Floor tiles and baseboard

14 years ago

I'm installing a marble basketweave floor in my powder room. There will also be a wood baseboard around the room. Which goes in first...the floor tile or baseboard?

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Comments (3)

MongoCT
14 years ago
I prefer tile first, then baseboard.
toolbabe
14 years ago
Hello Bostonhome,

The general practice is to install the floor tiles first.

In order not to loose the pattern or full effect of your nice basketweave, you could consider laying a filler tile under the baseboard width so that your basketweave begins flush with the face of the baseboard. For this to work, however, your walls need to be perfectly straight.

if your walls are not that straight, you can lay a couple rows of mosaic around the room to frame your basketweave.
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Since I am the person in charge of the mop at my house, I am always looking for ways to make my job easier. I also do most of the interior painting and especially dislike painting baseboards. We just finished our master bath with a white marble-look ceramic tile. I requested the baseboard be replaced with the same tile as the floor. The tile was not exactly the same color all the way through body so we did not cut baseboard from the large tile, we used the 3"X12" trim pieces that match. I think it looks nice and gives the optical illusion of a larger floor. And I can mop all the way up to the baseboard without worry. When we had tile installed in our large kitchen (4 years ago), I had the tile run up under the toe kick of the cabinets for the same reason...for ease in mopping. The rest of the kitchen has wood baseboards. I do not think I have had any visitor notice and we entertain alot. For the larger kitchen which is open to our family room, I don't think I would consider tile baseboard because it would not match the rest of the open area. However I do like it very much in the small contained area of our master bath.
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It really depends on the style you're going for, as well as where your personal taste falls within that style. Less detail can be slick and contemporary, or less detail within a traditional style can lean towards modern but still be traditional. Or outright you might want a more traditional look, with more detail, more shadow lines, etc. I lean towards traditional, and I live in an area (New England) where it's embraced. I'd lean towards a baseboard. But that's me. Do a mock-up, look at photos, see what your eye prefers. If baths with a baseboard look distracting or cluttered, that may lead you one way. If they look just perfect to you, that may help guide you. In the end, it's your house. Your bathroom.
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Finish nails can be used. With thin material like those strips, I'd also consider a full-length bead of adhesive, otherwise it's possibly it'll ripple due to its inherent lack of rigidity. When cutting with a power tool, don't go too slow with the blade or you'll friction-melt the material and gum up the cutting edge of the blade. Be deliberate. When you do cut, you may still get some "melt" that hangs on to the board at the cut line. Give it a second to cool and it'll break right off when you brush your hand against it. If you try to break it off right after you cut it you can burn your fingertips. PVC "sawdust" can static cling to every and anything. Vacuuming as you cut will help keep the particles from wandering. You can glue it to itself with PVC cement. A little can go a long way. Understand that PVC doesn't necessarily just adhere two pieces together. It slightly dissolves the surface and the surfaces intermingle and bond together. Thin pieces of PVC like outside miters, you can deform the material with too much PVC cement. If you use PC cement and get squeeze out, don't wipe it across the face of your trim board. It can mar the surface and leave a slightly different sheen/texture. Finish nails can be used.
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Caulk can be flexible, however it’s a tough job to caulk at the floor. The caulk absolutely needs to be covered with paint, so it is really a tape job to ensure the paint completely covers all the caulk. It caulk is not painted it gets filthy at the floor level, and can not be cleaned. Shoe works if the tile is level, otherwise it is a very tricky job and obviously will still have gaps at the grout joints.
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bill_vincent
14 years ago
It can be done either way, but as the others have said the preferred way is to install the tile first. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, you can leave an open gap around the perimeter of the room that will be covered by the baseboard to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction of the structure. Also, because the edge will be hidden, you also don't have to be quite as exacting with your cuts. Once the baseboard is installed, you have a nice clean look to the installation.

If you install the baseboards first, now, everything has to be scribed, and done so very accurately, so as to show a uniform joint all the way around, this includes scribing to all door trim (and in case you think that's no big deal, I've included a picture). Also, once the tile is installed, all grout must be cleaned out of the perimeter joint, and that joint must be caulked to allow for e seasonal movement.

So it CAN be done, but it's not really recommended. Don't try this at home, kiddies!

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Floor tiles and baseboard

Comments (3)

MongoCT

toolbabe

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