How To Install Wood Floor Under Existing Baseboard

In my line of work i sometimes have to install baseboard for my customers.

How to install wood floor under existing baseboard.

Then slide the long edge of the flooring under the other baseboard straightening the flooring piece into place. Nail it to the baseboard not to the floor or subfloor. Wood expands and contracts with the seasons and needs an expansion gap around the perimeter so it doesn t cause buckling in the floor during an expansion time of year. Install the base shoe quarter round molding over the expansion gap created by your new hardwood flooring.

Leave a 1 4 inch or larger gap between the existing baseboard and the new hardwood flooring you are installing. Set the quarter round shoe moulding on a piece of paper to keep it just a hair above the floor. Start by putting the baseboard end of the flooring under the first baseboard at an angle. Once you have gathered all the tools here are the steps to installing your new baseboard molding.

Nail threshold or transition strips in place where the edge of the floor is exposed. Use 11 4 to 11 2 in long enough to penetrate the molding the drywall and drive at least 1 2 inch into the wall s base plate. Use baseboard nails or brads no longer than 18 inches apart for 3 4 inch thick molding. When attaching the base shoe quarter round nail the molding into the bottom of the existing baseboard and not into the flooring itself.

Fill any nail holes and apply any touch up as needed. Keep the lower edge of the baseboard even with the top of the floor and nail the baseboard into the wall.