The Hand Tools Necessary for Baseboard Installation

Measuring

• Accurate measuring is crucial when installing baseboard. You need a measuring tape that is at least as long as the longest piece of baseboard molding you plan to install. Although a shorter tape may be used, minor measurement and calculation errors are less likely to occur with a longer measuring device.

Trimming

• A miter box and saw combination is needed to cut baseboard molding to splice the boards or to create mitered corners. Baseboard splicing is required when a wall/floor joint is too long to be covered by a single piece of molding. By trimming adjoining boards at parallel diagonal angles, the joint between the boards is less visible than if they are joined with a 90-degree butt joint. Adjacent moldings are typically trimmed at 45 degrees to create 90-degree mitered corners.

Coping

• A coping saw is used to trim away excess material between the front surface of the molding and the wall. This is often needed for an accurate and professional-looking joint in a mitered corner. The hand-held coping saw has a narrow blade that is used to accurately trim along the profile of the baseboard. While coping the mitered cut is not always necessary, molding applied to walls that are not perpendicular should be coped.

Fastening

• Baseboard molding is attached to the wall using a hammer and wire nails. The nails are driven through the molding, the wall surface and then into framing studs. To prevent marring the baseboard surface, the nails are not driven completely into the molding. A nail set is used to depress the heads of the nails just below the face of the molding. Depressions left by the nail set are later filled with wood putty.