How to Install a Rubber Baseboard to Drywall

Lay the rubber baseboard on a clean, flat indoor surface. Keep the baseboard out of direct sunlight. Let the baseboard lie flat for 24 hours before installing.

Inspect the drywall near the floor for excess drywall joint compound or loose drywall nails and screws. Drive any loose nails into the drywall with a hammer. Tighten any loose drywall screws with a Phillips screwdriver. Remove excess drywall joint compound with a putty knife.

Clean the floor next to the baseboard with a broom.

Spread rubber baseboard adhesive across one drywall-covered wall, using a V-notch trowel to spread the adhesive to approximately the bottom 3 1/2 inches of the drywall. Do not apply the adhesive to the last 24 inches of the wall next to an outside corner.

Press the rubber baseboard into the adhesive, working from an inside corner toward an outside corner. If the wall does not have an inside corner, work the baseboard from the center of the wall toward each outside corner.

Force the baseboard into the adhesive with a rubber baseboard roller, working from the inside corner toward the outside corner. If the baseboard does not meet an inside corner, work the roller from the center of the wall toward each outside corner. This stretches the rubber toward the baseboard's loose end next to the outside corner.

Hold the baseboard against an outside corner and trace the corner's outline on the back of the baseboard with a pencil. If the wall contains two outside corners, repeat this on the second outside corner.

Pull the baseboard next to the outside corner away from the drywall. Bend the baseboard along the pencil mark and slice the baseboard's inside edge along the pencil mark with a utility knife. Repeat this for the second outside corner, if applicable.

Cover the drywall's outside corner with the rubber baseboard adhesive. Set the baseboard against the adhesive. Press the rubber baseboard into the adhesive with the roller, working from the center of the wall around the outside corner. Repeat this on the wall's second outside corner, if needed.

Install the rubber baseboard on each wall, extending the baseboard from the outside corner around the room. When the rubber baseboard reaches an inside corner, notch the bottom edge of the baseboard at the appropriate spot with the utility knife. Cut the end of the last piece of rubber baseboard to match the end of the first piece.