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

  1. #16
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    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.

  2. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Lomman View Post
    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.)
    Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 10-15-2018 at 8:54 AM.
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  3. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Deep South
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    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.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Pueblo, CO
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    These are my go to for pulling nails through trim boards:
    http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/pag...=1,43456,43400

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

  5. #20
    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.
    Last edited by Floyd Mah; 10-15-2018 at 4:17 PM.

  6. #21
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    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.

  7. #22
    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.

  8. #23
    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.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
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    sykesville, maryland
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    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.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
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    sykesville, maryland
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    I quality stiff scraper that you can hit with a hammer will do the same thing.

  11. #26
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    Feb 2003
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darcy Warner View Post
    This is what they invented shoe moulding for
    I agree with Darcy. That's what shoe molding is for.
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  12. #27
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Medina Ohio
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    4,514
    I like to use the channel lock slip pliers you can grip good without cutting them and they roll the nail out.

  13. #28
    Fein oscillating multi-tool can do what you want

  14. #29
    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.)

  15. #30
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    May 2005
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    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
    NOW you tell me...

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