Replies

1. 
   calvin | Feb 26, 2015 08:26am | #1

   sun

   Perfect will be close enough for this job.

   Remembering of course that this is baseboard, on the floor, most likely covered by furniture etc.

   And perhaps relatively close in color to a wood floor.  To tile or a big difference colored floor dictates a finer fit.

   I've found in my work that miters at corners and joints for longer runs catch the eye more.  Same goes with color and grain changes.  I'll go around and place the base in the order I want to place it.  A beautiful tight mitered corner or joint with two drastically different colors or grain looks terrible.

    There's also shoe moulding which is much easier to conform to dips and dives.

   the level of finish and design will dictate how far we go to achieve the best outcome.  Roughing in the scribe and back cutting it makes it easier to block plane the little bit for a fine fit.  I'll hold the base to the high points in the floor, maybe pinning it a couple times to the wall to hold it firm to scribe.  Might put tape on it if dark prestained in order to see the line.

   matchbook cover tight is fine, throw a cat through it........should probably keep working on it.

1. 
   sunsen | Feb 26, 2015 10:08pm | #3

   I do keep wondering what changes the finishing process will bring. It's vertical grain doug fir base and western maple wide plank flooring. I'm thinking the shadow lilne is the problem. Definitely is a noticable difference between tight and even "match book cover". (I'm assuming match book cover refers to the slight gap between the cover and the strike portion of the matchbook.)

1. 
   calvin | Feb 27, 2015 05:33am | #6

   sun

   matchbook cover:

   the thickness of matchbook paperboard, or the backer of a notepad = not much.

   Are you back cutting the scribe?  This will enable you to more easily plane or even use a belt sander or angle grinder with coarse grit to fine tune to the line.  If you've ever ground down a cope with an angle grinder, you'll know what I mean using that tool.

   it is important to keep the base in the same spot and position each time you scribe if done more than once.

   Same goes with the position of the scribe tool when using a compass, it must remain plumb from the point to the pencil for accuracy.  Sometimes I'll tape a pencil to one of those small laminate samples and slide that along the floor.  It won't work on sharp changes like tile to grout line.

   when the floor was sanded, didn't that even up the cups and rolls of the flooring?

2. 
   AndyEngel | Feb 26, 2015 11:22am | #2

   Shoe

   This is exactly why shoe molding exists.

1. 
   sunsen | Feb 26, 2015 10:25pm | #5

   Unfortunately, base shoe isn't really an option in this house. But you're right, it's pretty easy to push that stuff around. 

3. 
   sunsen | Feb 26, 2015 10:24pm | #4

   You must be better at this than I am finefinish. I'm definitely not getting a tight fit first shot, although the scribing process you describe is the same routine I follow. The flooring is wide plank western maple and there are irregularities, what with the angle the flooring is laid at changing ever so slightly from piece to piece. The wide plank aspect really accentuates the out of flatness issue. I'm thinking the shadow line is what draws attention to the problem and perhaps we can eliminate that with a slight amount of caulk or some sort of filler. If that shadow went away it would look just fine. I mean, very tight is doable, no doubt about it, It's just a matter of where do you draw the line? If you've got a 20' long wall and every other floor board requires work mulitiplied by all the walls in the house, it sure adds up. 

4. 
   sapwood | Feb 27, 2015 11:34am | #7

   Location, Location, Location...

   The only real difficult thing about getting a perfect fit is the location. As I've aged, the floor seems like a long way down there. Bending and crawling aint what it used to be.