Anyways, I am thrilled to finally start the process of adding finishing molding to our baseboards. Ever since we had our floors done (last May!) they've looked unfinished because there wasn't any quarter round or shoe molding. Most people probably wouldn't notice, but anywhere I look, I see too much space below the baseboards and it is starting to really bother me.
I began in the laundry room and bought standard quarter round. I already had a hammer (duh), finishing nails, caulk, primer, and paint (Valspar's Bistro White), so I was ready to go! Or so I thought (insert dramatic music).
Yup, that pretty much sums up my hammering skills. I spent at least two to three hours nailing in the quarter round, and everything that could have gone wrong probably did. The quarter round split, half of my nails didn't hit the baseboard (therefore you could easily pull them out), and I didn't properly miter some of my edges. All around, a terribly sloppy job. I started to convince myself that, hey, its just a laundry room - no one will care! Then I looked around the house and got overwhelmed. There was no way I could hammer in the 1,000,000 nails it will take to finish the house. Ugh!
I decided to pry up my shoddy work and start over. My first stop - the internet! I did a little more research on the best size trim to use and the best methods to install them. I ended up using shoe molding because it is a little less pronounced than quarter round (if you install it with the tall side against the baseboard).
I also made a pretty big purchase. A new nail gun! My very first power tool purchase - how exciting! After reading reviews, I thought this would be the most versatile nail gun for my molding and any other projects that came up in the future.
You can find it here. Just don't forget to buy a battery and a charger with it!
Okay, so back to work. I felt recharged with my new power tool so I was ready to go. And oh. my. gosh. The nail gun is amazing... I think I'm in love. When I nailed in the first few nails, I literally started to sing, "Hallelujah, halllleeelluuuuujjaahhhh." It was a good moment.
I was a little nervous using it for the first time!
It was SO much easier and I was able to install everything pretty quickly. The biggest time suck was mitering the edges and waiting for paint to dry. By the way, I am just using a pretty simple miter box since I'm not ready to dive into purchasing a real miter saw.
I'm letting the paint dry overnight before pulling up the paper, but it already looks so much better!
You always hear people say that you need the right tool for the right job. 100% true.
-T
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