The drawing shows a detail we use to craft an attractive, simple inside-corner detail for baseboards. With this detail, gaps in inside corners are a thing of the past. We typically install oiled 1×4 hemlock baseboards in our houses, so we use 1-1/8-in. sq. stock for the corner blocks. The extra thickness leaves a nice reveal where the base intersects the block and hides inconsistencies in thickness.
To make the blocks, we first bevel the front edge of a long piece of stock with a power planer. Then we use a chopsaw to cut two 22-1/2° bevels. As shown in the drawing, we leave a 1/4-in. by 1/4-in. flat atop each block. Then we cut the block to length (usually 3-3/4-in.).
We nail the block from behind to one of the pieces of baseboard before installation. And because the blocks provide a flat, vertical surface, it’s easy to get accurate measurements from block to block.
Tibor Breuer, Olympia, WA
