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| | | Also called base trim or base molding, baseboard is both attractive and functional. It can add a subtle but important final touch to a room's style while covering the gap between the flooring and wall. It also protects the wall's finish from vacuum cleaners, furniture scrapes and other bumps or kicks. | | |
| Typical costs: | - Baseboards vary from a simple 1-inch-high round "shoe" molding to 6 inches high, with finishes ranging from plain to a sloped, grooved or rounded design. The taller and more elaborate the baseboard, the greater the cost.
- At 65-90 cents a linear foot, wood composite (MDF) baseboards 2-4 inches high average$50-$75 uninstalled for 80 feet in a 20x20-foot living room or $325-$450 for 500 feet in an average two-story home. Composite baseboards 5-6 inches high run $1.50-$2 a linear foot, making it about $120-$160 uninstalled for 80 feet and $750-$1,000 for an average-sized home.
- Prices run 85 cents-$150 for 3-4 inches high or $1.50-$2.25 for 5-6 inches high for baseboards of inexpensive woods such as pine or poplar, which works out to about $70-$180 uninstalled for a living room, or $425-$1,125 uninstalled for an average-sized home.
- It's about $2.80-$7 or more a foot depending on height and style for baseboards of solid cherry, mahogany, walnut or other high-end wood, averaging $225-$560 for a living room or $1,400-$3,500 for an average-sized home.
- Costs are $1.80-$8 a foot, depending on style and height, for polyurethane baseboards that are impervious to moisture, won't rot or crack over time and can be painted just like wood; it's about $144-$640 for a living room and $900-$4,000 for an average-sized home.
- Professional installation starts around $1.50-$2 a linear foot when included as part of a larger flooring or remodeling job, or $2-$4 for a stand-alone trim installation--making it $120-$320 for labor for a living room, or $750-$2,000 for for an average-sized home. If an older house has uneven floors and corners or unusual obstacles, installers may charge materials plus labor at $45-$65 an hour. A fairly straightforward installation job of 500 linear feet takes about 4-8 hours, or $180-$520 or more for labor alone.
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| What should be included: | |
| Additional costs: | - Installers often charge $45-$65 an hour to remove old baseboard. If the original baseboard was not installed properly, it can be painstaking work to remove it without damaging the walls.
- For remodeling situations, moving furniture out of the way may cost extra.
- If doing it yourself, there's always some waste involved, so buy at least 10 percent more baseboard than needed.
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| Shopping for baseboards: | - Buy the best quality baseboard you can afford; the better the material, the better it will look when the project's done.
- Lowe's sells a range of base moldings and offers installation services. Baseboard can also be ordered online from Hardwood-Moldings.com and Vintage Woodworks.
- Installation referrals are available through most flooring or hardware stores.
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Article updated April 2007 |
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