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chair rail size compared to baseboard size

HavasuHank

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i started to tear apart an extra room in our home to get it ready to make for our baby.

i have torn out the old baseboards, painted the room, and made my marks for the chair rail. the question that i have is what would be the correct sizes in relation to chair rail and the baseboards.

i dont want the chair rail to overshadow the baseboards. i wanted to put in 6" baseboards, but that wont work anymore ... so i am gonna have to go with something smaller.

the chair rail is 3", so i wanted something a little bit bigger than that for the baseboards. the problem is that the carpet bumped up to the old baseboards which were about 2" ... meaning the 6" baseboards are thicker at the bottom than the 2" ones. if i were to go with the 6" baseboards, the baseboards would have to sit on top of the carpet ... instead of the space that is currently there.

i found some samples of 3 1/4" baseboards that i like, but it seems too small compared to the chair rail size.

can someone help me?
 

OutCole'd

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Sit the 6" baseboard on top of the carpet, that is fine. And go with the 3" chair rail.

Go here and check out some nice trim www.superiorbp.net

(Shamless plug)
 

coz

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i started to tear apart an extra room in our home to get it ready to make for our baby.

i have torn out the old baseboards, painted the room, and made my marks for the chair rail. the question that i have is what would be the correct sizes in relation to chair rail and the baseboards.

i dont want the chair rail to overshadow the baseboards. i wanted to put in 6" baseboards, but that wont work anymore ... so i am gonna have to go with something smaller.

the chair rail is 3", so i wanted something a little bit bigger than that for the baseboards. the problem is that the carpet bumped up to the old baseboards which were about 2" ... meaning the 6" baseboards are thicker at the bottom than the 2" ones. if i were to go with the 6" baseboards, the baseboards would have to sit on top of the carpet ... instead of the space that is currently there.

i found some samples of 3 1/4" baseboards that i like, but it seems too small compared to the chair rail size.

can someone help me?

Normanly chair rail is 2-1/2 to 3" but it's also a preference thing, go with 4" base if you can't use the 6. Here's where I got my speciality moulding when I lived in Ca., they're in Santa Ana http://www.womoc.com/istar.asp?tfile=homepage.template

Chair rail http://www.womoc.com/istar.asp?a=3&dept=13&class=29&subclass=4
 

HavasuHank

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Sit the 6" baseboard on top of the carpet, that is fine. And go with the 3" chair rail.

Go here and check out some nice trim www.superiorbp.net

(Shamless plug)

that was my first assumption ... to put the baseboards on top of the carpet. i took a sample piece from one of my last jobs and it looks great.

the only thing is that we are thinking of changing the carpet within a couple of years. when that occurs, i would have to tear out the baseboards and re-do them
 

HavasuHank

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coz

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:thumbsup

i would have to measure to see what the thickness of the old baseboards is. i would need that thickness.

Just pull the carpet back (not off the tack strip) install the moulding and tuck it back, it's easy :thumbsup then when you replace the carpet they'll be no issues.
 

HavasuHank

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Just pull the carpet back (not off the tack strip) install the moulding and tuck it back, it's easy :thumbsup then when you replace the carpet they'll be no issues.

that would work ... i will check and see how far back the tack strip is from the egde of the carpet. when i re-did my office, i think it was only about 1/2"-1" behind the edge of the carpet.
 

coz

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that would work ... i will check and see how far back the tack strip is from the egde of the carpet. when i re-did my office, i think it was only about 1/2"-1" behind the edge of the carpet.

Usually a finger length from the base moulding goes the tack, so about 1/2" is probably what it is.
 

coz

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If you're in corona check with Ganahl Lumber, they have a big selection of moulding and can order speciality stuff too.
 

HavasuHank

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Just pull the carpet back (not off the tack strip) install the moulding and tuck it back, it's easy :thumbsup then when you replace the carpet they'll be no issues.

well ... i tried pulling the carpet back as much as i could, but no dice. the baseboard will not fit. i either go with the smaller one that will fit, or the one that i want ... that has to sit on top of the carpet.

my only dilemma is that if we get new carpet, i'm gonna have to pull the baseboards out and start all over again.
 

whiteworks

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Put in the big base on top of the carpet and push it down a little before you nail it. I always hold the base up a 1/2" in rooms that are going to get carpet. As far as the chair rail size, dont go to big or to small;)
 

HavasuHank

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Put in the big base on top of the carpet and push it down a little before you nail it. I always hold the base up a 1/2" in rooms that are going to get carpet. As far as the chair rail size, dont go to big or to small;)

so if we were to replace the carpet someday, the old carpet would be able to be removed without disturbing the baseboards?

and then the new carpet can be stuffed under the baseboards?
 

OutCole'd

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so if we were to replace the carpet someday, the old carpet would be able to be removed without disturbing the baseboards?

and then the new carpet can be stuffed under the baseboards?

Absolutely.
 
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