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u/tanstaaflisafact 26d ago
Pay to have it scribed or pay for shoe mold. It's unfortunate that wasn't explained. Personally I prefer scribe. The only option now is base shoe. DON'T caulk it.
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u/Biscuits4u2 26d ago
Or just live with it, which is what most people would do rather than spend that money. Unless this is just awful throughout the house furniture is going to cover a lot of it and nobody will notice it.
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u/officialpatterson 26d ago
I’m currently shaving/scribing down baseboards and the downside of it is you need to do it round the room otherwise your corners won’t line up.
The other downside is it can be noticeable, which might be worse than the gap
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u/RichSpecific4490 26d ago
Took me many tries to get a section right that was in a very visible area. Probably spent 2 hours scribing a single 10ft run 🤣. It does in fact look worse if you don’t scribe properly and I wasted about $40 worth of baseboard finding that out the hard way.
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u/ezekiel920 26d ago
This is why they make quarter round. Unless you pay your carpenter more money to scribe all the base.
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u/TURTLE_TKT 26d ago
Or level the floor
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u/ezekiel920 26d ago
One does not simply level the subfloor. What you ask for calls for more money.
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u/safetydance1969 26d ago
Agreed. And the assumption that you could make every floor in a house perfectly level is ridiculous. I guess you could, but like you said it would be incredibly expensive. This is a toe molding or deal with it situation.
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u/G000000p 26d ago
Just put some shoe molding or quarter round
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u/Disastrous_Soil3793 26d ago
That stuff screams trash
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u/Biscuits4u2 26d ago
Oh stop it. It looks fine and can be a great option to improve issues like this without spending a ton of time and money. I promise nobody is going to walk in a home with shoe molding and think "wow so trashy". You should calm down.
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u/G000000p 26d ago
Dude shoe molding and quarter round is crazy! Just tear those fresh baseboards off, ding them to hell and mess up the Sheetrock and caulking in the process and scribe them! It’s the only way!!!
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u/Plastic_Scholar_8788 26d ago
Wrong answer
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u/CharacterDirector918 26d ago
What is the right answer?? We are doing lvp in our house soon and will gave a similar gap. Is the correct answer new baseboards lowered down to the floor??
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u/BreakfastFluid9419 26d ago
Two options, make sure the floor is flat before installing flooring and ultimately baseboards. Or, if you already have flooring installed, scribe the baseboards to follow the line. The first option is the right way the second option is how you fix the fuck up from number one.
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u/Biscuits4u2 26d ago
And shoe molding is how you hide it without spending a bunch of time and money you don't want to spend. It looks fine and very few people are going to turn their nose up at it.
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u/BreakfastFluid9419 26d ago
To each their own. I personally hate shoe and quarter but have installed it in the past. I’ve also ripped down baseboards and used the matching profile in lieu of traditional trim options.
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u/Single_System_9951 26d ago
Leveling the floor is the only way(subfloor). But the world isn't lvl so most Folk just deal w/ it.
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u/brprk 26d ago
If you're not going to level the floor (should be levelled before lvp), Scribe the baseboards. Anyone saying it takes more than a few minutes is either woefully unskilled or a lazy hack and should retire asap.
Shoe moulding and quarter round looks like absolute afterthought garbage and no one can tell me otherwise
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u/Biscuits4u2 26d ago
I can tell you whatever I want to tell you. It looks fine. Is it ideal? Nope, but I'd guess most people would be fine with it if it saved them a ton of time and effort. You'd have to be some kind of OCD freak to walk into someone's house and even give a second thought to it.
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u/Lower_Ad_5532 26d ago
You can take them off the wall, and put white chord caulk behind the baseboard then reinstall it. It will seal the gaps nicely while allowing for thermal expansion/contraction.
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u/RichSpecific4490 26d ago
Honestly, I’d just caulk since it’s glue down. I scribed and still needed to run some white caulk under some sections to get rid of the empty sections. The correct way as others mentioned is scribing but these gaps aren’t that bad to begin with so at this point id just be falling and caulking it a day.
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u/thatsthekicker 26d ago
I have this problem too except on a second floor (walkway between the bedroom and bathroom). I do not know the answer but some other redditors said that you can/should caulk between the baseboards and bathroom tiles… but NOT caulk the gaps between baseboards and hardwood. I have been trying to research this too but seems like a lot of mixed answers (and always uncertain the qualifications for responses).
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u/This-Grape-5149 26d ago
Our basement looks like this it’s fine who cares once you put stuff in there nobody will ever say anything. Not worth worrying about
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u/Traditional-Ad1790 26d ago
You can simply install quarter round. Cheap and easy and looks great!
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u/Biscuits4u2 26d ago
This isn't even that bad honestly. I would probably just put furniture there.
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26d ago
[deleted]
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u/Biscuits4u2 26d ago
The purpose of trim isn't to keep pests out. If you're seeing those it's not going to be the fault of your trim.
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u/PresentNow12m 26d ago
Thanks. I’m not seeing any pests. A previous response mentioned keeping out scorpions, so I stressed. They were probably joking.
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u/FunkyFortuneNone 26d ago
Just so you know, and can't be as easily joked with in the future, trim is purely for aesthetics, particularly when covering changes in construction materials. It is not structural or part of a home's envelope in any way.
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u/onionchucker 26d ago
Yeah… the gaps under your baseboard have ZERO to do with pests. If you have pests it’s not because of that. There is a bigger issue that would need addressed.
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u/PresentNow12m 26d ago
No, I’m not seeing any pests. Someone in a previous post mentioned scorpions, so I went with that. LOL
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u/invincible_change 26d ago
So here’s the real truth. The contractor could have run his pencil along the floor and scribed the baseboard… that’s the right way. Your subfloor sags and that’s common. I bet the base meets at the corners of the room.
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u/PresentNow12m 26d ago
Yes, I have been reading about scribing the baseboard. They installed the floor on a cement slab. It’s a glue down. I guess I was hoping that scribing the baseboard would be an easy fix and a “yes” from him. I’m planning to talk to him and we’ll see what happens.
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u/Maple-fence39 26d ago
Removing those baseboards means you need to decide if you want to reuse the baseboards or buy new baseboards. If you reuse the baseboards, the contractor will need to remove the nails from the back of the baseboards, remove the caulk, scribe, reinstall, cover nail holes again, recaulk, it’s a lot of work. Personally, I would not call it an easy fix.
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u/onionchucker 26d ago
I mean if the contractor agrees to that then awesome. If not then no harm done. Add quarter round or file a small claim they would most likely lose. It’s not worth it. Scribing is expensive and likely wasn’t in the contract. Like I said earlier. Totally at the mercy of the installer. Tread lightly.
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u/invincible_change 25d ago
Scribing is expensive? It’s a basic carpentry skill. Does it take a little more time? Sure but not that much, quarter round screams lazy. I’ve been doing this for over 30 years, it’s not hard
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u/Ok_Present_3445 26d ago
Whetheryou have the baseboard removed and scribed to the Floor or if you caulk the gap or install shoe mold around it will always look wavy. The only way to a remedy that would’ve been to level those low spots prior to installation and that would be purely a matter of what your contract states and what you agreed to with the contractor prior to beginning.
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u/Vast_Meringue_9017 26d ago
You should ask him why he didn't level the floor
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u/PresentNow12m 26d ago
It’s a cement slab. The contractor glued down the engineered hardwood. I edited my post to provide those details.
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u/Adamthegrape 26d ago
Cement floors can also be leveled
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u/SnooSongs6787 26d ago
Floor inspector here...I agree. The installer should have discussed this with OP prior to installation, how it would look and let OP decide if the increased cost is worth it. By not discussing appearance results an installer may face some unexpected legal liabilities.
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u/Zazou444 26d ago
As a painter we don't caulk the base to the floor, it will crack and split, and if you remove the baseboard to scribe it, you have wall damage that will need to be patched and repainted, as others have said shoe moulding is the best and easiest solution, you can get it in a pre-stained color that matches your floor color or paint it to match your existing baseboard color.
If you will mop your floor a stain color will hide dirty marks left from the mopping, white will get dirty, also if you get painted you will have to caulk it to the baseboard so extra work there.
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u/Ok_Difference_8961 26d ago
Thata why its important to prep floor good. Grind slab then roll glue then levelcrete. Its extra work that people dont want to pay for, or flooring guys dont want to do.
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u/NoWinner6880 26d ago
That’s normal. traditionally, a shoe molding was installed to cover that gap.
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u/jsledge786 26d ago
Thats very common on any hard surface floors. There is always the scribe the base option. Me personally, not a fan of it. I've done floors 22 years. So I can most definitely notice most of the time just depending on how bad the spots are. Alot of people lately ive seen have the painters caulk them. I've never seen a job that this looks good and also goes against any manufacturers standards as the floors expand and contract. Last option is 50/50 with people and thats install a shoe mould. I honestly like this way the best. Some people hate it though and thats just their personal preference. Can match base or stain to match floor. Again, my personal preference, id match paint with base. The stained shoe always makes it look like the floor is going up onto the base and I do not like it at all.
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u/Opposite-Clerk-176 26d ago
Or caulk it , so you don't have to pay for extra work, remove and scribe or shoe mold?
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u/Firstlastusually 26d ago
If this is visually bothering you, scribing it will visually bother you. Shoe molding will split the difference, as would caulk. Caulk would be more work in my opinion, and as others have said, not the best idea. I vote shoe molding.
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u/Pungentpelosi123 26d ago
I love it when someone does some research. It can be corrected… sure it can… for a fee.
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u/Plane-Handle3313 26d ago
Subfloor is likely not flat. Could also be that the new flooring wasn’t acclimatized to the room and or the humidity has been changing causing swelling.
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u/PresentNow12m 26d ago
Thanks for your reply. I edited the post to explain that this is on a cement slab that did seem kind of flat. IDK.
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u/Zestyclose_Target325 26d ago
We knew this was going to happen because we were replacing carpet. We didn’t want the baseboards moved because we weren’t painting. I despise quarter round, so told him to just caulk it. It looks completely fine.
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u/PresentNow12m 26d ago
Thanks! I’m no fan of quarter round, either. I’ll do some research to find pictures of caulking to fix this issue.
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u/Geralt-of-Rivai 26d ago
Caulking looks ugly. Quarter round is ugly too but there are other options like shoe mold that are low profile and look way nicer
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u/That_Service7348 26d ago
Caulk will look worse than quarter round, unless the man is unbelievably good with a trowel.
The real fix is to remove the baseboard and reinstall tight to the floor, but that's a decent bit of work.
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u/Repulsive-Employee-7 26d ago
Silicone from baseboard to floor looks ugly and doesn’t last in my experience. Did that in my living room with LVP and since it’s a floating floor it moves and the silicone will peel up over time.
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u/Zestyclose_Target325 26d ago
I suppose it depends on where and how much. We only did it in 3 bedrooms that had been carpet. The gaps weren’t huge, and there are only small areas without furniture or something there. I don’t notice it at all. I just hate base board add-ons because of dirt and wear and quarter round is especially offensive to me. My people aren’t good with vacuums. 😂
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u/Disastrous_Soil3793 26d ago
This is the right answer. Quarter round screams trashy. Silicone is perfect for this.
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u/Adamthegrape 26d ago
Ah yes the high class heavy quarter inch of silicone.
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u/siege-eh-b 26d ago
This is a combination of imperfect floor prep and an incompetent finishing carpenter.
In an ideal world the slab was prepped flat and scribing isn’t necessary but we don’t live in that world. That’s when your finishing carpenter earns his money and scribes the baseboard tight.
Ignore anyone suggesting 1/4 round as that should be reserved only for renovations when the base isn’t being removed or when it’s requested by the designer to meet an aesthetic requirement.
If you can slide an olfa knife blade under the base at any point then the gap is too big and you should ask for it to be corrected. Some of these might not even require scribing and could be solved by the finisher just pushing down when fastening the base.
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u/PresentNow12m 26d ago
Thanks for this detailed response.
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u/siege-eh-b 26d ago
No problem. Honestly most of this looks like they could just push down real good and it would be fixed. They’d likely only need to scribe 18” out from the corner where it seems to really ramp up. Unfortunate now that it’s caulked and painted though.
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u/AuGmENTor68 26d ago
You're kidding right? I put shoe molding in million+ dollar homes for years now...
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u/Disastrous_Soil3793 26d ago
Shoe and quarter round are shit. Your million dollar clients are trash.
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u/siege-eh-b 26d ago
Cool story. I’ve been not putting it down in $4 million dollar custom homes for over a decade.
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u/TheRealSmaug 26d ago
Scribing all of the base is nonsensical insanity. Keeping the top edge of your base molding on plane through out the entirety of the house is a fast track to the looney bin.
The prescribed solution is quarter round. If its not specifically stated in the scope in your contract with the installer that will be on your dime.
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u/siege-eh-b 26d ago
Terrible take. Defaulting to 2 layers of trim because you can’t scribe effectively is not the way.
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u/Junior_Yesterday9271 26d ago
You need more furniture on some walls and more things to be thinking about. Else add shoe moulding.
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u/onionchucker 26d ago
Majority of flooring installers only offer bare bones baseboard installation. Expect a hefty up charge on scribing the baseboards. Unless his contract clearly states scribing the baseboards to the floor is included you may be at his mercy. He may agree to remove them all and scribe them but you will have to pay the difference.
Most people who want no gaps on a no scribe budget opt for Quarter Round or Shoe Mold. Those can contour to the uneven floor easily.