Should Baseboards Be Caulked At Floor

Once painted with latex fixing the poor prep work afterward becomes more difficult as latex paint remains rubbery for years so sanding makes it peel.

Should baseboards be caulked at floor. The idiots who built my house caulked the baseboards to the floor i hate the look. Applying caulk to baseboards is usually a retroactive measure designed to fill in gaps that occur at the top against the wall or at the bottom adjacent to the flooring. You should get a new high quality painter come in and fix the bad prep work and repaint your baseboards but you will pay dearly for their time. Caulking baseboards entails applying a sealant along the edges of the floor to seal the gaps between the floor and baseboard or the spaces wall and the baseboard.

Use good quality tape 3m 1 blue painter s tape. There are several other benefits that you get when it is used home during baseboards. Always caulk the bottom of baseboards in the bathroom or any other room before painting. If i didn t hate this house so much i would install shoe moulding.

There are two significant reasons for caulking baseboards. That isn t a problem if the caulk is painted as it should be. When setting the tape hold the roll flat up against the baseboard as a guide in positioning the tape first photo above. Floor tiles should either have the baseboard rest on top or the grout should be extended to fill the gap.

So are baseboards supposed to be caulked. As far as water getting behind the baseboard i think the odds of that happening are outweighted by the aesthetics grout looks so so much better than caulk. If the intersection between the wall and the baseboard is caulked it s smooth dirt doesn t tend to collect and if it does it s easy to wipe off. Here a video on how to caulk baseboards.

Caulking the unfinished wood floor cannot form water tight seals or joints. Calking after painting may destroy your floor appeal. In addition its good to note caulking is not recommended for unfinished floor or walls. Caulking also prevents baseboards from damage due to water and leakages.

If the intersection isn t caulked it will be a permanent dirt magnet. Some people caution that the floorboards expand and contract in different seasons hence the crack but i have hardwood floors and never had a problem despite the caulking. Baseboards must be caulked so that there would be no gaps between the wall baseboards and the floor. If you have bugs in the walls you can keep them out of the rooms by caulking.

Some of the comments here complain about caulk changing color. My tips for caulking bottom of baseboards. Absolutely do not caulk between the floor and base. Caulk is not neccessary as there is no change in plane.