# Baseboard or Quarter Round for Laminate Floor



## sweaty (Jul 18, 2008)

I am going to put in a laminate floor on my main level. I would like to replace our old baseboards. Do I also need quarter round? Is it often installed without it?


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

You don't need Q-round if you are replacing all of the baseboard.


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## Willie T (Jan 29, 2009)

Floors roller-coaster up and down along each wall. Baseboard bends a little in that same plane, but not much. Quarter-round, or 'shoe molding' is much more flexible and follows the floor better.

For aesthetics, they both really should be installed together if the floor is not all that flat.


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## troubleseeker (Sep 25, 2006)

Willie T said:


> Floors roller-coaster up and down along each wall. Baseboard bends a little in that same plane, but not much. Quarter-round, or 'shoe molding' is much more flexible and follows the floor better.
> 
> For aesthetics, they both really should be installed together if the floor is not all that flat.


In addition, the thickness of the new baseboard alone may not be enough to cover the required expansion gap along the new floor's perimeter; considering that much "production run" quality base is only 9/16" thick and most flooring seems to spec 1/2" expansion gap.


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## Leah Frances (Jan 13, 2008)

In My Opinion - Quarter round looks terrible and cheap.

Use some shoe molding that matches your baseboard. It will look fabulous.


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## Broughton (Aug 1, 2011)

My flooring guy caulks along the bottom of the baseboards and it looks really nice.


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## almostnormal (Jan 27, 2011)

I used cove molding. Much better looking than quarter round, imho. 


I wouldn't use the baseboard to cover the edges... baseboard should last a lot longer than the floor will. The molding can come out the next time the floor gets replaced.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Leah Frances said:


> In My Opinion - Quarter round looks terrible and cheap.
> 
> Use some shoe molding that matches your baseboard. It will look fabulous.


 
I always thought it was the same thing?:huh:


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

chrisn said:


> I always thought it was the same thing?:huh:



1/4 round is as tall as it is wide---3/4"x3/4" for example--

Shoe (or toe) molding is taller than it is wide--3/4" x 1/2" is a popular size.


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

I prefer shoe to quarter round. It's rare to have a floor flat enough to get by without more than just base, but if yours is and you can cover the "expansion" gap with jut base, go for it....


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## Bud Cline (Mar 12, 2006)

> In addition, the thickness of the new baseboard alone may not be enough to cover the required expansion gap along the new floor's perimeter; considering that much "production run" quality base is only 9/16" thick and *most flooring seems to spec 1/2" expansion gap.*


Are you sure about that? I don't know, but that was never the case when I was installing the crap.
A half inch on both sides of a room is enormous and certainly not at all necessary. What a bunch of jumk that laminate has become if that's the case.


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