Ricochet Construction is a Dallas-area leader in all forms of finished carpentry, including the entire range of baseboard installation. We are highly experienced doing trim work for multi-family rental properties, large apartment communities, and condominiums. We can do baseboarding for any size multi-family community, often for very large apartment and condominium communities that host well over 1,000+ rental units.

In the following article, we will briefly cover the major issues that often come up when dealing with baseboard installation.

Baseboards are designed to cover the space between the walls of a room and the floor. For most modern buildings, they have become an assumed part of the construction, and rooms tend to look unfinished or incomplete without them.

Having said that, there are a range of baseboard options that can be chosen. Baseboard comes in varying sizes, with different designs as well. It’s often helpful to take baseboard scraps and actually place them against your walls in order to choose the option that is most appealing to you.

There are, however, issues with installing baseboarding. Let’s take a look at some of what you need to consider in the installation process.

One of the most frustrating and often perplexing parts of installing baseboarding is making sure the seams match up so that the corners are symmetrical. Even careful cutting often does not insure that these tiny seams will match well. This is because the walls and the floor are not always consistent across spaces. A bulge in the wall, or a slight indentation in the flooring, can cause even exactly cut baseboarding to be “off.”

The way to deal with this is to pre-check corners and seams with scrap baseboarding before doing the full installation. It is then possible to make adjustments to the cuts so that the corners will actually match together.

Small issues like this can add or detract greatly from the overall aesthetics of the baseboards, and thus of the entire room. Finished carpentry is about making things exact, so flaws aren’t noticeable, and the customer gets the full beauty they are seeking in a room.

It is also important in the installation process to remove old baseboarding with care. Wallpaper can be ripped, drywall can be damaged, and flooring can be scratched or nicked in the removal process.

After the old baseboard is removed, it will also be necessary to go along and look for any old glue, drywall much, nails, or paint that will interfere with the installation of new baseboard. Any small object can throw off the junctures of the baseboard, so that your corners will not match.

Again, finished carpenters with years of experience know exactly how to remove baseboard, and what to look for to insure that the new installation will go smoothly.

Baseboard is actually three different components: (1) “cap molding,” which fits on top of the baseboard, to add a more ornamental feel and appearance. (2) The baseboard itself, which usually vary from between 3.5 inches to 6 inches, and which are the largest part of the baseboard. And (3), “shoe molding,” which is also an ornamental component of the baseboarding, and can add a nice effect, depending on what the homeowner or property owner is trying to achieve in the room.

While there are plenty of DIY people in the world with enough talent and experience to install baseboarding, we at Ricochet believe this is one area of finish carpentry work that truly benefits from using a contractor with all the right equipment, and wide range of experience with trim work in various homes and buildings. Especially in large scale jobs, as with apartment and condo communities in the Dallas metropolitan area, it is important that every room be done well, and that can only be accomplished by dedicated, experienced professionals who will stay until everything is done to the appropriate level.

At Ricochet, we are well-equipped and fully experienced in trim work, and can install baseboarding on any type of property. We have contracted with numerous owners and HOA’s on finished carpentry, and can supply a long list of satisfied customers to give references as to the quality, timeliness, and professionalism of our work.

Contact us any time to find out more!