how to cover this up

echobravo

i dont know if this belongs here or in the construction section...

i have a cutout in my flooring to allow the heating/AC duct bend to fit.
this was pre-existing when i bought the house.
after a redo of the room it sticks out from the bottom of the wall and would make the baseboard trim not fitup nicely.

can anyone suggest a way to cover this up?

joecaption

Sure looks like that used to be a plaster wall and someone drywalled it with out shimming the wall out and before drywalling. A plaster and lath wall is much thicker then just 1/2 drywall.
Also looks like someone left the bottom part of the old baseboard in place, that should have been at least cut even with the flooring.
While that wall was open did you add fire blocking at the bottom and top of the wall?

echobravo

it did have plaster walls, i did shim out the wall to the thickness of the lathe that was behind it to get to where the wall was before i pulled the plaster down. plaster wall with the lathe was 3/4" thick.
it had rug, i pulled it up and thats what i was left with.
after i put my drywall up i thought i had enough room to where the trim would cover it but i dont.

now im screwed and i cant think of a descent way to cover it up and make it look like it belongs there.

joecaption

I'm not there to see the whole big picture, so bare with me on making a guess how I would do it.
#1 I'd remove what's left of the old baseboard or cut it even with the flooring.
If you drive in a wood chisle held at an angle it will dow one of to things, split along it's length or allow you to pry it up to come out.

#2, I'd clean out the gap in the hardwood floor with a screwdriver and a vacuum cleaner.
Add some wood glue and use a tool like this to slide it back together.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...BBBC12&first=1

#3 I'd shim out the wall more with strips of whatever thickness is needed to get the wall out more. I'd use strips of plywood instead of solid wood because soild will split.
I'd use a piece ripped to 6" width to be installed horizontal at the bottom, and and another one at the top. (the top one can be narrower if your not installing crown moulding.)
Then just add the middle ones right where the studs are.

echobravo

there is no baseboard, thats my floor and the ugly thing, is some type of insulation paper wrapped around my a/c heater duct.
to shim that wall out to clear that, i would have to shim it out at least 2 inches and i would have to take down my drywall.
trying to avoid all that.

joecaption

Why would you have to take it down? Just go over it.
From the pictures it looks like even if you redid the duct it still would not come out to the flooring.

echobravo

adding more drywall on top would make the wall to thick for the door framing, the light switch and the outlet thats also on that wall...

geez man this sucks. my wife is gonna kill me if i have to tear this down and redo it.

wrongdave

You're probably going to need to get a little creative here with some type of bump-out (or maybe it's called a bump-in). You'll need to consider what will fit better in the specific spot in that specific room. It may be just a short bump-out for the baseboard, you may want to run it up a foot, several feet, or all the way up the wall. Even though it's just a small spot at the base of the wall, sometimes it looks better just to run a bump-out all the way up. You could even get artsy with it an put in a little recessed something in the bump-out.

jagans

THATS ASBESTOS on those ducts BOOBIE, AND IT LOOKS VERY FRIABLE TO ME.

You need to get that stuff out of your home, poste haste. Check my other posts on AB.

__________________
" A lot of men build things, and a lot of things fall down "

hyunelan2

I'm having a hard time visualizing how big this gap is. Have a picture with a tape measure, for scale? I wouldn't go and rip the whole thing out to start over. Like wrongdave said above, there are probably dozens of creative ways to box it or use some sort of decorative molding & base combination to cover the gap - assuming it's not too gigantic.

langless28

yes do you know if that is asbestos insulation on the ducting?

jagans

Did you read post 9? Is everybody on this thread asleep?

Yes That is Asbestos Paper on the ductwork. Judging by the floorbaoards this house was built in the early 20th century, or late 19th. Many homes then had huge furnaces in the basement fired by coal. We called them Octopuses Most were converted to oil from coal. They had metal ductwork that worked by convection, it was wrapped with with asbestos paper. What I am seeing is extremely Friable, and must be addressed, assuming the poster is sane.

So far, nobody on this post seems so. How you trim this is secondary.

__________________
" A lot of men build things, and a lot of things fall down "

Maintenance 6

jagans is correct about the asbestos paper on those old ducts. That is probably one of the more dangerous varieties of asbestos and should be addressed. Unfortunately, during your remodelling process, you likely disturbed a good bit of this stuff. I would try to get rid of what is exposed and at least damp wipe all of the surfaces to collect any dust. Read this thread.

Is this asbestos wrap on HVAC vents?

To close up the gap, you could possibly use a wall base register. Line it inside with some black plastic since it isn't going to be used. Just a thought.

http://www.installerstore.com/Wood-B...y-Zoroufy.html

echobravo

Asbestos... great...

the house was build in the 50's

so not that i have the drywall up, is that ok or should i remove the drywall and take it all off or just remove the little bit that is exposed?

wrongdave

To avoid rehashing another asbestos fight, I'd suggest reading the asbestos super thread on here
asbestos

Asbestos is a tricky subject, there is a lot of overreaction to it, but there are also some valid concerns about it. They used to put asbestos in everything, so every old house has some. Most of it doesn't concern me all that much, but I'll admit I would be concerned with asbestos on my ducts. But a hasty DIY removal could cause more harm than good.