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Click lock floors under baseboards ?

6K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  mikey48 
#1 ·
Can you install click-lock flooring underneath baseboards that have the lower part trimmed to receive them ?

I'm flooring a 10x12 room and want the more professional look of the floor going under the baseboards. (Actually I'm lazy and cheap too- don't want to pull the baseboards off or have to paint and trim quarter round or shoe moulding).

Seems when you start a new row no problem. You install the click-lock board in the normal manner OUTSIDE the baseboard and then tap it sideways until it slides under the baseboard (leaving of course the 1/4 inch expansion joint).

BUT: what happens when you get to the end of the row at the other side of the room ? Seems to me you can't do the same thing, e.g. install it normally and then tap it sideways until the end is under the baseboard because it will be too long to install.

I know you can trim the tongue sometimes so a piece slides into place without having to first angle it up 20 degrees or so and maybe glue it (since you've destroyed the "click" and the "lock". Is this how you do it ? Then I guess you'd start there with the next row going back the other way ? If so exactly how do you trim it ?

Or is there some other trick like installing the last piece before installing the next-to-last piece.

Or should I gut up and pull the baseboards or use quarter round ? I'll be disappointed since I even have the tool for trimming the baseboards...

Bob
 
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#3 ·
quarter round

I installed Bruce Lock and fold up to the baseboards. I left in the high baseboards that were already there and put in quarter round. I matched the quarter round to the baseboards not the floor and it really looks like a professional had done the installation. I bought preprimed quarter round and it took two coats of paint and very little time to paint. The installation was really very fast. The quarter round seems to finish off the room.
 
#4 ·
If you want it to look professional, use 1/4 round. Any hard surface flooring, IMO, looks unprofessional without it. If you have to replace a damaged piece down the road, you'll be glad you did. And as nancy-max stated, the 1/4 round needs to match the baseboard. Nothing looks worse than 1/4 round and base that are different colors.
 
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