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

  1. #31
    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.

  2. #32
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    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.

  3. #33
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    What about a grinder?

    Quote Originally Posted by lawrence munninghoff View Post
    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!

  4. #34
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    What about either a biscuit jointer or a trimmer router?

    Quote Originally Posted by lawrence munninghoff View Post
    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,
    Last edited by Osvaldo Cristo; 10-17-2018 at 9:23 AM. Reason: Include router to jointer suggestion

  5. #35
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    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.

  6. #36
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  7. #37
    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.

  8. #38
    https://www.homedepot.com/p/Channell...-357/100049589




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

  9. #39
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    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/

  10. #40
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    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

  11. #41
    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.

  12. #42
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    This is what I like to pull nails.

    https://www.homedepot.com/b/Tools-Ha...tialmax&NCNI-5

  13. #43
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    Mar 2009
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    Sterling, Virginia
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    I just saw these yesterday . https://www.homedepot.com/p/Crescent...NP11/204065906. I have a pair of these and they work great. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00461AFY0

  14. #44
    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...

    20181021_082220.jpg

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