# Baseboard height?



## BobbyD (Oct 1, 2006)

Need to install some baseboards in the basement, wondering what the correct height should be? The floor is concrete, no sub floor and will be laying carpet with an underpad. I guessing around 3/4 " off the ground, does this sound right?

Thanks


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## dayspring (Mar 4, 2006)

We generally hold ours 1/4" off the floor for carpet


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## Cole (Aug 27, 2004)

Carpenter's pencil on its side.


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

A scrap piece of whatever base i was using, (laying flat), worked great for me. Had plenty to choose from. 
Where there was vinyl, tile, etc. I'd hold off until it was down.


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## karma_carpentry (Aug 7, 2005)

I just did exactly that. I used two pieces of the actual carpet and made it snug but not impossible to tuck the carpet under. It turned out to be about 3/8", sometimes a little more due to uneven slab. But there's no underpad. Can you get the spec from the carpet installer? They should know.

I used concrete screws about every 2' - how are you fastening? Are you caulking to concrete or leaving it uncaulked? I decided to leave it uncaulked to not stain the concrete.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

1/2" here due to water. Tack + carpet few notice. Also allows for wire space,


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## thom (Nov 3, 2006)

Carpenter pencil laid flat, lift it just a bit so it's not held in tight. 

The idea is the carpet goes over the tack strip and under the base. No pad under the carpet on the wall side of the base so the carpet should be squashed some to make it look right. You don't want to see the bottom edge of the base, it should be into the carpet pile.


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## BobbyD (Oct 1, 2006)

I went ahead and used a piece of 1/2 drywall as my spacer. Everything looks great, just need to pick out some carpet:thumbsup: 


Thanks


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## Kane66 (Jan 5, 2007)

*Baseboard height*

little late on the reply. what i do for base instalation is cut some (approx) 4"x3" blocks of 7/16" (or 1/2") osb/ply and use them as spacers. this keeps the base at the same off floor heighth.


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## thom (Nov 3, 2006)

1/2" is pretty high. Use deep pile carpet so you don't see the bottom edge of the base above the carpet. It really needs to be pushed down onto the carpet pile to look correct.


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