before is much easier, after you need only to putty and paint the nails holes

I agree, it's easier to prime and paint before installing. That way, you just have to fill the 18 gauge holes, caulk and paint.

I usually see 3/8", in some houses I've seen 1/2".

You will need to cope, not miter those inside corners.

Paint first then touch up after it is installed. Carpet does not go under baseboard. It is tucked between the tack strip and the baseboard. I wouldn't leave such a large gap.

OK thanks...so I guess when the carpet is installed it doesn't go all the way to the wall? The baseboard is just supposed to sit flat on the bare concrete floor?

Wood should never sit on concrete. I would give it a little space incase in the future you want to remove the carpet and put in tile or wood floor

OK thank you.

First off baseboard from any of the box stores has a prime coat on them that is a disaster.

You need to roll on or spray on an oil based primer such as Kilz or? otherwise its like painting in mud.

Give the boards a light scuff with 220 after they dry.

If you don't prime with oil try Roman? 220? I cant for the life of me remember the name and number it comes in a green gallon and it really works wonders especially on drywall. It also works good on prepainted baseboard that are MDF as it seals the MDF.

Once you have them primed do as you said with using blocks to raise boards off of floor. If you painting and using MDF boards you cant cope them anyway so just use a protractor and caulk.

When you nail use a stud finder as just putting into sheetrock doesn't hold. You need 2 shot on every 16 one in the reveal and one in the bottom.

Do not use any type of joint compound to fill holes. MDF swells and when a water based product fills that hole it will swell and they will be visible. Go to Sherwin Williams they sell a yellow wood filler that works best and the yellow makes sure you don't miss it.

Caulk top of baseboard to wall. Paint baseboards making sure to get top and even go onto wall. Your final cut in with paint will be using your wall color to baseboard not the other way around.

If your a first time painter use simple Behr paint and primer and throw a little Floetrall in there. Use a good angle sash brush that has a good amount of spring to it as todays paints are thick. Buy a brush cleaner brush and it will last a life time.

As you can see it is a lot of work. As far as the height everybody will tell you something different so ask your carpet place where they want it. All paintwork should be done before carpet goes in except for maybe touch up.

Roman pRO 9999 RX-35 is the name it honestly works very well to seal anything.

Thanks wannabath for the detailed response.

This is not MDF, it's wood baseboard pre-primed...not from a big box store but from a small place that does flooring.

I've painted this same baseboard once before in a rental property, but it was installed by someone else first. The floor was all tile and the board just rested on top of the tile. The board is pre-primed and I painted it with SW Pro-Classic. The painting wasn't too hard but keeping the paint from getting on the floor was the main problem.

I do have a coping saw and have done coping before on some of the shorter baseboards.

My main concern was whether to install the boards first or do it after the carpet was installed.

The advantage to installing the baseboard before the carpet--from what I thought--seemed that I wouldn't have to worry that much about a little bit of paint getting on concrete floors, and I could caulk and cover the nail holes first and then just paint it one time instead of having to do touch up.

I'm not a carpet installer but I would put the painted baseboard down first. It's not hardwood, it's carpet. If you were just replacing carpeting because it got old, I don't think the installer would take the baseboards off to install the carpeting. The nail strips go right in front of the baseboard and tucked down and you won't get paint all over the new carpet.

clean the boards well, set them on sawhorses and give them one coat. now install them. Use wood filler for your nail holes, and sand w/220 when dry (or else they'll be rough looking globs). wipe down the board clean and apply your 2nd coat that covers the holes. If you did the wood filler/sanding correctly, you will never be able to tell there are nails.

Hey Beth, nice to see you...thanks!

If I did decide to put the boards in first, before the carpet, do the carpet installers usually leave some kind of scuff marks or minor damage on the boards from their installation process? Would I still need to do paint touch up after the carpet was put in if I did it this way?

My carpet installer did beat up my newly painted baseboards a little. I will do a little sanding and touching up. I don’t hold it against the installer.

Carpet installers are usually pretty good but you might need a touchup here or there.

I do agree with paint, then install, then paint again (or just touch up if you can get away with it). It's so much easier to not accidentally paint the wall when it isn't there!

Do they sell 3/8 inch high supports that you can stick under the molding and then pull out once the nails are in?

I could cut my own 3/8 supports with the mitre saw using a piece of wood but I wondered if they sold these. Thanks.

I have never seen supports. Usually the carpenter will cut a few scrap pieces of trim and use the trim thickness as a spacer. On new construction houses they install the pre primed white trim first, then fill nail holes, caulk and spray the trim before the carpet guys come. The painter will touch up if needed at the very end of construction.