Base molding protects the walls where they meet the floor.
Base molding is a protective coating that is applied to a wall at the point where it meets the floor. Primarily designed to protect the base of a wall from damage when struck by furniture and other objects, the base molding also provides relatively easy access to the area behind the wall when a space has been left between the bottom edge of the wall and the base. flat. While a strip of wood about 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) wide is all that is generally needed, decorative additions are added in almost all residential and commercial applications.
When interior walls are erected within a structure, they are typically made of drywall attached to vertical wood or metal studs called studs. In many cases, the ceiling height is slightly more than 2.44 meters (8 feet). In this case, the plaster wall rests on the ceiling, already laid, and a gap is left between the wall and the floor. The molding of the base is essential to hide this gap. Also, if future work requires access, it is sometimes possible to simply remove the baseboard instead of drilling a hole in the wall.
Although drywall provides structure to the interior space, it is not very strong. It will break easily when hit by moving furniture or many other objects such as vacuum cleaners being pushed hard. Even if the drywall doesn’t break, a hard blow, such as from a hammer, will crush the drywall contents, sometimes breaking the paper surface and leaving an unsightly dimple that will need to be repaired. Since the chance of such damaging contact is greatest near the floor due to moving furniture, the base frame is routinely installed, even when there is no room to hide.
The walls of houses and some commercial spaces are also usually protected by a frame called a chair rail, which is a strip of wood or plastic that measures from 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) wide to 6 inches (12.7 centimeters) deep. wide, installed between 32 inches (81.28 centimeters) and 40 inches (1.016 meters) from the floor, to protect the wall from damage that could occur when the back of the chair contacts the wall. Most residential applications also have trim installed where the wall meets the ceiling, but this is decorative in nature.
Base moldings in commercial spaces are often not as decorative as those found in homes and often consist of nothing more than a piece of flexible molded plastic that is attached to the wall using an adhesive. These base frames are extremely strong and durable and withstand the impact of moving furniture and cleaning equipment even better than their wooden counterparts.
Installation of the molded base is relatively easy. In most cases, the most important item is a board that is 0.5 inches (1.25 cm) thick by 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) wide, cut to the length of the wall on which It will be installed. If the wall is too long for a single piece of board, two pieces are joined using a simple butt joint. Once the main element is installed with its lower edge in direct contact with the ground, additional pieces are added. In many cases, a single quarter-turn piece will be installed where the bottom edge of the base meets the floor, and another piece, sometimes a quarter-turn, sometimes a warhead, and sometimes some other figure, is installed. at the top edge. There is an almost unlimited selection of designs to choose from, and there is not even any requirement that the main element be a 4 x 0.5 inch (10.16 x 1.25 centimeters) board, as long as the main objective be to protect the joint where the wall meets the floor. Once installed, the molded base is stained or painted.