Installing baseboard: how to install an inside corner

[01REYES01]

This method worked great for the baseboards on my house. Thanks!

P.S., Most of us on YouTube are DIYers, not contractors working on multi-million dollar homes.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@01REYES01 I can't agree with you more! That's why I wanted you to know there was another way. Glad to hear this video helped you with your project. Joe :0

[TommysRx]

@waynescountry The method shown in the video works great for me, all i need is a miter saw and caulk/spackle. im sure that youd need to cope the corner for stained wood molding however thats not what i was looking to learn when i clicked this video.1st are you implying that this molding looked staind to you? 2nd if your a pro why are you looking up "how to" videos?? 3rd ive seen plenty of upscale new homes without coping and they make tintable caulk for this method..are you even a carpenter?!?

[waynescountry]

you suck and that aint how a pro does it

[VideoJoeKnows]

@waynescountry Most if not all DIY'ers are not pros. That's why I'm showing how to do it this way as any DIY'er can do it this way & make it look good when complete. I do all my corners this way & they "always" turn out looking great. You should try it. Joe :0

[VideoJoeKnows]

@waynescountry Most if not all DIY'ers are not pros...but they can still get a professional looking job by mitring their corners. Anyone can do this. You should try it! I do all my corners this way & they "always" turn out looking great. Joe :0

[waynescountry]

@VideoJoeKnows what would i try that i am a carpenter and to do the right is no harder to do but do it wrong if ya want try the right way it easyer

[VideoJoeKnows]

@waynescountry Are you referring to coping is the right way to install inside corners? If you do baseboard all the time, then you might want to cope your corners. If you only do base once in a while (or hardly ever at all) I would suggest cutting like I have shown. Either way you still have to caulk your corners. when caulking a 45 degree corner, it comes out looking just as good (I think) as a coped corner....providing you are painting your base a white color. Try it. Joe :0

[waynescountry]

@VideoJoeKnows so ya caulk hardwood base board do ya i never used caulking in my life in a conner if thats the case why not just but them together and slap some caulking in the opeaning (looks just as good ) the day i try that is the day i give up and throw my hammer in the woods sorry man but your wrong

[VideoJoeKnows]

@waynescountry I would never suggest for someone to caulk staingrade hardwood base. This particular video is for paintgrade base that any DIY'er can do & caulk provide they are painting their base. I would throw your hammer too if "anyone" suggested to caulk staingrade base....lol Joe :0

[VideoJoeKnows]

@vadimyerzakovich I'm totally in agreement with you. Even if you did the coping, you would still have to caulk the corners. No matter how tight you get a coped inside corner, you will still see a tiny black line which will show up if you are painting your base any color of white. Thanks for your comments. Joe :0

[TheRocketSilo]

@VideoJoeKnows lets see you do a multipiece crown molding in a million dollar home that has to be stained..no caulk no filler allowed... with your 45 degree cut it will be the first and last piece of trim you will cut on that job....lol

coping has it's place and is a requirement on upscale homes

[VideoJoeKnows]

@TheRocketSilo I would agree with you, if the base was a stain grade base then you would need to cope the corners & a tight line would be fine since your base would be stained probably a darkish color, so your line (between baseboards) won't glaringly show. Any other time, I would say cut the 45 degree corners & caulk since the base would be painted white (probably), since your coping line would show otherwise. Thanks for your comments! Joe :0

[cartoonistaaron]

Man, I know people are all about coping the corners, but since buying my own home and completing several DIY projects, I've never gotten the hang of it. Asking around, most of the pros I talked to use the "miter-and-caulk" method. I just did this for the baseboards in my dining room and it looks fantastic and took SO much less time than the crown moulding in the living room. THANKS, JOE!

[VideoJoeKnows]

@cartoonistaaron Finally, someone who agrees with me!! Thanks for your comments. Joe :0

[TheRocketSilo]

@cartoonistaaron you don't go into high dollar homes installing stain grade trim/crown and caulk it ... not coping the joins will get you run off the job...I'm used to it so that's how I have always done it

[taterberryman]

There's the professional method, and then there's this method. I could have a corner mitred and coped in the time it took to explain why this method is better. Listen DIY-ers, just learn to use a coping saw- it isn't that hard and you'll be glad you took a few extra minutes to do it correctly.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@taterberryman Most DIY'ers don't know how to cope their corners. That's why I'm showing how to do it by cutting 45 degree angles & butting the 2 together. Once you caulk the corners, it looks fine. Even if you cope a corner, you still have to caulk it or you will see a thin dark line, especially if you paint the baseboard any color of white. Thanks for taking time out to send me your comments. I appreciate it. Joe :0

[caseycaison]

Won't do this on my house! Always cope

[VideoJoeKnows]

@caseycaison This way works good as I always caulk my inside corners anyway so the corners always turn out good. Glad to hear you have the knack to cope your corners. It would seem to me that even if you cope the corners, you would still need to caulk them, no matter how tight you can get them, as you will still see a tight black line so if you paint your base like a white color you will see the black line. That's why I caulk the corners. Thanks for commenting. Joe :0

[korgscrew2000]

Hmmmm. Always cope the moulding, never cut 45 degree. Walls are rarely 45 degrees anyway! Yeah you can get a magic mitre but the finish looks cheap. Copeing the corners gives a flowing non stop finish to the skirting board.

Sure it takes a little longer but you should take pride in your work!

Practice on a few off cuts, take your time and you will not only have great looking skirting board, but a handy new skill!

I H8 cutting corners ;-)

[VideoJoeKnows]

@korgscrew2000 I hate cutting all these corners too. That's why I've been cutting them at a 45 then caulking the inside corner & it always looks pretty good. I never got into the habit of coping corners so I always felt it would be something that would take a long time to learn how to do & figured most DIY'ers would have an easier time with cutting 45's rather than coping corners. Thanks for your comments. I may have to try coping corners afterall! Joe :0

[landsurfer66]

This is exactly what I needed to see. Thanks for the video Joe.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@landsurfer66 You are sooo welcome. Thanks for letting me know!  Joe :0

[edesaute]

D'oh! Doing things the right way takes soooo long and is soooo hard. Guess I'll just do it this fudged-up easy-out way.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@edesaute This "way" is so much easier & any DIY'er can do it. That's why I made this video. To show people how to do it a different way. I've been installing inside corners this way for years & have never had a problem. I know lots of contractors that do it this "fudged-up easy-out way"!!......lol. Thanks for taking time out to send me your comments. Joe :0

[MarcusNobelus]

What are you doing?? Learn how to cut and install properly before trying to teach others!! Your method is completely wrong and will not give a professional finish.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@MarcusNobelus Lots of contractors install baseboard corners like this & this is the easiest way for the howto person to install their baseboards. I have been doing it this way for years & my projects always turn out looking great. You should try it. Joe :0

[Pinay980]

Joe, coping corners is the right way to do it. Beat it to fit and paint it to match is rookie. I am not a professional carpenter and the first time a coped a corner it came out almost perfect. The second time it was perfect. You are giving silly advice. Even the do it yourselfer deserves good results and coping it way easy to perfect. Two practice runs on a couple scraps and almost anyone can get nice results.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@Pinay980 You know, I've never coped a corner in my entire life. I was taught how to do it the way I'm showing & I think any first time diy'er could do the same thing. Your way sounds good too. Can you video yourself coping a corner & respond to this video with your video so other viewers can benefit on how to do an inside corner your way? That would be great if you could. Thanks for your comments. Joe :0

[ChowHallCommando]

Should baseboard be installed prior to new carpet being installed or after? Are there any experts out there that can advise me on that?

[VideoJoeKnows]

@ChowHallCommando i would recommend for you to install the baseboard before installing the carpet. Most professional do this, if not all. That is the building standard. Anytime you have a question, just let me know. Joe :0

[ChowHallCommando]

@VideoJoeKnows Thanks Joe.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@ChowHallCommando You're welcome. Send me your questions any time. Good luck with your project. Joe  :0

[tmaxwellgc]

when dealing with an MDF type molding, 45'ing the corners is a great way to go about trimming baseboard, crown molding, or even chair rail, it presents a challenge tho when using a solid wood type molding were it is not possible to use a paintable caulking to hide any minor gaps. it is a good practice to learn to cope your inside corners, just in case one day you have to install wood at some point in a job. licensed carpenter.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@tmaxwellgc Thanks for your commenting. I figured I would let the first time diy'er cut their corners on a 45 degree angle since most will not know how to cope a corner. I agree that if you don't caulk/paint your base, that the corners should fit way tighter. Thank you for your knowledge in this area. Sounds like you've done many a coped corner so your words of wisdom are to be taken into consideration. Joe :0

[HackerGuitarist]

I work on multi-million dollar homes and it is always a customer requirement to cope the corners, I have no choice.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@HackerGuitarist That's interesting to hear. It's a good thing you know how to cope your corners then. Most do-it-yourselfers would have a hard time coping their corners. That's why I created this video....to show how to do it a different easier way that pretty much gets ther same results. Keep coping those corners & thanks for sending in your comments. They are much appreciated! Joe :0

[mlapointe88]

When i first started out i used to cut all my inside corners on a 45 since i had the time to do it and i didnt know there was any other way. Now that i learned how to cope the edge and to just follow the white paint line i find it much faster to do it this way since my trips to the saw are cut in half..Very good video though for the people out there that decided to do it themselves.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@mlapointe88 Thank you for taking time out to send me your comments. I find that most do-it-yourselfers tend to know how to cut baseboard at a 45 degree angle easier than trying to cope an inside corner. In fact, I've been installing baseboard for years & actually find it easier & quicker to cut 45 degree angles as its quicker to use an electric mitre saw than it is to cope the base by hand. The 45 degree cuts also hold the base tight in the corners more-so than a coped corner. Try it. Joe :0

[Kuddable]

Thanks for the vid Joe! This helped me alot! I watched other vids on this subject and alot req you to cope everything. Im not what you would wanna call a handyman lol, but im learning as I go I guess. The 45 degree was deff the way to go alot easyer and faster for me and it looks great now that it is done!! Thanks again!

Kuddable the builder...Bob the builders semi mentaly challenged son lol :)

[VideoJoeKnows]

@Kuddable I didn't know "Bob the Builder" had a son lol! I'm glad you were able to watch this video, so it was easier for you to install your inside baseboard corners. Keep watching "joe's videos" so will will learn more. The more you watch....the more you'll learn. Thanks for sending in your comments. I always like to hear from my viewers. Joe :0

[Traxtitan]

The reason people cope their corners is because if the house shifts and settles the corners will always stay tight. If you cut your corner at 45, and the house shifts and settles the corner will separate. If you add a beed of PL Premium to your 45'd corners they will stay locked together until the wood itself fails. Professional cope their corners because it's faster to do once you get good at it. You can be less accurate with initial cuts and one piece can be cut squared.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@Traxtitan Thank you for that great explanation as to why professionals cope their inside corners. I wonder how a do-it-yourselfer would do with coping their inside corners if they don't install baseboard very often. That's why I would suggest for the howto person to cut their baseboards at a 45 degree corner. Thank you for your suggestion of applying PL premium to the inside corner in case your floor or wall settles. Thanks again for your comments. Joe :0

[crossdaily1]

I trim custom houses for a living and I'm wondering why you 45 your inside corners. It is much faster to cope and the joints are 10 times tighter than any 45 (homeowner) corner. Seriously man, nobody that does this for a living would ever waste their time doing it this way.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@crossdaily1 I am very surprised to hear that most professionals cope their corners. It might be easier for you to cope your corners since you install base all the time, as you do this for a living. I would think a do-it-yourselfer would find this task of coping their corners very difficult, thus my suggestion for most people to cut their inside corners at a 45 degree angle. All inside corners should be caulked before painting (even coping corners) so this would hide the 45 degree cut. Joe :0

[VideoJoeKnows]

@crossdaily1 Wow that's pretty amazing that you cope all of your inside corners. You must get really good at it since you do this for a living where as most people do not. I always caulk my inside corners & that always hides any minute imperfections I may have will a 45 degree cut (if the wall is not perfectly plumb let's say). I would think even your coping corners would need to be caulked, no matter how tight they are, since your baseboard would not look finished after painting. Joe :0

[Pinay980]

@VideoJoeKnows

Wrong again Joe. Coped corners rarely need calking whether they are painted or stained.

[010366william]

I just got home from work and It's when I feel like working and making noise but everybody's sleeping.

[VideoJoeKnows]

@010366william Find some little job to do that doesn't make alot of noise & do the other projects on the weekend. Joe :0

[010366william]

I like this one Too

[VideoJoeKnows]

@010366william This really works well for pretty much any type of baseboard. 45 degree corners is the way to go with your inside corners. Thanks for dropping me a line. Joe :0

[Joxman2k]

I'm surprised that people cope at all, I mean that would be a pain in the ass for do-it yourselfers like me. Is there any problem with walls that aren't 90 degrees. I mean is there a noticeable gap. I haven't really worked with trim much.

:P

[VideoJoeKnows]

@Joxman2k If the wall is not perfectly plum (meaning straight up a down exact), then the baseboard may not fit 100% perfect in the corners but it will be close enough for you to put some caulking over it as no matter how close you get the inside corner cut & fitting tight, you will still want to install caulking over it before you paint, as this will finish off the corner. It beats using a coping saw. Even if you used a coping saw, you would still have to caulk it as well. Keep watching. Joe :0