How to Undercut a Baseboard

Undercutting a baseboard can come in handy when installing new flooring around a door jamb. It is far easier to cut the door jamb than to try to make an intricate cut in a piece of tile or hardwood. A special tool, called a jamb saw, was designed specifically for this purpose. It is a small circular saw set at a 90 degree angle to facilitate a level cut.

Scrap cardboard
Piece of flooring that will be installed
Pencil
Jamb saw
Rotary tool with wood cutting attachment

Instructions

- 1
  Place the piece of flooring that will be installed on top of a piece of scrap cardboard and slide it up against the baseboard that needs to be cut. The cardboard serves as a placeholder for the adhesive that will be used to hold the new flooring in place. If you are using snap-in-flooring, the cardboard will serve as a spacer for the foam underlayment.
- 2
  Mark the height of the tile against the baseboard with a pencil. This will be your reference line when making the cut. Repeat this for the entire length of the baseboard you want to cut.
- 3
  Set up the jamb saw and adjust the blade height to match the reference line. The blade works by sliding straight forward into the material to be cut. It may take more than one cut to completely remove the baseboard.
- 4
  Make a vertical cut at the end of the horizontal jamb cut so the piece can be removed. If the cut goes all the way to the end of the baseboard, then you can omit this cut as the baseboard will fall off on its own.

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