# Installing rubber cove base



## J&J Home Imp.

ok so how many of ya'll do this quite often? I just did about 300 ft. today and lost my shirt plus it looks pretty bad. Not all of which is my fault but it went pretty bad. Had a really hard time getting it stick and most of the corners I ended up brad nailing which really sucked. What kind of glue do ya'll use and are there any good tricks for doing inside and out side corners? I know I am going to get called back on this job and I am not sure what I am going to do to fix it.


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## PrecisionFloors

A heat gun, top set gouge , and a vinyl tile cutter are your best friends for doing alot of cove base. It truly is an art, it takes practice and patience to do it right. Contact cement works well for outside corners.


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## J&J Home Imp.

Do you use pre made corners or wrap them?


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## PrecisionFloors

I wrap mine. Pre-made corners are cost prohibitive and not necessary imho.


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## J&J Home Imp.

What is your process for wrapping them?


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## PrecisionFloors

I use a gouge to remove material from the back side at the corner point where the piece actually wraps around. You need to remove just enough material to get it to "fold" around without puckering. Then heat the toe up a little bit with your heat gun and stretch it out by pinching it with your thumb and forefinger. Contact cement them on and thats is. On a big job I will usually do all of my outside corners first and then run off of them. I usually have my helper gluing them up after I make em. Its not as time consuming as it sounds once you get a feel for it. The quality of the base makes a big difference in the outcome as well. Hard, brittle stuff is a pita to work with compared to the nice pliable ones.


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## J&J Home Imp.

Well I will have to try some things on the next one. I always use Berke Mercer base and its pretty good stuff.


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## Floorwizard

I have also heard Mercer is preffered by installers.


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## J&J Home Imp.

Well the job that started this post is about beyond help. My install of the base is only half the problem, the rest of the problem was the hacks that did the floor so my base wouldn't cover. I told the owner that I would be willing to eat the labor on the base and do whatever is needed to make something look good even if tearing the rubber off was needed. Not sure what is going to happen but it was a good learning experience.


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## turner flooring

A Hot glue gun for the corners. Fater fix and is clear. But if you don't cut them right on the backside it looks like crap normally anyhow. Base installation is a hard thing to master. Finding someone who really knows this is far and few. Even the guys who know this don't know enough..http://turnerflooring2.com


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## csheafer

*Cove base installations*

Go to fcimag.com and subscribe to CFI - Floor Covering Installer.
It is a magizine for installers that your going to find VERY helpful.

Next, go here...
Here

Step by step instructions with pictures for a professional installation.

Tear out your installation and install with new procedures you just learned.


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## Demonseed

It depends on the gauge of the base (and composition, I deal mostly with vinyl wall base), in general for outside corners we use a razor knife to pierce the backing without cutting all the way through, notch it out, then we use a torch to heat it up, let it cool and it acts as a custom made preformed corner (yet on a very thin base, this will not work and generally torching should not be neccessary), like others here, we generally work on the outside corners first and work off of them. The inside corners are generally just a matter of marking, scoring, and miter'ing the toe. Yet in some cases, especially with concrete walls or walls out of square, you have to improvise.

Mostly we us Henry 440 cove base adhesive. I have seen people use a hot glue gun for outside corners, I have seen guys use power tape ( I would not recommend that). The premade outside and inside corners, aren't really worth the money, we did a job last month with them and they do not make the job go any faster and i do not think it looks any better. I would remove and replace all of the base, 300 lf is not that big of a deal, but we score the top of the base at an angle down with a razor or utility knife, then use a clean putty knife downward to remove it from the wall. You won't have to worry about any of the paint, wall paper, etc ripping using this method.

Now, I am guessing you mean the base is not covering the flooring, meaning you can see a gap between the flooring and the toe of the base? If that is the case there is a way to 'quick fix' that.


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## oskoo

*Cove base*

Here is a suggestion, what i do on corners, without glue, wrap your cove base around corner, and with a new sharp blade, follow your corner of the wall and cut down on cove base, following the corner, you will have a real nice corner that matches the cove base along the floor. Practice with pieces of scrap cove base first, all my customers like it better than the wrap, it give a nice point at each corner. Instead of a flat wrap. If you'd like some sample pics, let me know


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## Floordude

oskoo said:


> Here is a suggestion, what i do on corners, without glue, wrap your cove base around corner, and with a new sharp blade, follow your corner of the wall and cut down on cove base, following the corner, you will have a real nice corner that matches the cove base along the floor. Practice with pieces of scrap cove base first, all my customers like it better than the wrap, it give a nice point at each corner. Instead of a flat wrap. If you'd like some sample pics, let me know




Hahahahaha!!!!!


You have got to be kidding.... Right?

Seriously???

We have got to teach you about a Crain corner press, or preformed corners.


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## GoodHouse

I'd like to see some pics Oskoo if you have them. I cant remember what company made a tool for cutting outside corners but its similar to what your talking about. Its more like an outside miter cut like on a wood piece of base/trim. I've never done a corner like that nor seen one, but interested in what it looks like. thanks


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## Floordude

What area of covebase takes the most abuse???

The outside corners. Cut corners don't last long on commercials buildings. Just a vacuum bumping it, trashes the good looks of that cut outside corner.


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## PrecisionFloors

Floordude said:


> What area of covebase takes the most abuse???
> 
> The outside corners. Cut corners don't last long on commercials buildings. Just a vacuum bumping it, trashes the good looks of that cut outside corner.


Absolutely agree 100%. Then again most commercial crews could give a crap less what it looks like after the 31st day :whistling


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## Sir buildsalot

*Much easier then a top set gouge*

I use a simple $8.00 electric carcoal lighter. The kind that has the looped heating element to make outside corners. This works so much better I acually gave away my gouge. The element is the perfect diameter and makes really quick work of it. Just be careful as the thing gets up to somewhere around 1000 degrees. It only takes about a second to score the line with it and because it has the heat you don't need a heat gun. I don't even bring one along anymore. This WILL make PERFECTLY Square corners. As for inside corners don't bend the covebase for it. I just stop at the corner, miter the toe and start a new piece. Works great. I don't use a vinyl tile cutter either. I just use a scrape piece of plywood w/ one straight edge, a speed square and a utility knife. I set the covebase on the edge of the plywood, use the speed square over that making sure the edge of the cove and the plywood butt up against it and cut it. Perfectly square. I'm a small time repair guy. I can't afford the newest and greatest tools out there and really most of them are just junk and don't work better then some ingenuity.


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## BKM Resilient

J&J Home Imp. said:


> ok so how many of ya'll do this quite often? I just did about 300 ft. today and lost my shirt plus it looks pretty bad. Not all of which is my fault but it went pretty bad. Had a really hard time getting it stick and most of the corners I ended up brad nailing which really sucked. What kind of glue do ya'll use and are there any good tricks for doing inside and out side corners? I know I am going to get called back on this job and I am not sure what I am going to do to fix it.


***************************
Believe it or don't but I've hung easily over A HUNDRED MILES of rubber cove base. 

Under typical conditions a mile is just a tad over a weeks work so what I'm saying is that in the course of my 30+ years on the floor I've spent way over a hundred weeks slinging base. I hung base all day today and yesterday----just under a quarter mile in an elementary school. As an apprentice I worked on projects where all I did was hang base for 3-4 months. So that's got to be 10-15 miles right there and we're not even out of the 1970's

Man, my knees hurt just thinking about it!

Anyway, trying to paint this picture takes more than a thousand words but if you watched me do it for 10-15 minutes there's not much more I could teach you. It's really that simple.


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## [email protected]

Back in the Uk we tend to use a semi ridged PVC base in 6'6 (2m) lenghts, too stiff to wrap around so all internal & external corners are cut and mitered, as a trainee i spent years doing this, practise makes perfect and if done right the externals do not gape open, fixed with contact adhesive,

over in canada used Rubber base, much more flexible and comes on a roll so able to wrap around corners, very easy.

all base comes with fitting instructions so just follow them and you should be ok.

a point to note, some people on here have said about using heat to help mold the base around corners ect, this is never a good idea, all base be it rubber or PVC has a memory, over time it will always return to its natural size & shape before you applied heat, this is when the joints start to show and gaps appear and the adhesive start to fail, this can happen over hours/days or months/years depending on how much heat you applied.


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## BKM Resilient

[email protected] said:


> Back in the Uk we tend to use a semi ridged PVC base in 6'6 (2m) lenghts, too stiff to wrap around so all internal & external corners are cut and mitered, as a trainee i spent years doing this, practise makes perfect and if done right the externals do not gape open, fixed with contact adhesive,
> 
> over in canada used Rubber base, much more flexible and comes on a roll so able to wrap around corners, very easy.
> 
> all base comes with fitting instructions so just follow them and you should be ok.
> 
> a point to note, some people on here have said about using heat to help mold the base around corners ect, this is never a good idea, all base be it rubber or PVC has a memory, over time it will always return to its natural size & shape before you applied heat, this is when the joints start to show and gaps appear and the adhesive start to fail, this can happen over hours/days or months/years depending on how much heat you applied.


***********************
I agree 100%. Rubber base is gravy work as far as the skill involved. The only thing hard about it is if you're off you knees you're not working. The glue you will see everyone using here is Durabond 3001. Don't even talk to me about anything else. 

Never used a (hot melt) glue gun or a heat gun. In fact, I've never see a pro use one and I'm pretty sure we'd all get a good laugh if a guy tried to use one on a big job. It's just NOT how we do it. Contact cement is only for little returns that are less then 3/4" where there's not enough wall surface to grab the piece and hold it til the glue dries. On normal corners I paste both the wall and the base. Everything is pre-cut. 

Vinyl and plastic base are much more trouble to wrap outside corners with but it's still a matter of gouging and bending correctly before trying to glue. The idea that you should use brads, a glue gun, contact cement or a heat gun pretty much means you really haven't perfected the art of forming and adhering the corners properly. As the Brit pointed out, that's a losing battle. Learn how to form the corner and you don't need anything more than the same glue you're using on the rest of the piece.


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## Floordude

I use my Crain corner press and make perfect inside and outside corners.:thumbup:

I was going to post a picture, but I can't find it on the website.:furious:


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## [email protected]

can you post a link for the corner press, would be good to have a look at it.

never to old to learn more, just because i can do it one way does not mean there is not other ways worth looking at.


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## Floordude

[email protected] said:


> can you post a link for the corner press, would be good to have a look at it.
> 
> never to old to learn more, just because i can do it one way does not mean there is not other ways worth looking at.






They use to have it on their website, but I could not find the picture or anything about it.

It is a V clamp.


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## weflyfish2

*Don*

Check out a tool on the internet called, Top Set Cove Base Gouge. Works great.


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## TopFloor

BKM Resilient said:


> ***************************
> Believe it or don't but I've hung easily over A HUNDRED MILES of rubber cove base...a mile is just a tad over a weeks work...I hung base all day today and yesterday----just under a quarter mile in an elementary school...did was hang base for 3-4 months. So that's got to be 10-15 miles right there...


That is awesome, BKM. :clap:
Anyone who can measure his jobs in miles has done a buttload of base. I'll go way out on a limb and suggest that you probably have a decent technique. You should bill it by the mile.

*CUSTOMER*: (going over bid) _Lets see... Huh? :blink: 'Baseboard: 1/10th mile'??_

*BKM*: _Oh, yah... *sniffing confidently*... You know... 528 feet=1/10th mile, so, yah... :shifty:_


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## soxfan

I Powertape every outside corner. If I had a job with 25 outside corners I'm sure I'd hit 24 just right with only a gouge and regular CB glue; but that 25th is always a pain to fix. Even just replacing that one piece is a mess, the paint gets dirty, the floor gets dirty, etc... 2 4" pieces of Powertape and proper gouging gets it looking sharp the first time, every time, at least for me.

Oh and always roll/rub it onto the wall backwards. Rubbing it onto the wall in the same direction you're moving will always leave it stretched out just a bit which will go away over time. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me the last installers used tile mastic to hang the base which made it shrink, I'd have a good 40 or 50 bucks.


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## Casemill

Rubber cove base is a pain. Gouge out the outside corners really deep. I use a hot glue gun to stick them. Try to keep the cove base glue as thin as you can so it doesn't show through. If you are using premolded corners, I feel sorry for you. Making your own corners always looks better it you know what you're doing. A scrap piece of carpet works good for pressing it against the wall. It helps distribute the glue. Don't start at an inside corner. Cut the piece that has the inside corner about an 1/8" inch longer than it need to be. That will force the corner tighter against the crappy drywall job. Contact cement also works well for outside corners. I love installing cove base. Easiest money there is.


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## Floordude

Casemill said:


> Rubber cove base is a pain.... I love installing cove base.




OK, so you have been off your meds today.... :thumbup:


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## Casemill

Floordude said:


> OK, so you have been off your meds today.... :thumbup:


Yeah! If I could find enough cove base to install every day, all day, I'd do it. Easy money.


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## majesticmdg

so do u have a video let me see how u install ur base


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## construx

Installed some rubber base over the weekend and had a little trouble with the corners, but the main problem is the top just would'nt adhere! Don't know if it was the glue or what the deal was?? "Don't do enough to know what the problem is or a quick fix":no: Any suggestion would be nice!


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## BKM Resilient

construx said:


> Installed some rubber base over the weekend and had a little trouble with the corners, but the main problem is the top just would'nt adhere! Don't know if it was the glue or what the deal was?? "Don't do enough to know what the problem is or a quick fix":no: Any suggestion would be nice!


***********************

Some brands of base REALLY suck in that regard construx. Until you've handled quite a bit of all the major brands you wouldn't really understand the difference but I'll tell you that those difficult brands frequently create these kinds of curling problems. In some cases I suspect the material is past it's shelf life and lost it's resiliency. In other cases it's been mishandled. In some cases you could have a defect in manufacturing. There is also a good chance that you really don't know how to apply the adhesive under these slightly different circumstances and are therefore trying to use a method that works well on the other stuff but NOT in this case. You need to adjust the amount and style of application to make it work. 

What we do when it's just a handful of pieces that want to curl off the wall is try to manipulate the curl back the way you would with end curling on a cut of carpet or sheet goods. Just reverse roll it tightly to get that tension out. Then you have to be extra careful to glue every inch right to the tippy top and press the material correctly so as not to push glue and air upward.There' a knack for that after a while handling the more difficult products.


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## construx

Thanks my friend! We've ran everything & I had that feeling the whole time that the material & the glue was not very professional. The customer bought his choice of material. I think we're going to caulk in everything with matching colored caulk.


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## johnnyb1

Does anyone have a recommendation for a cove base adhesive that works well on non-porous materials like FRP? Also we're having trouble with water coming in underneath even after it has been sealed with silicone. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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## Groutface

PrecisionFloors said:


> I use a gouge to remove material from the back side at the corner point where the piece actually wraps around. You need to remove just enough material to get it to "fold" around without puckering. Then heat the toe up a little bit with your heat gun and stretch it out by pinching it with your thumb and forefinger. Contact cement them on and thats is. On a big job I will usually do all of my outside corners first and then run off of them. I usually have my helper gluing them up after I make em. Its not as time consuming as it sounds once you get a feel for it. The quality of the base makes a big difference in the outcome as well. Hard, brittle stuff is a pita to work with compared to the nice pliable ones.


I would like to aquire a gouge...I make a slice softly and shave the angle on each edge .....gouge sounds better , to hold it in place I use hot glue makes the corner stronger and holds right away.....PRIMO


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