The DIY Newbie’s Guide to Removing Baseboards
We had one of those mini freak out moments over the weekend. You know the one… the “Oh my gosh; What have we gotten ourselves into” one?
No worries though. This has a happy ending.
We are working on a big project that I’m so jazz-hands level excited about, but sometimes it’s the big projects where you have to completely destroy something before you can start making it awesome.
Update: See our DIY Wood Beam Doorway here.
This post isn’t going to get the award for the most gorgeous Bless’er House DIY or anything, but it’s one of those that I know is going to be one of the handiest.
So many times before as Robert and I have learned more and more about home improvement, Robert’s dad has swooped in to spill all kinds of advice from his 30+ years of handiwork. His expertise saved the day last summer for our DIY Faux Fireplace.
And since we had never before ripped out baseboards, he came to our rescue again.
We didn’t want to damage our drywall in the process, and we wanted to reuse our baseboards once our big project was done. It seemed like a big challenge for us beginners.
If you’re baseboard removing newbies too, here’s what you’ll need: (Affiliate links are noted below with asteriks. View my disclosures here.)
- A razor or box cutter with a sharp blade*
- A small pry bar* with sharpened ends
- A hammer or mallet
- Patience
We didn’t want the caulking from the baseboards ripping up the wall paint and drywall, so we used a box cutter to cut the caulk lines first at the corners and top of the quarter round molding (the little strip at the bottom of the baseboard).
We sharpened the ends of the pry bar with a metal file so it didn’t leave any marks on the existing baseboard and we could reuse them later. (I promise our reuse of them will make sense in a later post.)
Using the hammer, Robert pushed the pry bar underneath the quarter round along the floor.
And carefully pried the quarter round from the top away from the baseboard, working slowly.
If you don’t plan on reusing your baseboards, you don’t have to be as careful with marking and bending the molding as we were.
Once the quarter round was removed, Robert went to work on the baseboard.
He cut the caulking away from the wall paint with the box cutter like he did with the quarter round.
Then carefully pushed the pry bar between the board and the drywall in multiple places across the length of it, using the hammer as needed.
And he carefully pulled the baseboard away from the wall, making sure not to rip away any drywall paper.
And this is where I started to hyperventilate. Nah, I’m kidding.
But it is kind of scary to realize you’re ripping up pieces of your house when you’ve never done it before.
I’m dying to show what we have in the works in our living room and kitchen, but I’ll share all the goods soon. I’ve been wanting to tackle this project ever since we moved in.
I have a feeling with all of the architectural dreams we have for this cookie cutter of ours, it won’t be the last time we decide to get destructive.
Got any guesses of what we’re up to?
If you ever feel like going baseboard crazy one day too, be sure to pin this for later:
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