How to Replace Baseboard Molding: Step 1 – Remove the Old Baseboards
Baseboard molding, the wood trim that lines a room where the walls meet the floor, is an often an over-looked part of any room, but it can really make a big difference in the overall look and feel of a room. Baseboards not only serve as a decorative function, but they also protect the lower part of the wall from being damaged as furniture legs, little feet and even toys are bumped and slammed against the walls over the years. The baseboards in my fifty year old home are dented and chipped and even rotted out in a few places, so we figured we’d replace them with new molding that was also a little more modern-looking.
Use patience when prying off old baseboards or you’ll end up with a hole in your wall.
The first step to installing new baseboards in an older home is obviously removing the old baseboards that were probably installed fifty years ago and have been painted over about 100 times. Removing the old baseboards is a pretty straight forward process, but there are a couple things to be careful of when you do it. For this project I’m going to remove the baseboards in my dining room and I’ll put in a few photos of how to do it.
Let’s first talk about tools. You’ll need a hammer and one or two small pry bars. Really, you can’t imagine all the ways a simple 8-inch pry bar can be used around the house. You may also find a razor blade or knife to be useful to cut through the many, many layers of paint you may find. You’ll probably need a tool to remove nails, though most hammers and pry bars will work fine in this case. Using gloves and goggles is a pretty good idea for this part because you’ll be dealing with exposed nails and possible bits of paint and wood debris flying in your face. If you’re also removing carpeting you’ll want the same tools for removing the tack strips and carpet staples from the room.
If you’re removing the old baseboards in a full room you’ll probably want to start with one of the shorter pieces in the room. Look at the baseboard you want to remove and see if it’s “painted” to the wall or floor or another baseboard. If it is then you might want to take that razor and carefully move along the edges of the baseboard where it it is painted to something else. For my baseboards someone had long ago painted down the wall and right over the boards, so I had to run a razor along the top of the baseboard to separate it from the wall.
Yes, I know it’s only paint but you’d be surprised at how tightly things can be held together with paint. I didn’t do this step in another room and when I tore off the baseboards I ended up ripping up part of the wall because the paint was so old and so thick that it simply “stuck” to the boards and pulled off the top layer of sheet rock in a rip that went up about 8 inches before I got smart and cut it free.
Now comes the fun part. Take your pry bar and jam it between the baseboard and wall on one end of your baseboard. If it’s a tight fit or simply can’t go between, don’t worry. Place the sharp end of the pry bar right between the wall and baseboard and then take a wack or two at the end of the pry bar with the hammer. That slams the pry bar between the wall and baseboard piece. Now you should be able to wiggle the pry bar forward and backward a little bit and your baseboard will begin to loosen.
Just pull the pry bar out, move down the baseboard another six inches to a foot and repeat the same thing, all the way down the line. You’ll begin to get an idea of where the nails in the baseboard are. In my experience baseboards are usually nailed into the studs of the wall and then sometimes down at an angle into the floor below. Be careful about prying the baseboards with too much force. Your walls are a lot softer than the steel pry bar you’re using and it’s pretty easy to accidentally poke a hole right through it. Trust me on this one… I still manage to pop a hole in my wall at least once in every room I replace the baseboards in.
After prying the old baseboard off the wall, be careful around the exposed nails.
Sometimes it helps to have two pry bars as you move down, one pry bar to push in one spot and another one a foot or two away to also push the baseboard off. In my home the carpenters seemed to like attaching the baseboards with one or two large nails at each stud and then they used a few small tack nails around the ends and corners. Thankfully they did not use caulk or Liquid Nails or any other sort of adhesive behind the baseboards. In my mind there’s rarely a valid need for the stuff and it almost always rips your walls apart when you try to remove anything put up with it. My brother-in-law bought a home where Liquid Nails was used to put up paneling in one room. After he had removed the paneling the sheet rock was so torn up and ripped by the Liquid Nails that he ended up just ripping out all the sheet rock and starting from scratch rather than trying to repair them.
Just keep prying the baseboard off with the pry bar. Sometimes the baseboards will pop right off, but sometimes you may need to use your hands and simply use some brute force to pull it off. I’m a big believer in the “inch it out” method of pulling one area out a few inches, doing the same a foot down and going until I have the whole baseboard pulled out a few inches from the wall. This way I can see where the nails are what is really holding it to the wall. Eventually it just comes down to yanking the darn thing off.
Be careful of the exposed nails, and realize that you may have left some nails in the floor or wall. Bang then back in or remove them so they don’t stick out and pose a hazard for the new baseboard molding you’ll put up later. And watch for the nails in your removed baseboard. I’ve come darn close to poking myself more than once, which is why I wear gloves all the time now. Driving rusty nails into your hand is not a fun experience.
That’s pretty much all there is to it: cut the paint, bang in the pry bar, pry away, and then repeat a foot down the board. Be careful! It isn’t particularly hard work, but it is something you want to take your time with because there is the potential for banging up your walls, your floor and even yourself pretty good.
Now that you’ve taken off the baseboards we’ll want to start thinking about installing new baseboards around the room! Before you do that, you may want to move on to Step 2 and install wood trim around your doorways.
Read all of my Baseboard Molding Posts Part 1 – Removing the Old Baseboards |
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Pingback by How to Replace Baseboard Molding: Step 2 - How To Install Trim Around Doorways
[...] This is kind of an optional step, but trim around a doorway really helps tie a room together. First you’ll have to remove the old baseboard molding and you’ll want to use the same methods for removing any trim that might already be around the doorways of a room. My doorways didn’t have anything, so I decided to put some trim around them. [...]
Comment by Rosemary
Wait! Before you put the baseboard molding back, sprinkle boric acid all along the groove. It will keep out bugs such as roaches (especially palmetto bugs in Florida).
Rosemary
http://her-home-blog.com
Comment by Tom
Wow, that’s a great tip, thanks! I don’t think we have the same sort of bug problems in New Jersey that you do in Florida, but I love the idea of taking a preventive measure like that! Thanks!
Comment by Ingold
Loved the info on baseboards. I needed this after I replaced my hardwood floor. One thing that helped a lot, which I figured I’d post here is http://www.remodeling-guru.com/getestimate which lets you calculate the rough cost of the remodeling aspect you want to do — worked well for me, so who know who else might find it useful.
Pingback by How to Install Baseboard Molding | Home Improvements Depot
[...] This is the last of three posts about installing baseboard molding. We’re finally ready to install the new baseboard molding. We’ve just removed the old baseboard molding and trim and we’ve installed the new trim around the doorways. Just like when we installed the trim, you’ll want a nail gun or a hammer with a countersink to put the nails in neatly without banging up the wood too much. [...]
Comment by Nila
Hi,
Recently we saw a home for sale,the moldings/trim are not done properly, there is huge gap between the wall and the moldings, looks very bad, does this indicate some problems with the house as we had seen couple of long cracks in the basement wall too. it is a 15 yr old home. Or is it just a bad moulding job done by the builder? i think they have replaces the flooring with wood floors and some carpets too.
Thanks,
Nila
Comment by Tom
It’s hard to tell just with a description of the molding, because the molding could have been done poorly or the house could have moved after the molding was installed. Cracks in the basement wall could indicate a much bigger problem and if the house and foundation really was unstable you might see that come through in unusual gaps in baseboard and crown molding. Your best bet would probably be to get a professional home inspection if you’re serious about buying the house.
Comment by Rachel
I just moved into a house and the floor was recently replaced with a laminate hard wood. Unfortunately, it wasn’t installed by a professional and they didn’t remove the baseboards before doing the floor. There is a small gap about 1/8″-1/4″ all around between the floor and the baseboard. Would it be possible remove the baseboards and then complete the job properly? Perhaps with a thicker base board or a wood filler and then new baseboards?
Comment by Tom
Rachel,
You didn’t mention if you have thumbnail molding around your baseboard molding yet… Generally you can use thumbnail molding to “finish” off the baseboards and hide any little gaps you may have where the baseboards don’t completely meet the floor. You can see the before and after photos of my installed thumbnail molding along my baseboards at the link.
Comment by Fred
I want to cut a short piece of existing base molding without removing a 10 foot run. What is the best way to cut it while still on the wall?
Comment by Tom
Hmm… Cutting the baseboard molding while it’s still on the wall might be rough because you need to cut the molding without cutting the floor or wall beneath it. I suppose you could get clever (and careful) and use a Dremel cutting tool to make a precise cut like that. It might be slow, but it could work. A reciprocating saw or circular saw would probably be too imprecise to use in that situation. Ideally you would remove the molding, make the cut, and then install the molding again. Let me know what you end up doing!
Comment by James
If we are planning to re-install the same molding we removed:
1) Should we remove the existing finishing nails from the molding and is so what is the best way to do so? Or 2) Should we try to reuse them and if so what is the best procedure for doing so?
Comment by Tom
James,
If you’re going to use the same molding I’d recommend removing the existing nails and putting in new ones. Trying to bang in the same nails might just end up bending a few and making the whole project tougher to complete.
To remove finishing nails you either tap them out gently from back side (so you’re hammering the pointed part of the nail) of the molding or you can try to pull the finishing nails out. If you pull the finishing nails out, you’ll want to pull them from the back of the molding.
The best way I’ve found to pull out finishing nails is use a good set of pliers. I grab the shaft of the nail (again, on the back of the molding) and then I kind of turn the pliers in my hand, essentially trying to “twist” the nail around the pliers. My pliers will often end up pushing against the back of the molding for leverage, which is a good thing. If you truly have finishing nails and not nails with any sort of head then they should suck through the wood molding rather easily!
The key to reusing the molding is this: make sure you do all your “work” (hammering or plier twisting) on the back of the molding, not the front. You don’t want to chance a ding or dent on the front of the molding because that’s what will be seen when you put it back up. Good luck!