What should I use to fill the gaps between the bottom of the baseboard and the new tile floor I just put in. Caulk? Like a the good kind – “Phenosil Does It All”? Grout?
I guess the floor is kind of uneven or some of the tiles might be higher than the others so the baseboard didnt sit perfectly flat across the span.
Larry
Replies
caulk is an option, so is scribing the base more accurately..
Shoe is an option , but I like that for wood floors not tile
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Cut a back bevel on the bottom of your base . Then it should be able to squeeze down , or will be easier to scibe and cut to fit.
Big question is...how large are the gaps? If gaps are wider than a heavy 1/8th, caulk may definately look too noticeable. If gaps are only in a few spots along the span, could be tile are too high...could remove tile and reset them. Could also remove base and re-scribe it to conform better.
If baseboard is painted type, I'd probably try caulk first ..using matching color. If satisfied, would leave it at that. If baseboard is stained variety, would re-set offending tile pieces ( if not too many) or remove base board and scribe again.
I definately would not use grout to hide gaps...grout would most likely crack and flake off.
Davo
Edited 8/28/2004 1:26 am ET by Davo
It sounds like you have already installed the baseboard and are disinclined to pull it out for scribing. What I do in situations like that is use sanded grout with latex admix.
I blue tape the bottom edge of the baseboard, work in the grout with a thin margin trowel, strike off the excess, pull the tape, and trowel flush with board.
When the grout is cured, use a very thin layer of caulk where grout meets wood and then prime.
shoe.
caulk ... either painters ... or tile/grout caulk ...
will attract and hold dirt/dust all the same ...
a caulk line around a new tile floor is gonna be one huge maintenence mess ...
either scribe ... or go with the rest of the world ... and shoe.
I do what I'd like to consider is at least half0fine homebuilding ...
and I ain't scribing no shoe!
stop the insanity ....
Jeff
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
Thanks Jeff. I did caulk already just to seal the gap but I'm gonna put in the shoe to cover it up. Caulk is always a nightmare.
While my suggestion to use grout was done in the spirit of expediency, I feel that I should defend it so far as to say that places where I did it have been okay for a number of years. I guess it might rate a quarter portion of finenitude.
If the goal is to avoid any crack forming between wood and tile, I question the use of wood at all in a wet area. Whether one scribes or shoes, paints or stains, the action of the wood reacting to changes of moisture means separation will happen.
Now I have done it many times because that is what the plans specified. I have done it with superfine scribing where you could not get a thin bit of paper under any section of it. When painted, it was tight and perfect. Two years later I come back to see a crack there and so ended up back to same question that started this thread.
The same thing happens when I use a shoe. It starts out tight but since it rides with the baseboard, a gap is born.
I've always used shoe, but if the gap was really bad I would make my own so I would have nailing surface into the base....maybe 1 1/4 x 3/4.............caulk? Grout? .........fuget a bout it
I think I'll go with the shoe idea anyway. Sure a gap might develop but the one that is there now is larger than what would happen in time. I think.
Should have scribed to begin with but when I went back with a compass to scratch a scribe line, the gap wasn't big engough to guide the point of the compass. Just for kicks, what is the best way to accurately scribe?
Well, I just open up my scribers to the widest point in the gap.....make sure the piece is parrallel and draw a line making sure you keep the scribers at 90 degrees, if not the cut will be off.....................In the real world it's a PITA to scribe a large board and expect it to fit perfectly without reworking it to death.
Scribers? Not a compass? Can you elaborate?
I'll probably get flamed for giving this suggestion, but there is plastic (I think it's polystyrene) shoe mold. That would be more flexible than wood, but you could still scribe it too (probably have to use a belt sander with a light touch). And it wouldn't shrink and swell with moisture changes the way wood does. I know it's not "Fine" (as in FHB), but it's only a little shoe mold! If dehydrated horse manure worked, I'd think about using it. (Oh, boy, that was probably the icing on the cake for getting some humbling replies!) ;-0
I would not use shoe to disguise an unevenly set tile floor.
Attempting to close the gaps will only leave you with a serpentine run of shoe that will look worse than the original gaps under the unscribed base.
It would have been simpler in the beginning to have used a straightedge while setting the tile.
Removing and scribing the base would be your best option but you know that will affect all the base as each piece scribed will affect the fit of the next piece in line, etc. Real pita work to remove and refit everything.
Use the good caulk, strike it flat with the base, paint it and call it good.
My preference is always for using cap or bullnose tiles for a "baseboard" against tiles for easy maintenance. The grout joint covers up any minor irregularities on the floor.
Just a thought. Hope this helps. Rich.
Thanks Rich. I thought of the tile but for whatever reason decided against it. Havent decided what route to take now. Some very good points made here. Maybe the shoe wont look so bad but the fact that it might look serpentine is true.
This project has been a very humbling experience, I wont go into all the details of what I found under the old tile and how I had to pretty much gut the room but its been a trip and a half.
Thanks for all the notes guys. I'll post what I decided to do soon.
ps - in the midst of all this I walked. . . more like ran into the edge of an open casement window from this bath and gave myself a nice 2.5" gash in my head. Ouch!!
Use a big shoe--like an 13/16 quarter-round. Unless you're dealing with height variations in the ¼-½" range, nobody will notice the bends it makes to follow the floor. This is a large part of what shoe moulding is all about....
Remember that you're down there on your knees looking right at it...but that people living in a house rarely look at it from that point of view unless they drop a contact lens--in which case they can't see anything clearly anyway....
Dinosaur
'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?
One of the "tricks" I used in whitepainting older homes was to caulk all joints--tops of baseboards to walls, door frames to walls etc. It creates a uniform clean look.
Wherever quarter or eighth round is not used on flooring--and I try to avoid it--I sometimes caulked there on new homes with tile floors. For instance, in a central lobby with classic white diamond tiles against white baseboard. But when I did oak on granite, no caulking.
In basements with rough stone flooring, I caulk between the slate and
the baseboard with a clear caulking to block the creepy
crawlies.
I would try to match caulking to the baseboard colour. If you're doing a true custom home, professional caulkers--yes, that is a trade--can colour match for you.
You can refer: https://hometoolsavvy.com/how-to-caulk-baseboards-to-tile-floor-like-a-pro/