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 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 putting new ones up!