If you’ve opted for floor coverings within your home, as you’ll already know, these can be great for a variety of different reasons, one of the key ones being that they’re so flexible.
But, this same positive aspect can also be detrimental to the surface of your flooring.
One of the key issues that homeowners experience in terms of floor coverings, is that they can be difficult to get completely smooth and flat. This sometimes causes unseemly sags between the joists.
Many of you reading this article might have previously considered using caulk to fill in the area, then thought better of it because of its bulky appearance.
There is a much better solution to this common problem, and it involves installing a quarter round shoe.
To install your own quarter round, you’re going to need to purchase these from your local hardware store, then stain them in the appropriate color.
After this, you’re going to need to cut these at the appropriate angles in order to fit into your baseboard (Do you need to know how to pain your baseboards without ruining your carpets? Find out here). You’ll attach both inside and outside corners, fixing them with a nail gun.
Finally, you can finish the job off with some wood glue.
Items You’ll Require
- Pencil
- Measuring Tape
- Wood Glue
- Disposable Cloths
- Staining Tools
- Nail Gun
- Electric Saw
- Quarter Round
- Trim Nails
- Wood Filler
Steps For Installing A Quarter Round
Now that we’ve covered the items you’ll require for the job, we can move on to the job itself. This isn’t necessarily a difficult DIY, but it does take some time and patience. Below, we’ve compiled a step by step guide to help you on your way.
Quarter rounds are the final step in making your flooring trims appear as elegant as possible, and covering any exposed edges.
These baseboard trims are incredibly handy, and can also be stained in order to match your flooring if need be.
To find out more about how to install these baseboards, keep reading below.
Step 1
So, the first thing that you’re going to need to do is to stain your quarter round. This won’t be the case for everyone, but it should be the first thing you do if you need to match the color to your flooring.
We’d recommend conducting this job outside, or on a workbench, as it can be a very messy job.
You’re going to need a large cloth to cover the floor so that it doesn’t do any damage. These typically need to be left for approximately 12 hours until they’re totally dry.
Step 2
After you’ve done this, and (hopefully) haven’t gotten any stains on your floors, you can then start to measure and cut your quarter round.
When you’re doing this, we’d recommend leaving it slightly on the larger side rather than being too short.
When it comes to cutting these with your saw, you might need to make either a butt cut, or a 45 degree cut. Butt cuts are for angles which are 90 degrees to the quarter round. 45 degree cuts are for scarf joints.
The way in which you cut your baseboard will be determined by the area you’re fixing it to.
Step 3
Now that you’ve measured and cut your quarter round, we’re going to be joining these to the areas in question.
In order to fix your quarter round, you’re going to very carefully need to nail it to the baseboard.
Do not, by any means, attach it to the subfloor or the flooring itself, as this will leave you with an incredibly unseemly appearance.
Unless you’re working on scarf joints, we would recommend that you avoid using glue when you can.
Step 4
Now that you’ve done this, we’re going to be creating an outside and an inside corner. For your outside corner, you’re going to need to make a 45 degree cut, and place this on the corner of the baseboard.
After you’ve done this, you can then take another piece of trim, and then cut 45 degrees in the opposite angle. You’re then going to need to grab your wood glue, and attach this piece in there too.
Make sure that you’ve got your cloth at hand, so that the glue won’t dry in clumpy portions on the floor.
In terms of fixing the inside corner, you’ll need to cut two pieces at 45 degree angles, then nail both of these down in order to install them properly.
Step 5
That’s pretty much it! After you’ve attached your quarter rounds, and are satisfied with the job, you can then use some wood fill if you need to, in order to make sure everything looks as pristine as possible.
If you don’t have wood fill, you can use some caulk instead, then just paint over it in the appropriate color.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, installing a quarter round is a pretty straightforward job as soon as you’ve got the method down.
Before you get started, make sure that you stain it in the appropriate color, as well as cutting the quarter round to fit your baseboard.
After this, you’re going to need to attach both the inside and outside corners with your nail gun. We wish you happy endeavors with your DIY!
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