Installing Floor Trim Before Carpet

Remove your pencils and continue all the way down your wall.

Installing floor trim before carpet.

When installing baseboard before carpet the easiest thing to do is to install it even with the bottom edge of the drywall as previously described. Pushing your trim back into the corner place a nail about 2 to 3 inches out and nail it off. My advise install the trim and doors first and stress to the carpet installers to be as careful as possible. They will need to be careful not to damage the baseboard when installing the tack strips.

If you do you ll likely end up with wavy uneven molding. Baseboard trim before or after carpet baseboard first set on 3 8 wood lath strips tack less set between 3 8 1 2 inch away padding brought up to tack less and carpet installed and stretched over tack less and tucked under base. The pad is cut to fit against the tack strips. The pad is great to kneel on but the tack strips aren t.

Baseboard is usually installed before the pad. Keeping the base off the floor helps the carpet installers to tuck the perimeter. However consult with your installer to be sure they have no concerns. Then touch up base if need be.

Cut the baseboard get your baseboard cut to the exact length of the space you ll be putting it. 3 8 is the maximum needed. Install the carpet install the carpet all the way against the wall. When installing the molding don t simply follow the flooring.

Leave about a half inch at the bottom of the trim uncovered then remove it after the carpet is installed. This way you can make sure you have the. In some cases this will not be possible since. The molding should be installed after the floor covering and should be adjusted any time the flooring is changed.

You can also put a strip of 2 inch delicate work painter s tape on your trim before the carpet goes down. When installing baseboards before carpet ask the installer how large of a gap to leave between the floor and the trim e g. Installing base molding before carpet is like installing window door casing before the window door. The carpet installer can run the tack strip up to the trim then roll excess carpet under the trim.

This will help prevent some of the minor scratches the edge of the carpet can cause before it is chiseled behind the tack strip.