# Significant gap between baseboard and plaster wall



## natmack (Feb 20, 2011)

I recently finished refinishing the wood stairs on my 100ish-year-old Victorian, and now want to paint the wall leading up the stairs. Oddly there is a large gap (1/4 to 1/2 inch) between the plaster wall and the stained baseboard. I've seen some instructions about caulking gaps between the wall and baseboards, but they all seem to be in reference to painted baseboards and trim. The last thing I want to do is mess up the baseboards I just sanded and stained. Suggestions from anybody who's dealt with this before would be greatly appreciated!


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## Ole34 (Jan 31, 2011)

i would push that molding back tighter against the wall...........less of a gap then


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

Do you have a table saw? I would cut a filler strip of wood---stain and varnish and install that.


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## NCpaint1 (Aug 13, 2009)

Caulking it will look poopie. It can't go any closer to the wall? I like the filler strip idea, either way it will be tedious. You can also get clear caulk, and fake the line in with tape so that it looks straight.


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## natmack (Feb 20, 2011)

Thanks for the suggestions. @Ole34, don't think there's a way to push it back tighter. It actually looks like there's a piece of wood between the wall and the trim. In fact now that I'm looking in another section with a gap (there's a gap at the top of the stairs, it comes together, and then a gap on the landing) there's actually kind of a sandwich of molding, this maybe 1/4 inch piece of unfinished wood, and then the wall. @oh'mike I do have a table saw but I think a filler piece of wood would be really obvious becaus it would give me a really thick flat piece on the top of the molding--like a shelf. I almost wonder if there's someway to add plaster or a filler piece of drywall and then fade it up into the wall? 

I'm attaching another picture in case it helps--I'm holding the camera against the wall, looking down into the gap. The lighter strip down the middle is what's causing the gap. It almost looks like somebody tried to put baseboard over baseboard, but since the baseboards are original and all through the house that doesn't seem plausible.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Natmack, no matter what you do it's going to be noticeable, the only thing you can do is make it less so. The wood sliver idea is good. Ask yourself what makes that stand out to you. (1)I see the gap between the wall and the sandwich filler, (2)I see the overpaint on to that sandwich piece, and (3)I see an unstained piece of wood. Painting is nothing but a trick of the eye. Get rid of #2 with some denatured alcohol. Mask the sandwich piece with tape and run a fine bead of caulk to fill #1. Touch that up with wall paint before removing the tape. Then stain the sandwich board with a small brush to match the stringer. Caulking is out of the question. And fading that out with spackle would be a heroic task, if even possible. Or get out your table saw. Good Luck.
As I clicked submit, I thought that you could also caulk the gap between the sandwich board and the wall and paint that area with a brown to match the stain. That's bad scenery.


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## Ole34 (Jan 31, 2011)

if I were you I would poly the trim then caulk the gap then paint it then wipe the paint off the molding ...............then touch it up every year after the caulk splits lol..............only other options you have involve time and money and im not sure whether or not you want to go there, caulk and paint it an i guarantee after a few weeks you'll forget all about it after your eyes adjust and become used to it ..............it will vanish


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## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

Put a piece of backer rod in it that is a little larger in diameter than the gap, push it slightly below the surface and then apply a quality siliconized acrylic blend caulk down the piece of trim where it meets the wall. Wipe any excess caulk off with a damp rag. Backer rod comes in different diameters it is round foam. You could also fill the gap with spray foam in a can and then shave it down when your done, leaving it just below the surface so you can apply caulk over it.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

I agree, pp. 30; http://books.google.com/books?id=fD...resnum=1&ved=0CAgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Gary


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

HPNY, that's a possibility. If you use backing or foam, wouldn't it be better to then fill it with a hard compound, rather than caulk, to make it more flush, uniform, and durable? Then how do you finish it? Would it be more noticeable if the wall color comes out that far to meet the stringer or if the brown paint/stain goes in to meet the wall?. Either way it's going to be noticeable, but which is the least? That's really the most natmack can hope to accomplish. I say the latter. I've encountered similar situations before with cutting lines and it's a toss up.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Gary, thanks for pointing that piece out. I'm bookmarking it for a future read. Looks good. The problem is that example is outside where probably one color will be used, making the difference moot. The problem natmack has is that two colors meet at the gap. Wherever two colors meet, there will be a spotlight on any irregularities. Filling the gap is not the issue. Filling it in the best way to make it look the least like its been botched is the challenge. Thanks.


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## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

jsheridan said:


> HPNY, that's a possibility. If you use backing or foam, wouldn't it be better to then fill it with a hard compound, rather than caulk, to make it more flush, uniform, and durable? Then how do you finish it? Would it be more noticeable if the wall color comes out that far to meet the stringer or if the brown paint/stain goes in to meet the wall?. Either way it's going to be noticeable, but which is the least? That's really the most natmack can hope to accomplish. I say the latter. I've encountered similar situations before with cutting lines and it's a toss up.


Either way it will be slightly noticible. You have to compromise and paint onto the caulk with the wall color. It is still better than seeing a gap.


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## natmack (Feb 20, 2011)

Thanks again everyone for all the ideas. I am still debating my exact course of action, but filling it and painting the caulk the wall color is probably the compromise I'll go for. To be honest I'd be ok with leaving it as-is when I paint except that the junk and dust that collects in the gap currently is a pain.

So is the consensus that for filling the gap my best bet is caulk (in addition to something like backer rod or a piece of wood I cut to fit) as opposed to wood filler or or anything like that given that I'll likely paint the filler the wall color?


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## ltd (Jan 16, 2011)

other than doing carpentry or plaster work here's what i would .fill it in with brown caulk .if you need backer ok but i think a couple or beads of brown caulk will do it .then treat caulk as if it were baseboard and cut your bottom cut on the wall not on the caulk.like ole said in a few weeks you will forget about it .it is what it is:wink:


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