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There are many
reasons for having to remove baseboard trim. Removing baseboard trim is easy to
do, as long as you have the right tools and know what you are doing.
Frequently it is
necessary to remove baseboard trim due to installing new hardwood floors or
other types of flooring products. Other times the baseboard trim is just badly
dinged up and needs to be replaced. |
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Tools Required
for Removing Baseboard Trim
Removing
Baseboard Trim
After emptying the room of any
furniture and other items that may impede your workflow, or could be dinged
by the removed baseboard trim, begin in one corner of the room. |
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Start by using your hammer and
nail punch and sinking the finished nails holding in the baseboard trim
almost all the way through the trim.
Next, slip your pry bar behind
the back of the baseboard trim, near one of the ends. Use your hammer to
tap the pry bar behind the old baseboard trim. Put a shim along the wall
where you apply the pry bar so that when you pry the baseboard trim off of
the finished nail and away from the wall you do not mar the wall. |
Once you have one end of the baseboard trim separated from the wall. Gently
pull it away to loosen the other nails further down the piece of trim.
Continue to use your pry bars to assist in the removal of the baseboard
trim. Again, use the shims wherever you apply the pry bars up against the
walls.
Once you have removed the
baseboard trim, immediately pull out the nails. Waiting until later will put
you at risk of stepping on a nail or scratching something that snags on the
nails.
You may find that many of the
finished nails are still stuck in the wall studs, after removing the
baseboard trim. Use your pair of pliers, or pincers, to remove the finished nails. To
gain leverage with your pliers, hold the pry bar’s flat surface up against
the wall so that it protects the wall as you pull and twist the pliers to
remove the finish nails.
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Reusing
Removed Baseboard Trim
For most situations I do not
recommend reusing removed baseboard trim. In the process of removing it you
inevitably wind up increasing the size of the nail holes by using the nail
punch. In addition, the edges of the baseboard trim are frequently marred
where the pry bar was used.
If however, you want to reuse the
baseboard trim then use either a very thin nail punch or do not sink the
nails to deep into the baseboard trim. In addition, use the smallest pry bar
possible to prevent damaging the baseboard trim edges. Also, use your hands
as much as possible to remove the baseboard trim from the walls. Finally,
when removing nails from the baseboard trim it is best to pull the nail from
the back of the baseboard trim. This technique helps to protect the finished
surface of the baseboard trim from splitting, as is frequently what happens
when pushing the nail out the front side of the baseboard trim.
More Information on Finished Carpentry and Crown Molding
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can help provide funds for your new home improvement project if financing is
required.
Required Removing Baseboard Trim
Tools from Amazon.com
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