We are trying to convince our contractor and architect that we have seen many photographs in upscale magazines (metropolitan home, fine homebuilding, etc.) where homeowners had walls tied directly into the floor without the use of baseboard. We really like the look as our taste run to the modern and minimalistic lines. We want to get rid of trim, thresholds, etc. wherever possible. A simple plane with no indentations, no baseboard, just flat wall surface all the way to the floor. Our professionals have insisted that this is an unwise practice as the soft wall board will not wear well to the bumps of toys, vacume cleaners, etc.
The best solution anyone can come up with is to mount the wall board flush on top of a piece of hardwood which could be stained a different color or painted to match the wall. Even then, they say a crack will develop and it would be best to recess a channel between the two, filling the channel with a material of a different color. Perhaps that is the best we can do. They have no solution for a straight, flush, floor to ceiling surface.
Are the people in the magazine photo’s crazy — simply willing to put up with a very vulnerable surface for the sake of their aesthetic tastes, or is it possible to have this look and have a durable protective surface down where the wall gets abuse?
We sure would like to know.
Dave and Barb.
Replies
Put a strip of Cement board down there 6-8" wide(tall) and skimcoat over it with easy sand.
Mr T
Do not try this at home!
I am an Experienced Professional!
Wow. That was fast. Your message/advice was forwarded immediately to my architect. I eagerly await his response. Thank you so much.
Barb and Dave
Not quite what you're looking for, but my client is having wood floors installed, and the base will be only a piece of shoe mould, about 3/4" high.
Do it right, or do it twice.
Have the framers install blocking (2x8 or 2x10) in the stud bays at the base of the wall. The drywall could still ding, however with the solid blocking behind it will be far stronger. It's alot of blocking, and somewhat labor intensive (unskilled labor though) but if it gets you the look you want, than it will be worth it.
Yes, the sheetrock/wallboard is easy to mar, especially within an inch of the edge, but I don't think you necessarily have to give up on your original idea.
With either hardwood floor or a good carpet & pad, you're already at least 3/4" above the edge, assuming the rock was laid tight to the floor. Either take your chances with that or add the quarter round, which could be almost invisable depending on how you finish it.
This would work OK, I think, even with the rock laid vertically, so the open, delicate end was at risk. Frankly, if the rock is laid horizontally, as is conventional, the hard, compressed edge will be along the floor and I wouldn't be worried much about that even without the quarter-round. However, since there is a "dimple line" there, you would need to be careful to have the tapers mud it smooth.
However you do it, you will get the occasional scuff or nick. It's easy to repair. Keep a bit of matching paint handy. Do what you want, even if other's say it's unconventional.
I like the modern/minimal look too, but do note that most of the showcase houses you see in those mags are suspiciously free of any trace of a child. ;o)
What if you ran strip of sheet metal along the bottom? It'd be an industrial look, and, of course, it'd still be a visual element though.
Baseboard serves more than one purpose. It covers gaps and un-evenness in the flooring. It ties door casing to the floor/wall elegantly. And, not least, it protects the drywall from being dinged up when you sweep or vacuum. I think this can be accomplished minimalistically with a relatively thin profile, perhaps from mdf, and painted to match the wall. Trim has been around for a good many year - why through it out just to be trendy? If it didn't serve a variety of functions, we wouldn't still be using it. You don't have to re-invent the wheel to come up with pleasing design solutions.
---"Trim has been around for a good many year - why throw it out just to be trendy? "---
My thoughts too. You can have that minimalist look in ways already described here by using the right kind of minimalist trim.
We too won't be using any trim anywhere we can get by without but the baseboards is not the right place to eliminate it.
A sheetrocked house without baseboards of some kind seems like jeans without double cloth at the seams. They both will soon fall apart there.
We do not like the look of trim and are trying to find a different way of gaining the protective advantages of it without having to put up with the look. We know this bucks the "trend" but we don't think the "trend" should dictate what we put into our home. As the saying goes, "only dead fish swim with the stream."
Dave and Barb.
dj-
Here's what I'm considering for our place -
In the upstairs, second floor spaces, we're using vertical bamboo flooring throughout. I plan to slice the drywall 2 or 3" up along the bottome perimeter of all the walls and install a casing bead ('L' metal) along this edge. The flooring is exactly the same thickness as the return on the L metal so the finished drywall and flooring strip will flush out beautifully.
I'm interested in creating a clean, and somewhat unique transition between the floor and wall as well, but from a practical standpoint, my wife is insisting on a wall/floor base treatment that will eliminate the necessity of dusting. Seems like no base at all should fill that request! (grin).
I'm doint this work myself so labor is to some degree inconsequential. Your mileage may vary.
Oh - the first floor is all gauged square stone and will get the same treatment, only using the stone instead of the bamboo flooring.
...........
Dennis in Bellevue WA
[email protected]
A bit off topic here,but you mentioned "if the sheet is tie to the floor". With a standard 92 5/8" stud, plus sole plate 1 1/2", plus a double top plate 3" you get 8 feet 1 1/8".
If you subtract 1/2' for the ceiling drywall you still have 8 feet 5/8". Therefore, horizontally applied rock on the wall leaves a 5/8" gap.
In the old days, or is it not so old days, you layed 5/8" particle board on top of the subfloor. Hence, no gap.
I have seen hundreds of houses now built without the particle board. What do people think about this?
That's the way virtually every house I've seen around here is done. Only 5/8" is typically used on the ceilings, so you get a 1/2" gap. (in theory)
I was always told the gap is so if the framing shrinks, the drywall doesn't crack. Doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me.
I think it's more because that's just the way everyone has done it. But I don't see anything wrong with it.People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. [Michael Williams]
Boss, you don't feel the need for particle board any more?
Is a 3/4" subfloor solid enough? I guess on a 2000 sq ft you could save 500 bucks in materials and then there is the labor.
Maybe the subfloor thing is also regional? I've never seen anythingh other than 3/4" T&G go down anywhere there was going to be carpet. There's typically 1/4" luan under linoleum, but that's about it.
I've never in my life seen a piece of particle board on a floor.Death and taxes are unsolved engineering problems [Romana Machado]
I've never in my life seen a piece of particle board on a floor.
You haven't lived. Wait til you find two layers of it....
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
What is luan?
Luan plywood, typically a hair under 1/4" thk (like all ply). Used for sheet vinyl underlayment. 1/8" luan sometimes used for door skins. I think it's part of the mahaogany family.
Do it right, or do it twice.
Particle board is a bad product to put on a floor! Whether it's the kitchen, an exterior entry, or the bathroom (yikes!) particle board on the floor is asking for trouble from moisture damage and swelling followed by decomposition.
But, on the other hand, then you don't wind up with those boring flat floors and have something more unique! ; )Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Never seen a problem with particle board in that manner. Then again, you have to be smart. Ya, there's the rub. Sorry for the Shakespere. YOU CAN NOT LET WATER GET TO ANYTHING or you have a problem. Pretty simple. Use brain.
I don't know what you do, or have done, for a living. I spent quite a bit of time doing small remodels/repairs between bigger jobs. I'm haven't had to rip up rotting p-board I put down, just what others have put down. Going by your admonition I guess there's plenty who didn't use brain.Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Hasbeen, I certainly was not implying that you had any problem using your brain. It just seems to me that anyone that used p-board on the floor and has it rot out is doing something less than brilliant. Would you not agree?
My man point of question is, why did people 25 or 30 years ago (maybe the practice was dying earlier, or maybe it lasted longer) lay down a 3/4" ply subfloor and then just prior to carpeting lay down particle board? Why did the practice die?
I have a few ideas.
Why did it die? Cost and why bother if you just cover it up with carpet.
Why did they do it? It just seems to me that it would give you a nice solid and quiet floor. Looks a whole lot better than a dirty, stained, scrapped-up subfloor, but than again you just cover it up.
What do quality builders in upscale homes do. Just lay down carpet on a 3/4" subfloor? Is that the standard practice in upscale homes in the late 20th century and 21st century?
Upscale homes! I'm not sure what that means any more...
While there are still quality builders who truly care (many of them hang out here!), my belief is that what usually passes as upscale to home buyers is really a bunch of crap with fancy surfaces. So yes, lots of "upscale" homes no doubt have carpet right over the subfloor. That said, I don't think that's a problem as long as the subfloor is solid enough. (Wanna bet we could get a lively thread going here about this issue? ; )
I recently visited my wife's nephew in the Santa Fe area. He just bought a new home for about $400K. Granite counters, Kohler sinks & tubs, maple cabinetry, lots of tile, three metal box fireplaces and..... it was a cheap pile of crap from my point of view. (Of course I was polite!)
My view is that surfaces come and go. Hopefully every home should outlast many surface replacements. Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Has, then what is your specific opinion about subfloors and underlayment? how would you build your home in this regard?
Funny you should ask. I started framing my new home today.
I'll be using 1 1/8" ply over truss joists. No subflooring over the ply.
Not to say that's the only thing I'd do. Depends on the situation, the joist material and span, type of project, etc.
I was seriously considering using Advantech, but I got the 1 1/8" ply for only slightly more and I expect to have the roof dried in within two or three weeks after I lay the first piece of ply. I should also add that I live in a very dry climate although we did see a small cloud today. ; )Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
I take it you just feel that 3/4" is to thin?
I always thought so and therefore thought the particle board gave you a stiffer floor, firm feel. However, my current home was built with 3/4" ply on 16"OC joists and it feels fine.
Like I said, depends on the situation. I'm going to use 3/4" on my enclosed porches with short joist spans and 16" oc joists.Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Why did they do it?
The why is easy, carpet installs around 1/4" thick, and a wood floor runs 3/4". Rather than deal with toe-stubbing thresholds, you add an underlayment to get the floors near level.
This was not ordinary PB, either, this was "engineered grade" PB, which was given a sealer. Downside was expense, wall-to-wall with a decent pad didn't mind if it was CDX underneath. With the "fashion" being wall-to-wall in the whole house, the practice mostly died--and the drywallers have been making up the difference, somehow.
"Standard" studs are supposed to save money as there's no cutting them to length. But, with no drop off, where do you get the blocking? Just never enough cripples & jacks. Odd how a finish trim turned into a framing discussion?Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Great answer.
And a stud does not shrink on its length. Sole and top plates might shrink a nearly immeasurable amount.
"With a standard 92 5/8" stud...."
I'm not a pro, but 3/4" subfloor is getting pretty common, especially with I-joists and improvements in plywood/OSB manufactured for this purpose. These days, in all but the most basic tract homes, I doubt if there are many walls being put up with the "standard 92 5/8" stud, so it's kind of a moot point. Too many variations in ceiling height.
The real jist of my question was not about ceiling height or stud lengths, but about floors. Just plan 3/4" ply seems light, 25 to 30 years ago in the NW 3/4" ply topped with 5/8" particle board was typical.
I doubt if there are many walls being put up with the "standard 92 5/8" stud
I think you've lost touch with reality. You think maybe we won't be able to find "pre-cuts" at HD pretty soon? If they weren't being used, they wouldn't be for sale.Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Perhaps before doing the copy/paste thing on the post you are referring to, you noticed this part:
"These days, in all but the most basic tract homes...."
Those tract homes probably account for 2/3rds of all residential construction, so no, I don't think HD will stop carrying 92 5/8 studs any time soon.
However, I doubt the home in question here, or many homes in question in the history of this board fall into that category.
Then again, I could be wrong...
use a double plate on bottom of walls. It will give added support and still protect the edge. The blocking and cement board both good suggestions. If the wall gets normal abuse at bottom edge it will scuff no matter if it is cement board or rock. still have to repair. I would save some money and bypass the hardboard.
Also I would cut off the tapered edge of the rock as it tends to telegraph through at terminations w/out seams. At any rate it takes more work to finish and the double plates should afford adequate support.
Good luck!
sounds like it will be neat!
What many Arch's and designers don't understand is that these mouldings exist because they serve a utilitarian purpose and in doing so have been made to also be decorative. Two of the most fundamental purposes of mouldings is to hide/ camouflage cracks and to reconcile the connection of two different planes or materials.
If you get rid of the baseboard - even if you add blocking, and/ or use cement board with a plaster/ easy sand skim - you still must reconcile the connection of the wall and floor.
Why? Well, because the inconsistencies of the flooring installation and sanding will become very apparent and when the floors are sanded the walls are going to get chewed up (at a price, these gouges (more than dings) can be patched).
Another reason many do not eliminate the moulding feature is that doing so makes the construction process require more time and is therefore more costly.
BTW, the photos in mags LIE!!! Yes, the design looks great in the mag but real life is not so forgiving. If you insist on having walls w/out mouldings, consider installing a 1/4" reveal 2" or 4' high on the wall. The portion below the wall could then be wood or MDF which is the same thickness as the drywall. The hard edge of the wood or MDF will maintain a crisp line at the wall and floor seam.
F
Im looking through my back issues (Fine Homebuilding) for the one with the trimless door jambs milled out of thick stock. They were really modern and clean looking. The author dadoed grooves in the back of the jamb stock for the sheetrock to terminate in. This covered the exposed edges without casing. really neat looking but I think fairly labor intensive.
If any one knows the article im talking about, please refer it to djbeers. Meanwhile, Ill keep looking.
Edited 10/30/2003 10:55:11 PM ET by splinter
Thanks. That sounds really appealing. Let us know if you find out which issue you saw it in.
Dave and Barb.
D & B, I'am not certain what the deal is, who's home is it?, If you want that look, well, just tell em, with a smile on your face. Drywallers, they, do this fairly often, it's called "Base tape", and yes, they do charge more for it, though, I'am guessing it would be a "little" less expensive than the conventional route, ie base board. Jim J
There is a hard coat drywall product specifically for locations that expect hard knocks, or careless operations. Couldn't find my reference but it's something that you or your architech could find with some research.
Or, you could apply traditional plaster over lath which would result in a very durable ding resistant finish. Blueboard would be another substrate to which plaster is applied.
I think the issue has less to do with "hard knocks and dings" and more to do with mars. THINK MAN! THE VACUMCLEANER!!!!! Baseboards take the hit and with a stain or dark color show scuff a lot less than a white flat paint wall.
JMHO.
Dear "THINK MAN."
READ MAN.
Our original request is precisely to your point. We want to find a solution that provides us with the elegant look we favor while not compromising (at least not much) the obvious need to protect from damage due to cleaning, toys, kicks, etc.
Dave and Barb
I trust you were not offended by my "Think Man" comment. Jsut a bit of humor. Probably more my reaction to the THOUGHT (hence the think comment) of a vacuum putting countless scuff marks on the wall. To me an almost overwelming thought, (again, hence the ! mark).
I think the no baseboard look would be a great look up against a modern monotone wood, concrete, or tile floor. In that case you would do a lot of dry mopping and the impact on the walls would be greatly reduced.
But up against carpet? Maybe a different story. JMHO.
We think we are gravitating toward the hardwood set up flush with the drywall. The look will still be modern, the protection no different than a regular piece of trim and we wont have to dust the ridge that always accumulates crud and dirt as the years wear on.
D&B
Bravo for the thinking ahead about cleaning (dust on base...) issues before you build.
If you haven't seen it, you might be interested in Making Your House Do The Housework by Don Aslett. I'm sure he has a website. Lots of ideas to consider that fit well with your preference for modern style AND my preference for minimal housework! (OK, you guessed it, there are dust bunnies under my computer desk...)Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Must admit I don't like dusting those baseboard either.
Flooring is usually placed after the finished walls and in the case of hardwood there is a mandated gap for expansion. Even the laminated product moves so whatever you think is a tight seamless floor to wall transistion may well turn into an unsightly gap or, if a severe expansion, cause a buckling in not only the floor but a cracking of the drywall base.
Good point Ralph and one of the strongest reasons the floating wall base reveal is a better idea than just butting the flooring to the wall. The detail I drew should have shown the flooring pulled back from the base plate by a quarter inch or so to account for that expansion, as it would have been in a standard baseboard application.Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Sounds like another reason to go the floating wall route if you need to avoid the baseboard molding.
What about moisture?
If the rock is agianst a conc. slab it could soak up moisture if the the slab sweats at all. This could be a big problem on exterior walls. I guess it would depend on the climate, but hear in Louisiana there is nothing you can do to totally prevent this from happening. It would not matter initially, but 5 years down the road maybe sooner there would start to be problems.
So, "RELAX MAN"
I've seen one of these. The board was put on horrizontally and the lower board was something called high abuse (hi-abuse ?) wallboard. They were putting adhesive trim on the bottom edge (peel and stick paper-coated metal and then skiming over it to make a smooth wall (like they do with corner beads). I was told they have to use the self-adhesive strip or the skim will crack at the joints (???) or just flake off the wall because of movement.
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
If you go with or without a cement board bottom edge, I'd still specify a bead, prefereably a J, but at least an L bead aginst the floor edge, this will add strength (and be a "bumper"), without complicating the framing.
The slickest Post-Moderne loft I ever saw used 5/4 x 2 rain forest hardwood (ipke, or goncalvo alves, or the like). The trim boards all had a 1/2 wide x 3/4" deep rabbet milled in one edge. The wallboard was recessed into the rabbet. This trim was carried up around all of the doors, and right around the windows. It was even used as a sort of crown at the wall-ceiling joint. Sort of, as each roof had a strip light cove slot at the ceiling-wall joint. Ceiling seemed to have a J bead edge, mudded to plaster crispness. The wall panels were all lightly textured with a 6' wide smooth strip near any of the "moulding" which clearly went on last. Very elegant, very labor intensive, very high dollar--not surprising in a $0.8 million loft.
Now, that being said, I have lived in too many moulding-free apartments. The effect there was neither modern nor pleasing. It takes more to use less. More design, more planning, more labor. As long as everyone knows--and recognizes--that effort up front, the easier it will be. You will want pictures and examples to show your designers. You also have to be very careful of scale--there's moulding, and there's moulding. On a 10' high wall, a 3/4 x 1" moulding can be very crisp and unobtrusive, and can save you big bucks for something better. Just my two centavos.
Hold the bottom of the wallboard an inch up from the subfloor. After you install hardwood or other flooring, glue a strip of white formica on the wall. Only maybe an eighth of an inch thick. Hardwood needs a gap at the edges to allow for expansion and installation. The formica would be durable and cover the edge. Not entirely seamless, but close. With the proper primer, you can paint the formica when you paint the rest of the wall. That would unfortunately be after the finish floor is installed. Not as simple as painting before.
I wonder if you could have some base molding custom milled which is very thin. (Maybe 1/4" or so)
The top edge could be tapered or rounded over - No pattern milled into it as with typical base. Then it could be painted to match the walls, so it would be almost invisible.
People ask the difference between a leader and a boss . . . The leader works in the open and the boss in covert. The leader leaves and the boss drives. [Theodore Roosevelt]
Most drywall suppliers cary or can order a variety of different metal beads meeting most design demands. We use a Fry - Reglett " U " channel which sits on top of the base which is on the same plane at the wall surface. This provides a very clean line and a small reveal between the two surfaces. This allows the use of a more durable base material.
If you go with no base use 5/8" rock on the walls. It will take the abuse a little better than 1/2".
Another way to get the ultra clean and contemporary look your after is to create a recess at the base of the wall that causes the wall to visually "float" just above the floor. At it's simplest the recess is created by framing with a 2x4 base plate overlaid with a second 2x6 base plate and studs. Paint the recess flat black. (see attached drawing)
When the flooring disappears into this recess the resulting floor to wall transition is really quite stunning in the right house. For the ultimate in clean and cool, repeat the transition at the wall to ceiling juncture too. Viola - anti crown and base molding at its finest!
Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Hey! great place for all those spiders to make homes! Very considerate of you.
Hey! great place for all those spiders to make homes! Very considerate of you.
Well, I try to do my part to help the little guys but I take no responsible for what happens when the vaccuum nozzle comes out. Oh well, their resourceful, I'm sure they will come up with another place to hide, just like they have for thousands of years.Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Wow. This is a very creative idea and takes our thoughts to another level. I will share this with our architect and builder. Because the wall board is still only 1" above the floor and even though its edge is protected with a corner bead, I think it may still make sense to use a cement board or other hard coat surface.
Again, Wow. You (and most of the other guys and gal's ) are really, really, on top of your game.
Dave and Barb
Sounds like a house cleaning nightmare, Kevin! I guess the dust bunnies just fade into the flat black paint?Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Sounds like a house cleaning nightmare, Kevin! I guess the dust bunnies just fade into the flat black paint?
I'm not suggesting this is the ultimate solution, I'm suggesting that it is a good solution for this client with their stated goals. As to the dust, it would take the same amount of time to run this recessed base with a vacuum nozzle as it would take to run the top of a protruding base where the dust accumulates in a standard house. There should actually be less dust in the recess since it has an overhang preventing dust from settling in the recessed area in the first place.
Seriously folks, look around your room at all the small, horizontal recessed spaces that surround you. It's not a problem. Pick up a modern architecture magazine and flip through the pages. It is almost certain that at least one of the featured houses will have this floating wall, no base detail.
Sure it's different - lot's of things about modern architecture are "different." It works and some folks appear to really like it. I just gave a means to easily execute it.
Now the top of a refrigerator and all those ceiling fan blades 12 feet off the floor... there's a maintenance nightmare! :-)>Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
You didn't mention the materials of construction of the walls in the photos. Concrete walls should hold up pretty well without baseboards. Also, the walls could have been covered with a 60 mil plastic material, or even plastic laminate. For that matter, plywood could have been used in lieu of gypsum board.
Whatever the solution is for baseless walls, I would still be concerned with outside corners, even if metal corner beads are used.
For bioligical clean rooms, horizontal surfaces are not good. The floor most usually is some type of thick epoxy, with the the epoxy coved at the walls and turned up 6" for a base. The epoxy/gypsum board joint has long been a point of contention, but the solution that seems to have worked best for us is to stop the epoxy base with a zinc edge strip. There would be a "J" bead at the bottom of the gypsum board, leaving a 1/8" gap between it and the zinc strip. The gap would be filled with sanitary silicone sealant. Because the walls and floors in these facilities are usually white to cream colored, everything seemed to blend together.
Thanks Chuck, I'm sure the methods in the photo vary as widely as the opinions here - I just pitched in what I do every day and offered a simple way to do a simple, popular, modern wall to floor transition with simple and affordable materials - Nothing more. One solution among potential thousands.
I'll keep your clean room specs on hand though in case I need them down the road. I'm sure they would work in this application too, depending on the budget of course.Kevin Halliburton
"I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art it must be built on a foundation of necessity." - I.M. Pei -
Good point about the dust on top of base being more work than the hiding dust bunnies. Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Temple makes extra tough drywall. http://www.temple.com or 1800-231-6060. One is "abuse resistant" the other is "impact resistant".I also found abuse resistant by Lafarge 1800-237-5505 or http://www.lafargenorthamerica.com
Article "No-Trim Door Jambs" is in FHB March 2003 No.153.
Smile. It could be worse. You could be me working for you.
Edited 11/1/2003 11:29:22 AM ET by mikey
I haven't read through the whole thread yet, so this may be covered; and I'm a homeowner, not a builder, but I'm wondering why you don't choose a different surface for your walls? Instead of drywall, why not real plaster, or concrete, or cementitious stucco, or aluminum, or stainless steel, or glass? I'm not much of a modernist myself, but I associate all of these with modern design and think you could have some real fun with different wall surfaces that are minimalist and uncomplicated, while still accepting abuse (OK, not the glass) that would normally be born by the baseboard.
I think dieselpig and Ralph have you headed in the right direction.
Impact resistant drywall is just that, over blocking it ought to be pretty hard to hurt.
One step better would be veneer plaster. I see no reason why it couldn't go over the IR drywall if you use a primer.
If that doesn't answer the problem, three-coat plaster is always an option. There is no way (within reason) that you are ever going to hurt the scratch and brown coat of a wood-fiber plaster.
In the Southwest it is far more common than not to see plaster walls terminate at stone, brick, concrete, or tile floors without baseboard.
It works fine. If that's what you want, then insist on it and keep looking until you find someone who will do it. There really isn't any problem.
All of the considerations that everyone else has pointed out are true, of course. You will have to be more careful with the mop, vacuum, or furniture, but hey, it's your house, no?
DRC