Basic Floor Trim Installation

Finish trim carpentry instructions using common baseboard and shoe mold

Need a little help with basic floor trim installation?

The following steps can help you with just the rudimentary steps to measure, cut, and install average baseboard and quarter-round (a.k.a. shoe mold) to finish your floor.

In most of my remodeling and house flipping projects that I do, I like to install just the basic floor trim that can be easily purchased at the local home improvement store.

Nothing too fancy.

If I have a client who specifically wants ornate crown molding and woodwork installed, I prefer to hire a professional carpenter who, with many years experience, can better handle the precise cuts and intricate detail much better than I can.

If I'm involved in a property flip, my primary task is to get the house ready to sell. I don't want to spend a lot of time and money on expensive equipment and materials. So, I go with what I know regarding the installation of floor trim, and can do it fairly well (mainly because it's cheap and really easy to install).

After the task new vinyl or tile flooring is laid, proceed to finish it out with inexpensive floor trim found in the 'wood trim/molding' section at the store. As I said, the more basic, the better. And besides, once the floor trim is properly caulked, puttied, and painted, it looks really good in contrast to the new flooring. And, nobody will ever know a "professional" didn't install it.

And without further ado, on with the finish trim carpentry instructions ...

Floor Trim Installation Tools

I like to use "uncomplicated" power tools, if you know what I mean. If it works fine, and is inexpensive, that's good enough for me. (I say this because my professional installer friends laugh at my, shall we say, relatively inexpensive tools I choose to use. Like I said, 'if it ain't broke', why fix it? Anyway, these are the things I use to install floor trim:

Basic Compound Mitre Saw
I say 'basic', because I require just the simple 90 degree (straight up/down cut) ...

... and the 45 degree (diagonal cut). It is also handy as a chop saw for cutting 2" x 4" studs and other pieces of lumber. The largest piece of woodwork I cut might be 5 inches wide, which can be easily handled with this type saw.

Portable Air Compressor and Brad Nailer
The compressor I use is a lightweight 1.5 gallon model that is easily portable. It has a maximum of 135 psi (pounds per square inch) of force which is certainly enough to drive a 1 1/4" nail into the trim piece, and to provide a secure hold to the intended surface.

I also use an ordinary brad-type nailer capable of using 1 1/4" nails.

• You will also need a pencil to mark with, and a measuring tape.
• As always, have on your protective wear when operating power equipment.

Installing Wood Floor Trim

Measure and Cut Trim Piece
Take your measuring tape, and measure the length of the desired cut in the area designated for floor trim. With your pencil, make a mark on the trim piece exactly where you want to make your cut.

After deciding on the exact length, cut your trim piece (straight or diagonal as needed) on the outside edge of your mark line. This is done to compensate for the saw kerf, or the cut produced by the actual width of the saw blade itself. In other words, you want to avoid cutting right on your mark line so you wont end being a 1/16" shy of your intended cut. The width of a common power saw blade is around 1/16". Try leave the final cut piece just ever-so-slightly longer than total length in the area you want to trim.

An example would be:

Let's say you have a 60" cut to make for your shoe mold to fit perfectly. To make it fit nice and snuggly, cut it slightly oversized at 60 and 1/16" long. This will produce a slight bend to the piece, but will also allow it to fit nice and firm within your area. Don't have too much bend as this would threaten to break the floor trim piece altogether.

Fitting End/Diagonal Cuts Together
If you need to join two pieces of trim together, particularly two butt ends, cut both ends to allow a clean-fitting, seamless joint. This will eliminate any uneven, or mangled cut that would hamper such tight fitting joints.

Secure the Trim Piece
With your air compressor and brad nailer, install the trim piece to the wall, or in the case of the quarter-round, to the baseboard.

Once you are done with installation of your floor trim, you are now ready to caulk and paint. Please see my page with the details on how to paint trim for a great finishing touch.