# Baseboards around Rounded Corners



## hgiljr

Hello everyone. I'm looking for ideas for the basebards to be installed at my house. You see all outside corners are rounded. What are some of ideas besides using the miter saw at 45 or so degree to join at the corner since it is rounded? I know about the corner blocks but trying to stay away. Trying to see what is usually done around rounded corners and baseboards? Any info appreciated. Thanks


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## AtlanticWBConst.

hgiljr said:


> Hello everyone. I'm looking for ideas for the basebards to be installed at my house. You see all outside corners are rounded. What are some of ideas besides using the miter saw at 45 or so degree to join at the corner since it is rounded? I know about the corner blocks but trying to stay away. Trying to see what is usually done around rounded corners and baseboards? Any info appreciated. Thanks


This best way I could describe this without pics is:

Instead of running the 2 pieces together at 45 degrees, you add a 3rd small piece that sits right at the corner.....like a partial octogon type of a corner. You can do this also with crown molding. Just play with the degrees until you get it right for the 2 cuts that will make up the corner and tie the 3 peices together.

I am not guessing at this, we have done repair work on luxury apartment complexes where the entire place is trimmed this way, including the crown molding.

Use caulking to take up the slight gap that will still be left at the small corners. These little caulked areas get painted the same color as the walls...


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## hgiljr

Perfectly understand what you are explaining. This is what I had in mind but was unsure. Thanks again for your help.


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## AtlanticWBConst.

hgiljr said:


> Perfectly understand what you are explaining. This is what I had in mind but was unsure. Thanks again for your help.


U R welcome....(Glad you could understand what I was trying to convey)


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## troubleseeker

hgiljr said:


> Perfectly understand what you are explaining. This is what I had in mind but was unsure. Thanks again for your help.


 
The miters should be 22.5 degree angles, This is what I usually see done in this situation.


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## AtlanticWBConst.

troubleseeker said:


> The miters should be 22.5 degree angles, This is what I usually see done in this situation.


... Yes, that is right.....
I couldn't remember the exact degrees, when I responded to the post...been about 3 years since I had to do an install like that...

Thanks troubleseeker...

FWIW- 

(22.5 degree is where to start your test cuts... see if your walls meet up....Some corners may be 'slightly off' and would/may...need adjustments to that...)


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## paulmar

*How about 15-degree cuts?*

The 22.5-degree cuts are a great idea, but it led me to thinking "Why not use two small pieces instead of just one to make it blend in with the corner even better?" So in total, you would use four pieces of baseboard for the corner, each cut at 15 degrees. It took me a couple of hours to get it right for just one corner, but once you have one done, it's easy to use as a template for the others. WARNING: Do not attempt to hold the tiny piece with your hand while you cut it with a miter saw. Use a heavy duty packing tape or duct tape to keep your 1-inch long piece from getting damaged. A wood file also helps to fine tune the cuts for a perfect fit.


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## Thurman

Having done this also, may I recommend: After you have made your final cuts and just before you do your final nailing, put caulk on the sides of the molding so that it sort of "oozes" out when the pieces are put in place, then trim the caulk. This seems to make it easier to me than trying to caulk even the smallest gap after the molding is installed. Just my two cents worth, David


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## mj662

Wanted to give some specific as I did not find the answer here, Just messing around with the angle is not that much help. This took me over an hour and allot of waisted wood!

i went with 2 smaller pieces to give a better fit.

Using 2 small pieces cut to 3/8 inch short side to short side, all pieces were cut with a 15 degree angle.


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## mae-ling

90 degree divided by 6 cuts = 15 degree each.
Who said you would never use math and trig and whatever? LOl


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## mae-ling

Oh and I use electrical tape as a clamp as it stretches.


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## AtlanticWBConst.

You will need to pre-glue the outside corner sections and allow them to set-up. I would also suggest NOT nailing them, and using glue or adhesive to install.......as attempting to nail them (even with a brad nailer, or other small gauge nailer), will offset their alignment with the outside corner, and also with the adjacent straight-run baseboard sections.


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## notmrjohn

Cut your "tiny pieces" off the end of longer piece just like making a return piece. You waste another tiny piece with backwards angle at end of the remaining long piece, better than wasting a perfectly good finger; the saw is going to grab some of the tiny pieces and throw them at you, so blade guard and face shield in position. We use adhesive caulk, butter the ends and back and press hard, grabs pretty kwick. If needed pre-drill holes barely smaller than finish nail head in molding and hand nail in place, sink the head carefully and just deep enuff.
There are vinyl moldings that match some profiles, they try to bulge out at top on such small radii, some have V notches in back to help prevent it, sometimes we've cut them ourselves, doesn't really help much, but that's what the man said to use so he'll have to accept caulked bulges.
That looks good,mj, I'd hire ya. Trying to fit the piece or pieces between existing base is frustrating, especially when walls aren't perfectly square, and we're talking half a degree here. We install one straight piece with end cut at what math says, cut one math angle on corner piece, hold it in place, if close enough ( parameters depend on how up the scale the job is and corresponding time/$ sanding and caulking allowed) and eyeball the length and angle on other end, if math looks right OK, if not we approximate required angle, cut it and cut corresponding angle in next long piece around corner. Try to hold those two pieces in place for another eyeball and fasten it down if looks good. I try to let someone else do crowns and cornices, everything is upside down and backwards, some of those guys have added to my vocabulary. Can be a lot of mis-cut angles and wasted material even by experienced crews. When working in large development with multiple crews contracted, first thing you do is lock away the trim, then you look around to see which crews didn't. Showed up one morning to finish a job, front door we'd installed was gone, trim and all. Luckily part of "custom" built was door style, so developer found guilty crew, never found their door, . But we got our door and trim back, stood on porch and waved bye bye to door knappers as they left development. Never saw them again, probably busy installing a new door on one of their houses or something.


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## princelake

use some miter bond or 2P-10 to glue the pieces together instead of nailing each piece


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