Gap between baseboard and floor

[Niklas777]

Hello!

I am planning to sand the floor in a turn-of-the-century apartment and I was thinking of adjusting the baseboards in connection with this. What is the best way to fix the 5-7mm gap that has formed over the years between the baseboard and the floor? Currently, this gap is covered with a shadow list which is not the most attractive.

Is it possible to lower the bottom part of the trim? How would you do it? Best budget option? Best result? Time is also a factor...

Attached is a picture.


Thank you very much!

 

[A-Man_08]

I would have applied latex sealant and possibly painted over, a lot of work to replace.

 

[Microkatten]

I think your shadow list is one of the better ones I've seen. At my place, they've simply used an unpainted quarter-round to cover the gap.

You can probably lower the baseboards to the new floor level, but that likely involves a lot of extra work, depending on how easy it is to remove the baseboards and how the wall is affected by this, as well as how it looks behind the baseboards for the wall section that is exposed when the baseboards are lowered.

Your baseboard seems to consist of several parts, maybe you can remove/extend the bottom part without affecting the rest of the wall? Perhaps you can fit a strip at the bottom without dismantling the baseboard, then fill and paint it, making it invisible, as an extension of the current baseboard?

The third option is to leave it as it is now.

I would probably explore the option of the invisible strip without dismantling first.

 

[JohanLun]

Preserve the original, if you start removing it there's a risk of damage. If you have a good saw, cut some 5mm pieces maybe 1m long, push them into the gap, then apply latex sealant on it, not architecturally correct but reversible. Filling 7mm with sealant feels a bit too much. The budget alternative is to push a sealing strip or similar into the gap and seal on that...

 

[Tosse]

With Essve's acrylic 25%, you should be able to seal the gap. Paint over it. You can also insert a thin bottenlist.

 

[Niklas777]

In what order should the work be done? Paint moldings? Sand floors? Seal?

 

[Tosse]

I had sanded, grouted, painted.

 

[JohanLun]

Then many say that you should NOT sand the floors, that the planed and worn floor has a strength that is lost if you sand it. I have only read this, no experience (yet). An alternative to the large floor sander is perhaps to "by hand" (or with a small hand machine) just sand the varnish, not down to the wood, and then apply new varnish... I would at least recommend that you read a bit on the subject. In old houses, it often seems that the less tampered with, the better it is... But of course, you should still be able to achieve beautiful floors and baseboards. I also want to make a case for linoljefärg on carpentry. It is not as complicated as many think, and also positive for health and the environment...