# using regular 1x8 as baseboard



## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

You can use whatever you want to use. If you don't want to use anything fancy, it's your house.

At my dads house there is no baseboard per se. He has hardwood floors and has 1/4 round simply to cover the gap between the floor and the wall.


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## WirelessG (Mar 22, 2009)

1x8 may be a little deep. 1x6 would be more like it, but it depends on the other trim in your house. If you don;t have crown, go w with something minimal like 1x3 or 1x4. If you have 7" crown, go with 1x6.

And work on the hatred part.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

WirelessG said:


> 1x8 may be a little deep. 1x6 would be more like it, but it depends on the other trim in your house. If you don;t have crown, go w with something minimal like 1x3 or 1x4. If you have 7" crown, go with 1x6.
> 
> And work on the hatred part.


there will be no crown. the floor is carpet. i want no crown and maybe, maybe the simplest molding if just 1x6 or 8 looks too bare. i think i like slightly higher so i might go 1x8.

thanks. hatred ? i just can't stand anything beyond minimalism in aesthetics, sorry ... extra work, visual pollution.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

I feel a solid board will cup and twist if you have high humidity. At least cut relief grooves in the back to help is stay straight with the seasonal changes. I used 3/4" plywood for my addition baseboards and added 1/4 round shoe to keep the old style look. Better than the MDF on the market..... 

Gary


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## WirelessG (Mar 22, 2009)

GBR in WA said:


> I feel a solid board will cup and twist if you have high humidity. At least cut relief grooves in the back to help is stay straight with the seasonal changes. I used 3/4" plywood for my addition baseboards and added 1/4 round shoe to keep the old style look. Better than the MDF on the market.....
> 
> Gary


Good point, Gary.


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## almostnormal (Jan 27, 2011)

GBR in WA said:


> I feel a solid board will cup and twist if you have high humidity. At least cut relief grooves in the back to help is stay straight with the seasonal changes. I used 3/4" plywood for my addition baseboards and added 1/4 round shoe to keep the old style look. Better than the MDF on the market.....
> 
> Gary


Painting both sides of the trim will help prevent it, too.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

i went to HD last night and i think i'm gonna use maple 1x6, it's about $2.5 per foot, which is reasonable. i shouldn't need more than 60 ft.


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## mrgins (Jan 19, 2009)

I just used 1x6 poplar in three bathrooms I just remodelled. Customer didn't want any moulding on the top, so I used a plane with a rounding blade to take the arris off the edge


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

1x8, 1x6 whatever. It is fine. You can always build it up later and add a base cap.

1x8 is fairly large, but if you have really high ceilings and large crown then it could work.

Large crown and small base looks funny, and so does small crown and large base.


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

amakarevic said:


> since i have a deep rooted hatred for anything beveled or routed grooves or any "aesthetic" form that serves no utilitarian purpose, i want to replace my baseboards with something so simple that can't be simpler. so would the cheapest 1xX lumber work, if painted?
> 
> thanks


So what kind of car do you drive, an old checker cab?:laughing: Why would you pay 2.50/ft. for maple when you can buy poplar for less than half the price? Maple is more aesthetic and serves no utilitarian purpose over poplar.

Mike Hawkins


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

fungku said:


> 1x8, 1x6 whatever. It is fine. You can always build it up later and add a base cap.
> 
> 1x8 is fairly large, but if you have really high ceilings and large crown then it could work.
> 
> *Large crown and small base looks funny, and so does small crown and large base.*


So very, very true!


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

mrgins said:


> ... so I used a plane with a rounding blade to take the *arris* off the edge....


Not many people even KNOW that architectural term, let alone use it. Sharp! (not to make a pun...)


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## Jackofall1 (Dec 5, 2010)

firehawkmph said:


> So what kind of car do you drive, an old checker cab?:laughing: Why would you pay 2.50/ft. for maple when you can buy poplar for less than half the price? Maple is more aesthetic and serves no utilitarian purpose over poplar.
> 
> Mike Hawkins


TooShea!!!!:thumbup:

And then paint it to boot.


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## Tom Struble (Dec 29, 2008)

i'm still trying to figure out whats so ''minimalist'' about a 1x8 base board:huh:


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## fungku (Jul 27, 2008)

tomstruble said:


> i'm still trying to figure out whats so ''minimalist'' about a 1x8 base board:huh:


Yeah, that would be 1/3rd of the way up the wall on your cardboard box, Tom.

I guess _you'd _call that wainscoting.


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## amakarevic (Apr 12, 2007)

firehawkmph said:


> So what kind of car do you drive, an old checker cab?:laughing: Why would you pay 2.50/ft. for maple when you can buy poplar for less than half the price? Maple is more aesthetic and serves no utilitarian purpose over poplar.


i drive a toyota truck, helps with construction as well as outdoors activities i am involved in. at my HD, poplar and maple cost about the same, believe it or not.


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## mrgins (Jan 19, 2009)

Willie T said:


> Not many people even KNOW that architectural term, let alone use it. Sharp! (not to make a pun...)


Thanks, I'm pretty old:wink:


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## mrgins (Jan 19, 2009)

amakarevic said:


> at my HD, poplar and maple cost about the same, believe it or not.


At MY HD, there is a big difference...unless they're selling brown maple


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