One of the things I want to do when I remodel my apartment is replace the old-style baseboards. If I could have my druthers, I would have no baseboards at all, but I doubt that the workmaship at the meeting of the hardwood floors and the walls is good enough for that. The alternative is to replace the baseboards with something that I like more than what I have now
Unfortunately, everywhere I have looked for baseboards I find the same traditional-looking styles (with grooves, convolutions, and other attempts at ornamentation). Where can I find small, simple baseboards? Is there a website with a large collection of styles (and pictures)?
Thanks in advance,
Jill
P.S. A friend of mine recommended using simply a quarter round. This solution admittedly meets my requirements of small and simple, and it would definitely be an improvement over what I have now, but I’m still not crazy about that look.
Replies
On one job we made are own by ripping strips of a medium density board. 4'X8' sheets run through the table saw and then a simple round over with a 1/2" router bit. It looked modern in a simple way.
There are several websites that have a wide range of profiles...do a web search for moulding (with a 'u') or millwork. Home Depot has a fair selection of profiles, but even better is the sheet that can sometimes be found hanging in the aisle that shows all of the available ones. I have a sheet from MillSource which has shops in Texas, 'bama, NC, Fla, Kaintucky, Mass, Indiana & Mary's Land. Go to millsourcemw.com and you can see the profiles. Is your landlord ok with you changing the trim? If you find a profile that's almost right, but maybe too tall, you can always run it through a table saw and cut it down to size.
Do it right, or do it twice.
Edited 5/31/2003 1:28:27 PM ET by ELCID72
First, let me offer the conservative approach...
My personal recommendation would be to first paint the baseboards you have in a subtle blending color, or even a matching color to your walls and see if they disappear enough to satisfy you. If you still want a contrast but just want the base to appear smaller paint the top routed profiles on your baseboard to match your walls and the bottom portion of the baseboard in a contrasting color.
Keep in mind that nobody will be examining those baseboards with the same scrutiny you are giving them. paint tricks may be all you need to achieve the look you want.
Now for something a little more progressive...
How modern do you want to go? If your style and tastes lean toward industrial modern you can achieve a very clean look with materials that were never intended to be baseboard such as small aluminum angles or rectangular metal tubing secured with countersunk screws. Definitely not for everyone.
Mostly just trying to give you a creative spark. Baseboard is not the only thing that will serve as good baseboard. Walk through a store with a large variety of building materials and think outside the box.
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 -
I would only add kevin that we have to remember to consider that the base usually gets hidden behind everything but at the door casings. Looks wise, that transision is one to think about.__________________________________________
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Jill
Apartment huh? Well, whats "really" buggin you ( ya don't have to be doctor Phill)? I think you have an inner issue personally. Don't even sound anal......sounds kinda spacey to me.
So you don't like baseboards but you like wood floors? DO YOU? REALLY???
I happen to think you really "don't" like wood floors but maybe its a dust and cleanliness issue. Am I closing in on anything here ?
Do you dislike door casings? No? Why not? Think about this for a moment........you like door casings but hate baseboard moldings....
Lets start here....in your childhood what did your floors look like?
Did your parents hit you and knock you to the floor?
Did a sibling wrestle you down?
Minister issues?
I know.....its a dust bunny issue,,,,,,I just know it!
Ok girl......heres the answer
a border wallpaper of Lionel Chu Chu trains around the base....it'll make you feel like lifes goin' round and round like Chu Chu Charlie the engineer.
Be .........oiy
Namaste
andy
In his first interview since the stroke, Ram Dass, 66, spoke with great difficulty about how his brush with death has changed his ideas about aging, and how the recent loss of two old friends, Timothy Leary and Allen Ginsberg, has convinced him that now, more than ever, is the time to ``Be Here Now.''
http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
jill, have you thought of a tile base..
say a sanitary cove with a two inch sizzle strip on top ?
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I think that just simple straight grain Doug fir one-by 4 with a clear sealer on it looks pretty arty and modern, with door and window casings to match. Like the Craftsman "get away from the fancy-schmanzy" look, it has warmth and adds some interest.
Jen
Edited 5/31/2003 9:05:22 PM ET by Jencar
Did one of those in painted poplar years ago. Eased the top edge with a chamfering bit to reduce the 'blocky" look of the 1 x 4. Really looked good and was easy to install with no fancy profile to cope.
Dave
We did our own baseboards in our last office. Wanted something semi-modern. We ended up just using 1/2 x 6 lumber as-is with a clear finish and exposed stainless screws.
"exposed stainless screws..."
Nice touch...fits right in with a nautical or modern theme...would work in our house as we have all nickel or brushed aluminum hardware and fixtures.
Jen
Baseboards do have a function and that is to protect the lower wall from chair legs, vacumes, kids toys, furniture and other assorted hazords that can befall the floor wall interface. How you can change those baseboards is really open only to your imagination. Tile comes to mind as well as simple wood with a rounded edge and a whole host of other suggestions that have been made so far. You need something there, what it is, thar is left up to your imagination and pocket book.
Top set base. Lots of colors, 2",3",4",& 6",Glossy or Matte finish. Maby the 2" in glossy black, or a color to match the floor if you don't want contrast.
Qtrmeg, thanks for the link. Some of those profiles are the ones like most so far.
Triggerski, you wrote:
>Top set base. Lots of colors, 2",3",4",& 6",Glossy or Matte finish.
>Maby the 2" in glossy black, or a color to match the floor if you don't
>want contrast.
What is "top set base"? I couldn't find a picture on the Web.
Thanks,
Jill
http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna/product Try this place Jill. Or search coved base - comercial. http://www.burkmercer.com/flooring is one more. L8R.
Hi, Triggerski. I'm sorry for being such a pain. I really want to check out those websites, but the links have typos in them and I can't figure out how to fix them. Try them:
http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna/product
http://www.burkmercer.com/flooring
burkmercer doesn't exist at all on the web (Google can't even find things that approximate it). I got farther with http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna, but still I couldn't find top-set base.
Jill
http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna/product_details.jsp?item_id=385 OK Jill, I just had my daughter show me how to cut copy and paste. Way easier than the outher way. Try this one, and its my pleasure, BTW.
You can search for "moulding profiles" and turn up something like this for baseboard. A simple 3 1/2" clam would be fine, but you should see what lays beneath your existing baseboards, and how things come apart, before you commit to a plan. You often find, in older homes, that you have issues with the surface of the plaster at the trim, and especially at the base.
If you don't like quarter round, have you looked at shoe moulding?
It's a little taller, and might suit you better.
For women, sex is like snow — you never know how many inches you're going to get or how long it's going to last.
Jill
I was thinking along the lines of the "shoe base" that boss hog mentioned, since you sorta like the 1/4 round idea.
Qtrmeg has the absolute best advice about what is under the old base...you may find that you need to re-trowel or texture the whole room to get rid of and old paint line at the top of the existing base or to fix plaster pops below. If it's lath and plaster you may find that they didn't top coat the wall all the way to the floor, leaving a gritty surface for an inch or more.
So go back to Wrecked angles post about paint tricks...unless you have time and talent for this sort of thing, or plenty of bucks for fixing the walls.
I'm not sure from your description of your apartment what might be best, nor, to be honest, exactly what you mean by modern.
In older city apartment buildings--I'm talking about 1880-1950, about--the baseboard is pretty large and ornate, usually to agree with the ceiling height which could often be up to 10' (before standard 4x8 sheets took over our lives). There was also often a ceiling moulding set anywhere from 8" to a foot and a half below the ceiling: paint scheme was wall colour below it, and ceiling colour above it. Often the ceiling-wall joint itself was coved by the plasterers.
If your place resembles that, you might be disappointed in a minimalist modern treatment because the proportions of the room won't accept that too easily.
Also remember as some of the other guys mentioned, that plaster & lathe walls tend to present a less uniform surface than modern gyprock.Those old complex baseboard arrangements, with shoe, base, and cap, were built that way to help hide gaps: both the shoe and the cap are small, flexible strips that can be bent to follow the wall surface, hiding any gaps left between the stiffer baseboard itself and the uneven plaster wall.
If you just want the baseboards to disappear, paint them as suggested to match the wall. If you want an accent, but don't want bulk and still have to follow the plaster wall's undulations, try cheap, jointed pine door casing and then paint it at your whim. You will need plinthe blocks at door jambs unless you use the same width and pattern as already exists around your door. If you want a bit of bulk but no ornamentation, use 1x4 pine with the top corner chamfered an eighth of an inch. Again, paint or stain as you like. Or you can use the same species of hardwood your floor is made of and try to stain it to match.
Good luck.
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?