Remove baseboards to refinish hardwood floors? (refinishing, paint, installing, stained)

[drewba]

We are getting quotes to refinish the hardwood floors in our home. One area that the quotes differ is that some contractors remove and reattach the baseboards and others say that we don't need to.

In theory, I can see that having the baseboards off would yield the best result. However, the baseboards are made of MDF, so they may not be in very good shape after being taken off and reattached. If there were fewer pieces, I would cut new ones and just replace them, but with 36 different pieces of baseboard, that's a significant time investment.

Searching the Internet, I find varying recommendations with regards to removing baseboards and refinishing floors. Could anyone inject some experience on the topic? If we don't remove them, how close to the baseboards could the floor be refinished and will there be a noticeable lip between the refinished and original sections?

Thanks

[lifelongMOgal]

The 1/4 round base trim should be removed at the very least, IMO. Yes, there will be a noticable difference between the original and refinish, if not in level, in finish/color.

Ask for references and see if you can get one of the references to let you look at the job your prospective contractor completed. The only thing worse than hardwood floors that need refinished are those that have been refinished poorly!

[Omaha Rocks]

Originally Posted by drewba

We are getting quotes to refinish the hardwood floors in our home. One area that the quotes differ is that some contractors remove and reattach the baseboards and others say that we don't need to.

In theory, I can see that having the baseboards off would yield the best result. However, the baseboards are made of MDF, so they may not be in very good shape after being taken off and reattached. If there were fewer pieces, I would cut new ones and just replace them, but with 36 different pieces of baseboard, that's a significant time investment.

Searching the Internet, I find varying recommendations with regards to removing baseboards and refinishing floors. Could anyone inject some experience on the topic? If we don't remove them, how close to the baseboards could the floor be refinished and will there be a noticeable lip between the refinished and original sections?

Thanks

Removing all the baseboard can get pretty tough - not just the difficulty of removing and replacing it, but potentially damaging not only the trim but the wall.

I assume there is also quarter-round on the baseboard. That should be removed. Without doing that you'll have a hard time getting the finished product to look really good.

The nice thing about the removal & replacing of the quarter-round is that it's fairly easy and if you break it (not that I've ever done that ), it is fairly cheap and easy to replace.


Good luck!

[dedratermi]

Usually, only the shoe molding is removed and re-installed (or replaced). If your hardwood floors were originally finished before the baseboards were installed, it's possible that you might not have shoe molding. If this is the case, then it's much easier and cheaper to simply add shoe molding after the floors are refinished, instead of removing and re-installing baseboards.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Originally Posted by drewba

some contractors remove and reattach the baseboards

Did they specifically say "Baseboards and/or shoe mold?
And not just shoe mold?
Removing b'bds and shoe would be very time consuming and costly. I'm sure they mean just the shoe mold.

[drewba]

There isn't shoe molding or quarter round, just the baseboards. The floors were almost certainly finished prior to the baseboards being installed; the gap is very tight in some locations and there are a couple of locations with a hint of paint on the floor at the joint.

[texdav]

I would always remove the baseboard. Its not that difficult and the refinishers do it all the time.That way you woudn't see a rise at the baseboardsfrom sanding

[spacelord75]

We had a situation where, for some odd reason, the previous owners had installed the baseboards over the SUB-floor, therefore, when they put hardwoods down, it came up 3/4" on the baseboard, making the baseboard look really tiny. Since we were replacing the hardwoods, we decided to go ahead and remove AND replace the baseboards (you can buy a contractor's pack yourself of primed pine 3.25" at HD for $50 per 120 linear feet...pretty decent deal). We considered just popping off the old and re-applying them, but the labor cost involved was not much cheaper and it probably would have looked like crap. This would also be a great opportunity to really overhaul your place and install 4.25" or 5.25" baseboards, which would look really nice (although your cost will go up). For me personally, if your baseboards look okay and are sitting on the hardwoods, I would just have shoe mold added and it will probably look really nice.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by drewba

There isn't shoe molding or quarter round, just the baseboards. The floors were almost certainly finished prior to the baseboards being installed; the gap is very tight in some locations and there are a couple of locations with a hint of paint on the floor at the joint.

If it were me, I would start thinking about whether I wanted my shoe moulding stained and finished or painted.

I can't really think of a good reason to remove the baseboards unless you just want to inspect the sill plate and studs.

[JimRom]

Personally, I remove the baseboards when I refinish floors. However, that's an OCD thing. Can't stand the thought of the entire floor not being refinished.