How To Cut Baseboard With a Miter Saw?
As we all know very well, a miter saw can be used for making round cuts, quarter round cuts, circular cuts and many more applications, we can use these miter saws to cut baseboards also. So let’s dive in to know how to cut baseboards with a miter saw.
Baseboard
Baseboard is a type of board and an extremely important thing to cover the gap between the surface of the wall and the floor. It is made up of several planks of wood which are glued or fixed to the wall with adhesive. If it is not properly cut then it leaves tiny gaps between both the floor and wall surfaces. So it should be properly cut to attain a smooth surface.
Where it can be used?
As it can cover the uneven gaps between the two surfaces, it is mostly used in modern homes. It comes in several varieties and can be used accordingly. Some of the types and uses of baseboards are described below:-
- Plastic baseboard:
There are several plastic compounds which are used to make plastic baseboards. The most common of them is UPVC (Poly-vinyl Chloride). This type of baseboard is generally white in color but they come in several other colors also. These baseboards can be easily glued to the wall surfaces. - Vinyl baseboard:
These types of baseboards are highly durable and long lasting. These are not easy to replace as these are fixed with strong adhesives. It requires very less maintenance and hence used very much. - Wooden baseboard:
There is several kind of wooden baseboard available in the market. Some of them are pre-painted and untreated versions.
Getting started to cut Baseboards?
Before moving on to the process of cutting the baseboards, we should have knowledge of Corner Type, Bevel Angle and Miter Angle.
Also with the above terms it is mandatory to know a few more things before starting the cutting of baseboards.
- Firstly, it is important to know, which side (left or right) of the piece you are going to cut.
- Secondly, when the cut is finished, which side of the board is longer? The back is longer on the inner side and the front is longer on the outer side.
- Last but not the least; analyze your angle of cut. It is one of the most important factors while cutting the baseboards.
So, on the basis of corner types we will adjust our miter saw blade to cut down the baseboards.
- Inside 90 degrees: – If we want to cut our baseboard with an inside 90 degree corner then we has to set our bevel angle to 45 degrees and miter angle to 0 degrees.
- Inside 135 degrees: – For getting a cut corner of inside 135 degrees, we have to set bevel angle at 22.5 degrees and miter angle to 0 degrees.
- Outside 90 degrees: For attaining a outside corner cut of 90 degrees the bevel angle is set to 45 degrees and miter angle at 0 degrees.
Measuring the Base of the Rooms:
Firstly you have to measure the base of the room floor where you want to fix these baseboards. It is very important to measure the base accurately and note the dimensions as if there is a difference between the measurements then there can be tiny gaps between the wall and floor surfaces. It is better to measure the lengths with a flexible measuring tape.
While measuring the floor base, always try to include some extra dimension so that you can cover any extra space if any. It is important because sometimes there is rough surface along the wall corners.
So if we consider something extra it will benefit us, as we can reduce extra measurement but can’t elongate short measurements.
Continue with Measuring of Baseboards:
After measuring the base of the rooms, now it’s turn to measure the baseboards for cutting. While measuring the baseboards, always put a pencil mark on the backside of the baseboards so that you can easily identify the markings. You can start measuring and marking of baseboards from outside corner ends or inside corner ends of each room. In the measurement of baseboards, a tri-square is mostly used to mark straight lines.
At the apex of the tri-square a vertical line must be marked down the sides of extra piece of wood. It is suggested to draw this vertical line as it will really help us to determine from where the line should be cut.
Proceed with Cutting of Baseboards:
After measuring the floor bases and the baseboards, it’s now time to get into the process of cutting the baseboards. The cutting of baseboards isn’t a tricky process but you should take proper care while cutting it with a miter saw. For safety purpose always keep one side of the baseboard inside your miter box. Now, hold your baseboard safely against the miter box’s wall and align the miter saw blade exactly in front of the pencil marks which you have made during the measurements. Also make sure that the rounded edge of miter saw is up and is forward facing.
If we follow all of the above mentioned steps one by one in the proper manner, then it would be a very easy process for cutting down of baseboards.
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