undercut drywall

msaeger

I will be installing 3/4 red oak and have been watching don bollinger's how to video.

He recommended undercutting the drywall so you can get a large enough expansion gap with a thin trim piece.

This sounds like a good idea to me because I don't like quarter round.

Is this something that is still done? I realize his video is petty old and I have never heard it talked about any place else.

My drywall is actually up off the floor but just short of being enough so I would still need to cut it which sounds like a pain but would be worth it to avoid the quarter round I think.

joecaption

I've never heard of anyone doing it.
May want to just use 1 X lumber for the baseboard and a base cap molding on top of it to dress it up.

firehawkmph

Rarely are floors perfectly flat around the room. When you install just base, you may end up with some gaps here and there between the base and your oak flooring. That's what the shoe mold is intended for. Shoe mold in my opinion, looks better than quarter round. If you're not familiar with the difference, google it, and you'll see. If the shoe mold and base molding are installed professionally, they will look nice together. One other thing, don't skimp on the base molding with your new floor. Go to a legit lumberyard or millwork shop and get some nice base that is 5/8" or 3/4" thick with a nice detail on top.
Mike Hawkins

mterry

You could always scribe your baseboard to the floor

Seattle2k

Guys, Msaeger is not referring to addressing the vertical gap that may be present from an uneven subfloor. Rather, most wood flooring manufacturers recommend the perimeter expansion gap be equal to the thickness of the hardwood flooring (yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either, but whatever... Now, if one follows this recommendation, 3/4" thick flooring will need a 3/4" expansion gap between the edge of the flooring and the bottom of the drywall. Since most base moulding is only 1/2" thick, this would leave 1/4" gap that would need to be covered by additional shoe moulding. Ok, now that we got that out of the way, let's continue...

So, most people will agree that the addition of the shoe moulding looks like crap..looks like an afterthought. So, the option is to use an undercut saw, set to a height of about 7/8" and 1/2" depth. Then, you cut your flooring to come 1/4" of where the drywall surface would have been (which is also convieniently 3/4" away from the wall's bottom plate.


Msaeger - you should be able to rent an undercut saw at your local tool rental shop. You can cut through the corner bead on the outside corners of walls...or you can cut those parts with a hacksaw. The saw won't get into inside corners. For those, use a sharp utility blade and/or chisel and hammer. Yes, I did this last year, when installing my flooring.

msaeger

Yeah I want to do it for the expansion gap sorry for not being clear enough. I have been reading and it sounds like people have the large gap as a cover your ass if you try to make a warranty claim.

I am a novice so I figure I should have the gap because that what the books say.

Seattle2k how long did it take you to under cut yours?

Mike you are right some of the stuff they are calling shoe molding looks much better than quarter round.

firehawkmph

Seattle,
I understood what Ms was talking about as far as creating an expansion gap. I was just jumping a step ahead to the base molding meets the flooring part of the job.

Ms,
you could also use a Fein type vibrating tool. They slice through drywall very quickly with very little effort and not much mess either. Take a small piece of your flooring and use it as a guide and draw a pencil line around the room. Cut on the line with the multi tool and you'll be done in no time.
Mike Hawkins

msaeger

That's what I was thinking of doing because I have a fein. I never thought about the gap between the base and the floor hopefully it doesn't end up too bad.

Seattle2k

It only took about an hour for ~500 sq ft (living room, dining room, kitchen). I ran the saw around the walls, while a couple buddies chiseled the inside corners. I think I rented the undercut saw for ~35. The multitool would work too. I expect it would take more time though. You could use a utility knife if you were so inclined.

Awoodfloorguy

You can absolutely do this to help get you the bigger space for expansion that you need.

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