Hi all.
Love reading. 1st post/query-so Be NICE! 🙂
I have a brick house. Most of the interior walls have been plastered over. Most of the walls have a ~3″ high wooden strip at the bottom of the wall which faciliates the nailing of baseboard (correct?).
I would like to add baseboards to the whole house, but the problem is, 2 rooms do not have this.
Living room has masonry walls on the inside. There was a tile baseboard which has been removed and the wall is being plastered to match the other rooms.
Dining room does have plaster walls-one is exterior/masonry with plaster over, other two are interior walls with plasterboard & plaster, fourth wall is fine as is. In here there was a tiled baseboard (and it was not pretty) which I removed. That removal also removed the plaster and probably leaves room for traditional firring strips.
Before the plasterer repairs dining room walls and covers the living room walls-I want to add something to “receive” the impending baseboards, something to which I can nail the baseboards. Seems like a 1×3 firring strip would work in the space under plaster left by tile removal in dining room… But the plaster to be applied in living room will only end up being about .25″ thick. Firring strips are thicker than that.
Any material suggestions would be appreciated, but also: how should I fasten the strips to the brick walls & concrete footings? Masonry screws? Adhesive? A combination of the two?
Thanks!
Replies
Hi Moose,
Welcome to the group. I am thinking a stud locator would locate your studs and it would be a simple matter after locating the spacing of the studs, to run out with a tape measure the centers for the remaining studs in the wall. When I was younger I never needed a stud locator I could find the studs just by tapping rapidly and lightly with a hammer and could tell the difference in sound between over a stud and between them. Hearing isn't what it used to be now so a stud locator is in my tool box.
Finishing nail should go through the plaster without much problem and if it is doesn't than you could predrill a nail starter hole with a bit that is a half to 2/3 size of the nail diameter. If you are using a pnumatic nailer it will take a few trys to set the nailer to drive through the plaster but that should end up working very well too.
Regards,
Virginbuild
Thanks for the reply. I'm sorry I wasn't clear. The plaster is applied directly over the solid masonry walls. There are not vertical firring strips (or studs) and plaster board. No studs in the walls that are exterior/interior. I either have to attach baseboards with a fastener that will go through plaster to solid masonry, and that kind of fastener is far from subtle, or attach a horizontal "base" to accomodate the future installation. So I want to put a 3"firring strip (or something a bit thinner and "better" if someone can recommend) to facilitate nailing in those baseboards.And in the dining room-it is sunken about 6-8" so there are not studs there to nail a baseboard (or a firring strip so that you can nail baseboards to that).Is that more clear? I have no wood to receive baseboards & fasteners (nails) in these two rooms, and wonder if there is a better way than I'm currently thinking to get it there.Again thanks for your feedback & thanks to anyone else who can offer some wisdom/advice.M
Hi Moose.
Here's an idea you may or may not like..... If your intended baseboard is something "store-bought"...say 1/2 inch thick and ranging in height from 3 to 4 inches....then do a "layered" baseboard.
First, install 3/4 inch stock directly to your masonry walls...use either 1X6s or 1X8s; depending on how tall a baseboard height you desire. You can rout a design on the top edge or leave plain. Install these boards using tapcons and construction adhesive. The next "layer" will be the actual baseboard you had intended to use. Now you can nail on the baseboard layer to the 3/4 "backer board" layer.
The tapcons should be placed so to be hidden by the the final baseboard layer.
Paint or stain both the backer and the baseboard the same to match....or you could do something contrasting to liven things up.
Just a thought ....remember, "old time" baseboard used to be composed regularly of several layers of wood...so why not duplicate an older look for an older building? It might just be the ticket.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Davo
Moose,
If your planned baseboards were going to be painted, not stained, you could simply use small diameter, masonry screws (tapcons). Make sure screws are conter sunk, then apply bondo (auto body filler) overtop each head. When filler dries, sand smooth, then paint. Auto body "spot" putty could be substituted for the bondo, but bondo lasts forever.
Apply bead of construction adhesive to back of each baseboard when installing, this will help. After installation is complete, go back and apply a thin bead of caulk on top of baseboard; filling in any gaps between baseboard and wall. Caulking is what gives any painted baseboard a finished look...it is the crowning touch...trick is to use a good brand caulk ( Alex Premium or similar) and lay it on very sparingly and apply to entire baseboard length. Caulk should be pencil thin and if done right, blends with walls and makes baseboard look less wavy
If you were planning on using stained baseboard, I can't help you.
Davo
Davo-Thanks for both of those suggestions. I think one of those will definitely work for me.
Moose
How solid is your walls, I have a house just like you describe.
I could not put tapcons alone into it though because the parging over the brick and the brick itself is to soft.
My base is just a simple 1 X 4 that was put in before the plaster was put on. I think they just nailed it into the brick or mortar joint. I've see in some old brick houses where they installed a wood plug into a bored out hole, then they nailed there base to those plugs.
I'd use construction adhesive along with the tapcons hoping that one or the other did the trick.
You might try adhering a 3/8 or 1/2" piece on and going over the top of that with another 1/2" finish piece with a bolection molding over the top to hide the two pieces of wood.
Doug
I like your first idea, covering the heads with another piece of base, better than the bondo. It'll be easier to do, and easier to repair in the future.
-- J.S.
Glue it. Brace from opposit wall till dry
You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
People who knowwhat they're talking about will give you good advice. I just want to say congratulations on having a nice old house & taking good care of it..
Kate