Install Moulding Before Carpet

A really thick shag carpet can make it difficult to judge how high to place the trim.

Install moulding before carpet.

The first cut will mirror the corner cut of the molding already installed. Install the carpet install the carpet all the way against the wall. When installing baseboards before carpet ask the installer how large of a gap to leave between the floor and the trim e g. For things like tile or hardwood you would want to give a to inch clearance for the installers to be able to put the flooring in and be able to slide the edges beneath the baseboards.

Determine the type of corner at the opposite end of the wall then cut the necessary inside or outside angle. Baseboards are often installed before flooring since they must be finished in place with either stain or paint and this is much easier without worrying about staining the hardwood tile or carpet. Or you may be replacing the baseboards but leaving the carpet. Then touch up base if need be.

For most installers this is not a problem and can be done easily. If you plan to install baseboard moulding before adding carpet it needs to be installed 1 inch above floor level to allow room for both pad and carpet. You don t need to. If you re in one of these situations follow these instructions to install the trim after the carpet.

Measure the length of a wall adjacent to the finished wall. Fasten the molding with nails. This is because when installing the baseboards after carpet installation they tend to wedge the carpet in between the tack strips and baseboards like a vice. This means that if the installation company needs to re stretch the carpet at a later date they may need to loosen some of the baseboards in order to pull the carpet up.

Oftentimes it is best to install the baseboards after the carpet is installed simply because of these tack strips. Install subsequent baseboards using this procedure. The trimmer is not going to make a special trip back to install the base after carpet is installed. The carpet installer can run the tack strip up to the trim then roll excess carpet under the trim.