# Baseboards before or after skimcoat?



## BagOfMostlyWate (Oct 6, 2010)

My bathroom walls were a mix of plaster and drywall with various layers of paint, primer, and skim coating. I attempted to skim coat the walls myself to prepare for priming and painting, but I wasn't happy with the results so I hired someone to do it right. The walls are smooth now but not quite flat. For example, if you put a baseboard against one wall the baseboard touches the wall at two high points horizontally and there is space between the rest of the baseboard and wall.

The drywall guy said he would come back and fix anything that needs to be done such as those gaps and any other wall imperfections. He said however, that I should prime the walls and finish and nail the baseboards before he fixes the imperfections. He said that many of the subtle nicks and grooves in the wall would stand out better once the primer had been applied. He also said that he could achieve better results if the baseboards were nailed in first rather than using a straight edge to even out the low points, and that he would fill in from the top of the baseboards on up.

It seems to me that it would be easier to use a straight edge to even it out and that the baseboards would only get in the way. He said he didn't want to make it flat only to have me put on the baseboards and find out that it still looked off. I don't really buy that. It also seems odd to prime first before getting all the imperfections since the primer seals the wall and putting patches on top of that doesn't seem quite right. I'm not a professional and I don't want to tell him how to do his job, but if he's cutting corners I don't want to be taken advantage of either. Personally I think he should have evened out the low points at the beginning. Hidden nicks I can understand.

I'd be grateful for any informed opinions.


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## Gary in WA (Mar 11, 2009)

I would use my 4' straightedge before the baseboards are installed. 

Gary


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## Windows (Feb 22, 2010)

After skim coating and making the walls as smooth as possible, it becomes difficult to fill and sand any additional nicks and scratches without damaging the new surface. Putting a coat of primer on the skim coat protects what is already done and also helps to identify what will be noticeable in the finish coat so it can fixed before hand.


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## doresoom (Oct 15, 2010)

*Further Answers*

More answers/insight to this question at diy.stackexchange.com:

http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/2075/baseboards-before-or-after-skimcoating


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## BagOfMostlyWate (Oct 6, 2010)

doresoom said:


> More answers/insight to this question at diy.stackexchange.com:
> 
> http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/2075/baseboards-before-or-after-skimcoating


Yep.  I thought I'd get good coverage by posting to different forms. I had also sent the question in to yahoo answers.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101006111542AAmdK1M


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

Small imperfections often don't show until paint is applied. It would work just fine to have him mud to the base as long as he cleans off any excess that may get on it.


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