Grugger’s Way

That means NEW base board, (or simply base), or more specifically, wood base.

We generally prefer natural pine for base board and we have always stained it. That is what we have throughout the three levels of the house (four if we count the finished basement area).

But the 3 1/4-inch tall, (and remember, 19-year-old), stained pine wood base looks cheap and outdated when compared to the refinished hardwood floor, which just sparkles! (You may want to take a gander at yesterday’s post about the hardwood floor which includes “before” and “after” photos.)

We are seriously considering the composite base, which comes already primed, and then painting it to match the wall color. We would also move up in size from 3 1/4-inch to the 4 1/4-inch tall version. I also would like to find a product that is slightly wider at the bottom than the 5/8″ thickness of the existing base. This would cover any minor flaws in the hardwood refinish that are right in the corner or up tight against the existing base. I may have to even move up in height to a taller base in order to find the 19/32″ thickness I want.

At this point we are only considering replacing the base in the rooms that have hardwood, which means about 70 lineal feet. (There are heat registers along the walls that take up over 30 feet and then the kitchen cabinet bases occupy about 25 lineal feet.) At least that keeps the cost down.

The same 3 1/4-inch wood base currently lines all the other rooms that are carpeted, plus the basement area that is tiled. Not only would the cost go up (substantially) if we did the entire house, but the project would take us a LOT longer to complete.