Cutting Baseboard

Cutting baseboards and installing them in your home can be accomplished with a few good tools and a bit of know-how. The tips that follow below will help you learn the art of cutting baseboards that will look attractive in your home and also give your rooms (and their walls) a finished look that you can be very proud of.  Knowing the tricks of cutting baseboards and installing trim in your home is a skill that can save you money over the life of your homeownership and with a little practice, cutting baseboards for even the trickiest of rooms will get easier and easier for you.

Before cutting and installing your baseboards, you will need a few tools and supplies on hand, such as a circular saw, coping saw, finish nails, hammer, sand paper, and the baseboard stock that you will be cutting.  If you are planning to paint or stain your stock, its best to do so before cutting baseboards from the stock – it will save you a ton of time.

For first time do-it-yourselfers, cutting baseboards should be practiced before you attempt the real thing. Purchase a cheap length or two of stock at a local lumber yard to practice on before you begin making cuts on your more expensive baseboard stock.  When it comes to cutting baseboards for beginners, a little bit of practice can go a long way, and it will also give you some confidence in what you are doing.

Cutting Baseboards – Inside Corners

For cutting baseboards that will be installed on the inside corners, you will do a simple straight up and down cut, preferably with a circular saw.  Measure the length that you will need with accuracy, then tack your baseboard snugly against the corner where you wish to start.  Next, take a scrap piece of baseboard and draw an outline of the profile of the first piece onto it – then transfer over to your next piece of baseboard.  Use your coping saw to cut along this outline and fit the piece into your corner, attaching with finishing nails.

Cutting Baseboards – Outside Corners

You’ll find that cutting baseboards for outside corners is most easily accomplished when you use a miter saw or miter box to cut 45˚ angles at the corner of your baseboards.  Be sure to cut the angles so that they are opposite in order to allow them to fit together plumb in the corner.  Attach with finishing nails.