Steps to replacing baseboard

QUESTION: If I’m replacing my baseboards, is it better to do it before I replace the carpet or after? And what if the new floor surface is tile?

VICTOR SAMANIEGO

Fullerton

ANSWER: Install baseboards before carpet, advises Steve Simmonds, president of Simmonds Builders, a San Fernando Valley construction company. But make sure you know how thick the carpet or tile is before putting in the baseboards. “That way, you can raise them up a bit so the decorative wood element isn’t hidden beneath the carpet,” he says.

If you lay the carpet and then install the baseboards, he says, you run the risk of “trapping” the carpet, making it difficult to remove in the future.

Plus, he says, if you install the baseboards first, you can paint them before the carpet goes in, thereby avoiding spills on the floor covering. Be mindful, however, that tools used to lay the carpet may nick the paint on the baseboards. Touch-ups may be necessary.

Christy Hobart

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