Trim for the Floor

Ranch Base

• Simple baseboard, with its smooth, rounded face, is used in many homes. Ranch base can be used on doors, windows and baseboards. This trim typically measures 5/8 inch thick and 2 1/4 inches wide. It's simple but provides the necessary joint between the floor and the wall. It can be purchased in hardwood -- usually red oak -- or softwood, which is usually pine or fir. Hardwood ranch base looks expensive if stained and lacquered. Softwood ranch base is a bit more affordable than hardwood and is typically painted to match the walls or other paint schemes in the home. Use it along the floor in living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms or anywhere to keep a constant flow or uniformity in the home.

Profiled Base

• Moving one step up from ranch base in affordability, profiled molding has dips, curves and profile lines. Typical profiled floor trim molding is 2 1/4 to 4 inches in width, though it can even be wider, and between 5/8 and 3/4 inch thick. It can be square on both sides or beveled with one side tapering from thick to thin. The difference between ranch base and profiled molding is a series of custom lines and bevels along the length to add aesthetics. The lines can have single rolls, a multitude of different shapes or even static, routed lines parallel to each other. Use profiled base throughout the home or choose different profiles for different rooms to break things up. Hardwood profiled trim works best with stain, while softwood base looks best painted.

Vinyl

• Vinyl base is exactly what it seems. It's flexible, slightly rubbery, easy to work with, affordable and easy to clean. It's almost indestructible and provides the necessary bridge between the wall and floor. Use it in kitchens, bathrooms or anywhere that might have water exposure, but it can also be used in living rooms or anywhere desired. Typically vinyl molding is white or off-white for kitchens and baths. Choose brown, black or earth colors for living spaces. There are several styles available, but the most common is simple and flat with the top edge tapering slightly inward. The bottom edge has a slight blunt or flat edge to sit firmly on the floor.

Joints

• There are two basic corners for baseboard trim: coped and mitered. Coping joints take more time but look more professional. Coping is a process done by hand that custom-fits each corner to the adjoining piece by trimming with a special saw. It allows the profile of one piece to fit like a glove over the adjoining piece. If you have a choice, cope the joints or instruct the builder to cope them for you during installation of the base. Mitering is the most common joint. It consists of two pieces joined together using a 45-degree angle. Use a miter saw to cut matching miters on both ends and fit them together to make inside or outside corners match perfectly. Mitered joints look almost as good as coped joints, and most builders use them for efficiency. But for that extra bit of woodworking craftsmanship, use coped joints.