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Posted by JoeSpareBedroom on March 12, 2007, 4:36 pm
>I am in the process of replacing the 3 1/4" baseboards in my 60s era
> condo with plaster walls. When I removed the old boards in lieu of 2X4
> studs there is a 2X2 runner along the base of the wall that the boards
> were nailed into.
>
> My question...I want to install 5" baseboards for a nicer look. Is it
> better to nail the new baseboards into the 2X2 at the bottom of the
> board and use an adhesive such as liquid nails to secure the upper
> portion of the new boards or would it be suffice to just nail them in
> and use caulk to cover any gap? To nail the upper portion of the
> baseboard I would be nailing into a plaster wall wich I doubt would
> hold very long.
>
> Or...is that just too daunting of a task and I should just put 3 1/4
> back in?!!
>
Baseboard is never attached to the plaster. The nails should go through to
the beams behind the wood lath. However, the lath is sometimes very
strange - it'll resist nailing for reasons I don't know. Very fibrous, or
something. I ended up nailing low, to that wood strip you mentioned, and
then predrilling the upper part of the molding all the way through to the
beam. This was planned before putting the baseboard in place, by measuring
the precise depth for drilling, and marking the drill bits. I knew I had to
feel three things while drilling:
- Pass through baseboard
- Pass through plaster
- Pass through lath
and then, watch the tape marks on the drill bit. Finishing nails were 1"
longer than total drilling depth, to be sure there'd be enough nail in the
beams. Besides drilling to avoid splitting the molding, I also figured it
would minimize the amount of pounding, which is the last thing you want to
do around plaster.
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