install ceramic tile on a floor that had some other floor covering. You can rent one at HD tool rental.

https://www.homedepot.com/tool-truck-rental/Jamb-Saw/10-55/

[Darcy Warner]

This is what they invented shoe moulding for

[Tom M King]

If you do end up pulling them off, pull the nails out through the back by levering with end cutting nippers. That way, no damage will be done by backing the nails out, and won't leave much to do after putting them back on.

[Jim Dwight]

A track saw could do it, within half a inch or so anyway. An oscillating saw would do it too. The oscillating saw is great for a short space, like a door jamb and the casing, but I wouldn't try and do a run of baseboard. Much easier to pull it and place it higher up.

[Wayne Lomman]

Remove them and re-install later. Your current idea is going to be hard work, difficult to get accurate and neat, and in the end impossible as you are trying to scribe to something that isn't there yet as the new floor will not follow the old exactly. No short cut on this, only the long way round. Cheers

[Bert McMahan]

If you do end up pulling them off, pull the nails out through the back by levering with end cutting nippers. That way, no damage will be done by backing the nails out, and won't leave much to do after putting them back on.

You mean some of these kind of things?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Channellock-7-1-2-in-Cross-Cutting-Pliers-with-End-Cutter-357/100049589

I have a ton of nails to pull, I never even thought to pull them out from the back.

[Floyd Mah]

Here's a quick technique that works. Use a metal detector (Harbor Freight $17) to locate the nails. Mark the spots with a pencil. Take one of those carbide scribers with the magnet on the end to find the exact location of the nail (the metal detector isn't precise enough). The magnet will stick to the baseboard over the nail. I used a broken 1/8" drill bit on a cordless drill to remove any filler overlying the nail. Then use a nail set and a hammer to punch the nail through the baseboard's thickness. This last step keeps the nail head from preventing the board from being freed from the wall. Also prevents cracking the baseboard and needing to apply a lot of force on the baseboard with prying. Drilling out the filler also leaves a hole to center the nail punch so that you are not wandering all over the board trying to hit the nail. The filler just crumbles away from the wood. The board is essentially free of the wall except for any caulking. Sounds like a lot of work except that most people don't put that many nails into the baseboard. I did this for door trim as well as baseboards.
One last detail, you can determine if the nails were in the studs by their spacing. If not, use the metal detector to locate the fasteners in the drywall and to locate the studs so that you can securely re-nail the base board. This latter might be a consideration if the baseboards were nailed to the plate instead of the studs, since the new floor might make the plate too low to use for refastening the baseboards.

[Wayne Cannon]

All this sounds like so much extra work, unless the current baseboards are so narrow that removing the flooring's thickness will make them look awkward.

The jamb saw is the easiest solution if there is any significant length to cut. For short distances, a multi-tool vibrating cutter with an aggressive wood cutting blade cutting flush above a scrap sample of the flooring works surprisingly well -- especially for most painted baseboard materials (pine, fir, poplar, MDF, etc.), but slower for harder materials like oak. I trimmed 3/4" off of about 12 feet of poplar, and was pleasantly surprised.

[Curt Harms]

All this sounds like so much extra work, unless the current baseboards are so narrow that removing the flooring's thickness will make them look awkward.

The jamb saw is the easiest solution if there is any significant length to cut. For short distances, a multi-tool vibrating cutter with an aggressive wood cutting blade cutting flush above a scrap sample of the flooring works surprisingly well -- especially for most painted baseboard materials (pine, fir, poplar, MDF, etc.), but slower for harder materials like oak. I trimmed 3/4" off of about 12 feet of poplar, and was pleasantly surprised.
That was the technique I used when replacing carpet with hardwood flooring. Plane a length of wood slightly thicker than the flooring and lay it on the subfloor. Rest the blade of the oscillating tool on that wood and go to town. I imagine a jamb saw would be quicker but don't know if I had even heard of such a thing when we did the flooring. It went quicker than I expected but the molding was painted so soft wood.

[Charles Lent]

I have one of these and couldn't live without it. It's the best tool that I've found for pulling nails and pulls finish nails out of the back side of baseboard when recycling the baseboard that I've ever found. You will also find it very handy for backing nails out if you can get hold of their heads with these. Not presently available through Amazon, so here is an alternate source. At a trade show, a demonstrator had a 2' piece of pipe to extend the handle and was pulling 8d nails through a 4 X 4 from the back side without breaking the tool, but sometimes the nail broke. I bought mine from him after that demonstration. Finish nails are easy to pull through from the back side.

Charley

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Excalibur-Tools-Nail-Pliers-The-Extractor-Nail-and-Fastener-Remover-HL1121/292334236537?epid=2163815390&hash=item44107a7379:g:NuoAAOSwdnZaG30l

[George Bokros]

I have one of these and couldn't live without it. It's the best tool that I've found for pulling nails and pulls finish nails out of the back side of baseboard when recycling the baseboard that I've ever found. You will also find it very handy for backing nails out if you can get hold of their heads with these. Not presently available through Amazon, so here is an alternate source. At a trade show, a demonstrator had a 2' piece of pipe to extend the handle and was pulling 8d nails through a 4 X 4 from the back side without breaking the tool, but sometimes the nail broke. I bought mine from him after that demonstration. Finish nails are easy to pull through from the back side.

Charley

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Excalibur-Tools-Nail-Pliers-The-Extractor-Nail-and-Fastener-Remover-HL1121/292334236537?epid=2163815390&hash=item44107a7379:g:NuoAAOSwdnZaG30l

I have one of those also and it works awesome. I bought mine at woodworking show.

Pulling the baseboard and pulling the nails from the back is the best approach. You do not disturb the filler covering the nails so you only have the new nail holes for fill after reinstalling the baseboard. The nippers are another alternative.

[Pat Barry]

I've always used water pump pliers to pull the nails through. Biggest problem is that light duty nails from nail guns sometimes snap / break if they are in hardwood.

[George Bokros]

I've always used water pump pliers to pull the nails through. Biggest problem is that light duty nails from nail guns sometimes snap / break if they are in hardwood.

When they snap off I use my Dremel and grind off the remainder so I do not cut myself.

[Tom M King]

You mean some of these kind of things?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Channellock-7-1-2-in-Cross-Cutting-Pliers-with-End-Cutter-357/100049589

I have a ton of nails to pull, I never even thought to pull them out from the back.

Yes, grab the nail near the wood. It doesn't need to be so tight that they cut into the nail much, but enough to grip good. Roll the nippers, which will pull the nail some. Re grab as needed, and walk it out.

I've done so many like this that I can't remember, but I'm sure more than a thousand, over the years. A pair of nippers even has a dedicated pocket in my tool belt.

Most baseboards later than late 19th Century are put on with finish nails, which can be pulled out through the back.

This usually doesn't disturb any filler on top of the nail heads, and even better with many layers of paint. Even if the filler breaks free, there is a much smaller hole to deal with. Even backing out finish nails will leave a crater around a lot of them.

edited to add: I have one of those fancy tools too, but I end up breaking more nails with it than the nippers. I wasn't sure if it was because I had several decades of experience with nippers before I ever saw one of those, but I only go get the new ones if the nippers won't quite do the job. The nippers I keep in my tool belt are 4". There is typically no problem pulling nail gun nails-even 23 ga. pins

Never back nails out of trim work. Even when I pull 18th Century trim, the cut nails get cut off flush with the back using a metal cutting disk in a 4-1/2" grinder. Again, NEVER BACK NAILS OUT OF TRIM WORK if you want to reuse them.

[roger wiegand]

Most houses built since 1940 anyway already have baseboards that aren't tall enough to be well-proportioned to the room, I don't think I've ever seen one that is too tall, so I'm having trouble imagining why one would want to make them shorter.

Pulling them off and resetting them after the floor is in is generally quick and easy. You can rip them on the table saw after you have them off if you really want them shorter and have a much nicer edge than a jamb saw or oscillating tool will produce.

In pretty much every house where I've re-done the floors I've gone the other way and replaced the cheap builders shoe with a multi-piece base that is 2-3 x taller and has a much more pronounced profile.

An alternative if you're just trying to avoid removing the baseboard is to lay the flooring flush up to the baseboard. I know this is not recommended by any installer or manufacturer, and good sense suggests it shouldn't work, but I've seen it done in many old houses nonetheless.

[Frederick Skelly]

Remove them and re-install later. Your current idea is going to be hard work, difficult to get accurate and neat, and in the end impossible as you are trying to scribe to something that isn't there yet as the new floor will not follow the old exactly. No short cut on this, only the long way round. Cheers

I agree with Wayne on this.

Another option - that I don't favor - is to leave baseboards on and butt the new floor against them. Then install quarter round. They did this at my folks', but I don't like the look. (This will look exactly the same as what you are proposing to do and it will be a devil of a lot easier to do.)

[Art Mann]

If you are assuming that it will be easier to rip the bottom of the molding in place rather than removing and later reinstalling, I believe you are working with a false assumption. I have done a lot of this type of work and have a pretty good idea of how it will go either way.

[Dan Hulbert]

These are my go to for pulling nails through trim boards:
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=70622&cat=1,43456,43400

Used them on a couple of flooring jobs and couldn't be happier.

[Floyd Mah]

I guess I was in the minority when it comes to removing the baseboards by driving the nails through from the front. My experience with baseboards is that they are usually a poorer quality wood, sometimes made up of wood short pieces that are finger jointed together. Anyway, I have had base boards that split and came apart in the process of prying them off the wall. Maybe just unlucky. So, while I am as happy as the next guy in prying and pulling off an entire base board in one go, it would be a very unhappy exercise to try to repair a busted base board. As for the special tools to pull nails, just an ordinary vise grip and a prying tool (shingling pry bar or something similar) will do the job.

[roger wiegand]

The modern finger jointed stuff isn't worth the time or effort to save. Replacing it with new is much faster and easier, and more cost effective if you're paying for labor.

[Patrick Perry]

I saw this invention online a couple of months ago, it is a specialized circular saw which could do exactly what you want (probably very expensive for your one project, though). Anyway, I spent a good 20 minutes and found the link again.


https://youtu.be/tvIDW2Z6lzw

It is called the Cuz-d saw.

[Patrick Perry]

I bought this jumbo putty knife looking thing off Amazon last month for pulling baseboard, it is called "Zenith Industries ZN700001 Trim Puller". I haven't even had a need for it yet, but I have in the past, and thought it might be good to have.

[tom lucas]

While I agree best to remove and re-install/replace, there are attachments for both reciprocating and rotozip attachments made specifically to do just this. They ride on the floor and cut just above it, like ~ 3/32". Simple baseboard is cheap. Just replace it. Fancy, vintage stuff is a whole different matter though.

[tom lucas]

I quality stiff scraper that you can hit with a hammer will do the same thing.

[Von Bickley]

This is what they invented shoe moulding for

I agree with Darcy. That's what shoe molding is for.

[Jerome Stanek]

I like to use the channel lock slip pliers you can grip good without cutting them and they roll the nail out.

[Jake dillon]

Fein oscillating multi-tool can do what you want

[Floyd Mah]

I find oscillating multi-tools good for limited jobs of just a few inches. I would need to have my mental state altered with some strong inducements before tackling a room's baseboards with a multi-tool. I find that it's hard to maintain a straight line with either the plunge cut blade or with the semicircular blade. The smell of all that singed wood would be overwhelming, both during the cutting and afterwards. I might be too apprehensive, but I always worry that something's going to catch fire, even when using my variable speed tool. In particular, it's disturbing to see even a little smoke emanating from the spaces that I can't see well. (I keep a squirt bottle and a wet rag at hand.)

[Ole Anderson]

FastCap makes a flush cut nipper that works good for flush cutting nails off the back of trim without getting out the grinder. https://www.fastcap.com/product/flush-cut-trimmers

[Davis Young]

I’ve encountered base mouldins that captured the plaster wall above so removing the base was a no go. I also prefer not to have a shoe base. Perhaps a biscuit joiner could do the job. The Elu’s body was angled so that it could double as a slot cutter and would be the best at this. Conventional biscuit joiners are designed really for plunging but may do the job in a pinch. It will depend on how much you want to remove and how low you can go with the biscuit joiner.

[Frank Pratt]

I have a very good (& very expensive) Fein & there's no way I'd tackle a whole room's worth of baseboard. It is great for small cuts, like undercutting door jambs, but I'd slit my throat before doing many feet of baseboard.

[Osvaldo Cristo]

What would be the best way to cut off the bottom of baseboards before installing hardwood floors? Has anyone tried the dremel ultra tool for this?

Although I have no experience on that, it looks me a grinder with an appropriate disk could do the task you are looking for.

Good luck and let us know your decision and results!

[Osvaldo Cristo]

What would be the best way to cut off the bottom of baseboards before installing hardwood floors? Has anyone tried the dremel ultra tool for this?

Did you consider a biscuit jointer? It also looks a good tool to work in the way you are looking for and with very simple setup and operation at the same way we make grooves with it. Additionally, it looks you could use a trimmer router with an offset base (Bosch, Makita and DeWalt, at last, have such option).

All the best,

[ChrisA Edwards]

I actually went through this same process when I laid a 3/4" hardwood floor in my basement. My baseboards were tall, so cutting some off the bottom was not going to make them look strange.

My basement consisted of 3 rooms and 3 built in closets, all that needed the door jams and baseboard trimming. The whole area was about 1400 sq/ft.

I used a small Bosch, battery powered, oscillating trim saw. I went through a lot of blades, they dulled very quickly. A battery charge would last about 4-6 linear feet. I had a couple of spare batteries and they didn't take long to re-charge. Had I been aware of the existence of Jam saws, I would have bought one of those and used it (and probably not have another use for it in the future, but it would have been worth it).

Cutting the baseboard in place, for me, was still easier than removing it, pulling all the nails, trimming it, reinstalling and then repainting.

[Walter Plummer]

Maybe this guy? https://cuz-d.com/multipurpose/. https://www.amazon.com/Cuz-D-SFS-85-Industries-Multi-Purpose-Circular/dp/B01JQ71TSO/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=ronp07-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=2a8a358af5112feb4817ae5fe4cff995&creativeASIN=B01JQ71TSO

[lawrence munninghoff]

Thinking about using this tool.
Dremel US40 Ultra-Saw. Anyone used it? Only problem is it will not go all the way to the edge of the baseboard.

[Bob Michaels1]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Channellock-7-1-2-in-Cross-Cutting-Pliers-with-End-Cutter-357/100049589




Better yet is the nail puller from Lee Valley. Great leverage to pull nails. I have used it extensively with excellent results.

[Brad Shipton]

Lamello makes a tool that would work. Not how I would do this, but that has been discussed. http://www.lamello.com/product/fensterrenovation-einbau/tanga-dx200/ (http://www.lamello.com/product/fensterrenovation-einbau/tanga-dx200/)

[Karl Andersson]

I just did this in a room this spring (1950 house with 6" pine baseboards). I considered the Ultra=saw, but got the Dremel MultiMax oscillating tool instead because it has many more uses aside from the baseboard cut. I bought the large semicircular "wood and drywall" blade to augment the two straight cutters that came with the tool.

It worked well, resting the blade on a scrap of flooring like Floyd mentions, but it does take a lot longer than a regular saw and it smells like toasted wood- plus you'll need really good hearing protection or you'll feel like punching puppies when you get done (aggravated, that is, and maybe a bit deaf).

You only need to cut the baseboard where the long edge of the floorboards will expand under the baseboard - the wood won't expand or contract much on the short grain ends- unless you don't plan on using shoe moulding or quarter-round to finish the base, so you only need to do 2 walls of the room.

If you're planning on doing many rooms, the saw may be best, but there was some reason I saw it didn't work best- maybe limited usefulness or maybe the distance you can get it to the existing floor - something didn't add up

[Jim Dwight]

I've replaced all the baseboard in my house. It did not match and was the cheapest stuff you can buy. I pulled the nails from most of the moulding I pulled so it was safer to transport. I donated some of it. To pull the nails, I just grabbed them with lineman's pliers and rolled them. I've pulled hundreds of nails this way. I've used other tools but prefer lineman's pliers.

If they are attached with 18 gauge pneumatic nails like my replacements are, you probably won't get them out of the studs. They often break when you grab them to pull them. Hammering them into the stud works fine. If they come off with the trim, they come out the back side really easily.

If the moulding is available if something splits, I would definitely pull it. Only if it is something unusual that can't be replaced without a lot of extra effort would I think about cutting it. I wasn't trying hard to not break it but most of mine came off intact. I just used little and bigger prybars, sometimes a drywall joint knife to get it started or a stiff putty knife. If it is going to split, it will probably do it with the first pull off the wall. That is where you need to go a little slow and careful - if you will reuse.

If you can replace it, around here lumber yards are about half the price of home centers and if anything the moulding is better. They do not seem to mind at all selling to me. Base comes in 16 foot lengths and is best bought that way but they will cut it if you ask. Casing is 17 foot and shoe is 10 feet. You just go to the counter, tell them what you want then drive to the dock to get loaded. I carry 16 and 17 foot pieces on my trailer on a 10 foot 2x4 screwed to the wood sides. A couple ratcheting straps holds it on.

[Jerome Stanek]

This is what I like to pull nails.

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Hand-Tools-Pliers-Tongue-Groove-Pliers-All-Trades-Tongue-Groove-Pliers/N-5yc1vZcc1u/Ntk-Extended/Ntt-channel+lock?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5

[Walter Plummer]

I just saw these yesterday . https://www.homedepot.com/p/Crescent-11-in-Nail-Pulling-Plier-NP11/204065906. I have a pair of these and they work great. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00461AFY0

[David M Peters]

This isn't such a crazy question.. I have a 1905 home I replaced the upstairs' wall-to-wall with laminate (the original pine floor was junk). The walls are all plaster/lathe rather than drywall.

Two rooms' baseboards were not removable because the plaster was applied right up to the baseboard. The plaster is pretty crumbly so I didn't risk damaging a whole room's worth by removing the baseboard. I installed the laminate up to within ~3/8" of the baseboard and put in 3/4" a cove to cover the gap. It looks good and was easy to do.

Here's a photo of the situation also featuring a Hobbit door into the kneewall space...

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