After 30 Years I Finally Learned The Best Way To Remove Baseboards!
Tools Used In The Video:
Titan Version Of The Red Pry Bar: amzlink.to/az041XaQggtgu
Terrific Cut Proof Gloves: amzlink.to/az0s9HyQE4yYa
Olfa Utility Knife: amzlink.to/az0Hrh3v7DLj1
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Canadian Links:
Terrific Cut Proof Gloves: amzlink.to/az0QB961NImeW
The Best Linesmen Pliers: amzlink.to/az0qTaMqK1AMX
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DISCLAIMER: This description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and purchase something, I’ll receive a small commission.
Baseboard Sale Update:
I have still not finished removing all the baseboards! I have been side tracked making other videos.
Thanks for watching and helping support the channel:)
... Some good tips here, Thanks - When you cut straight into the sheet-rock (along the top of baseboard) use a light touch; going too deep on that cut is never good. I'd recommend going once across lightly (straight-in), then a second time with the knife pointed towards the floor. Always good to make sure you get fully through the caulk bead (as illustrated) - Always ends up a little harder than it looks !! Thanks Again and Good Luck
Talk about excellent timing! Planting this "excercise" this weekend 🙂
Tips like these are normally learned at the cost of years of experience or if you are lucky, from a good mentor. Thanks for being a good mentor!
You've just helped me immensely with baseboards I need to remove (and keep) in my 100 year old house. Thank you!
Wonderful! Best wishes on the project:)
Presuming it's solid wood and not shitty glued particles, you're off to a good start of the trim not breaking!
@@lukas______ It was built in 1920...
Very helpful video with clear and concise direction and tool recommendations. Thanks!
Excellent video and tips! I wish I saw this last year when pulling off all the baseboards to put new flooring in. Luckily I’ll be able to use your tips in the near future. Thanks!!
Hey, loving the channel. Doing trim along my foyer because…wife. Had a bunch of miter cuts on the trim not line up because my walls are wonky in the corners. I’ll be putting what I learned from your videos to work when I actually get time again!
Great tips...many thanks! The horizontal cut tip is brilliant. Love the door stopper too. Your channel has saved me countless headaches. Much appreciated!
Thank you very much for watching, I'm always happy to hear the tips are making it into the real world:)
great tip if demoing a newish build. my homes boards were glued and nailed and screwed and painted over 10+ times
Great tip, thanks again. By the way, I followed your guide for perfect caulking.....awesome result. Cheers from Ottawa area.
Absolutely loved this video!!!! Gotta love a body, that knows what tool is needed, and how to use them!!! You earned an instant follow for this video alone!!!! ❤
Great tips. An addition to the Richard red bar is the Richard wall scraper multi tool, sharpen the bevel and using the two of them together, base mouldings and caulking lines don’t stand a chance.
Great technique, thanks for sharing! As a last resort if you have nails sticking out of the wall from the old moulding, you can also hammer them into the drywall.The odds are almost nil that you'll hit the spot that the old nails are at when you add new moulding or re-attach the old moulding
Excellent video thank you! So many helpful nuggets 😊
Good stuff. I use a broad spackling trowel with front edge sharpened to cut the caulk and the pry it out, but the use of the knife to cut the paper and caulking...that will come in handy.
Flawless technique!!
I came to this video with the attitude that I wasn't going to learn anything new, but you made me eat my thoughts. Thank you.
Subscribed ! This guy is awesome and funny .
Very informative Video. Thank you.
Great video - thanks so much for sharing! One of my favorite channels! 😃
Thanks Darren
Great advice!
I use end cut nippers to pull nails. Rounded on both sides. I have a tool called the Hooker. Found it at a garage sale. Split fork prybar with a teardrop shaped nail puller and a small square double hammer head that I use for baseboard removal.
NIppers are the way to go IMHO. At least with the pair that I have. I don't know the brand. It is an old set my dad had and they work great.
Super good tips here... love that you get to the point without 20 minutes of fluff. I use the small pry bar and a Goldblatt trim puller (G02807 I think)... its like the Zenneth, but has a hinge in place of the "bump out" on the blade. IMHO, it seats better and more fully behind the trim, reducing the chance for it breaking.
Excellent tutorial! Thank you!👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Really good for when you want to move or add outlets
Great info. Thank you for sharing.
I've found that a slightly sharpened cement trowel can be very useful to remove baseboard and door casing. It is also great to back up a pry bar so as not to damage drywall.
That horizontal cut tip is a game changer!
Thank you, excellent video/advice!!!
Cheers buddy, and thanks for the support
What a great video.
Nice. thank you
thanks, dude. this is great.
thanks buddy, I appreciate you watching!
I thought I would see a stiff taping or putty knife slid in behind the base first so you can pry against it instead of drywall. You might need to do that with the big ol' nails used in the old days when they hand nailed up trim.
I used to do this quite often and the technique I developed was to use several nylon/plastic automotive trim tools; and some of the slender, black, bulk pack shims from the orange store. After releasing the caulk if it has any, I use a putty knife to create an opening for the auto trim tool that looks like a shim, but is very slender and smooth. I insert the trim tool just enough for the pressure of the molding to hold it in place; then repeat a few inches away and so on and so forth. Once I get about two feet down the wall, I give the first one or two auto tools a very light tap. If that opens the gap enough for the black shim, I replace the tool with the shim. If not, I continue down the wall. Eventually I end up with multiple black shims holding steady pressure against the nails. Some light taps make space for a finger and I can feel what is good or bad for pressure. This is smooth as smooth can be and I never lost a piece of molding after I mastered this technique.
Thanks!
Wow you guys really like your caulk
Gold. Thanks!
Good tips yes. Been doing that for many years and im 40. My dad taught me. And taught other guys when i was cabinet makers. Even taught the boss who owns the business for 40 plus years.
What a great tip! Incredible how you were able to use your mind powers to make the crowbar disappear 😂
Lol my son laughs his head off when I tell him the story of me trying to become a Jedi Knight from the ages 10-15.....Who am I kidding im still working on it!
As a painter I appreciate this video.
I bet! I've got a video coming out in a couple weeks you might get a kick out of. Called: Can a Knucklehead Carpenter Get Pro Results With a Paint Sprayer?
Thanks Funny Man. Do you remember those of us who were early to your “party”? With 377k…. You can quit your day job! LOL
Cheers Jim🍻I sure do
I've carried a red bar like that in my tool belt for over 30 years. The one I have today is blue (lost the damn red one last year). The only thing I would add is that that same red bar (blue in my case) is excellent at removing the caulk from the wall and the baseboard. Been using it that way all along. Cheers.
Someone stole my red one and I'm stuck with a shitty blue one too!
That's a great tip, its going to save me heart ache at least once a week:)
The cutting the drywall paper? I'm not sure why I never though of this but it sure works great!
Yeah, its a real face palm moment. @@TheFunnyCarpenter
I love you (in a non-creepy way) lol, I have learned so much from your videos.
The hook of that pry bar works well for scraping of the caulk line
I use two joint compound spreaders. A twelve inch and a six inch. Either one will cut the caulking. After slicing the caulking being careful to keep it next to the wall push it in and slide the second one behind it and pry the baseboard away from the wall.
This is why we apprentice. I learned that the first day on the job. Pencil, hammer, cat's paw, tape, Olfa, paint bar. Your six best friends.
Nice tips, can you do a video on cameras that we can use to look what is behind the walls? Say one that you hook up to your apple phone? I found termites outside the home and wonder if they got inside behind the walls. Tks
Thank you thank you!
Happy to help!
So I'm trying to removed the baseboard trim in my house to lay new flooring, but the previous owners decided to not only nail into the wall, but also nail from the moulding into the subfloor at some points, any tips on how to remove the trim and moulding safely for reuse?
Awesome I’m always looking for used baseboard 😂😂😂
This "Richard Red Bar" that you speak of, has been around since 1851. It was invented by Langstroth for beekeeping, and is called a hive tool. Over the years, many tradesmen have used the hive tool because of it's incredible properties. In time, it finally became so used by many people outside of the beekeeping industry, that it, like other tools, has become a common tool. "Hive tool" doesn't necessarily grab a a person's attention for anything other than beekeeping, so a name change is applicable (insert Richard Red Bar, lol). There were two grades to the hive tool after half a century (early 1900s): the basic that wasn't painted or shiny. But the hive tool rusted over time if forgotten outside or in your garage in a damp climate, so an upgrade was made that wouldn't rust. In the 1990s is when the tool predominantly was bought as the red and silver version. And now you have the rest of the story, and not from Paul Harvey. I'm a retired tradesman who started as a commercial beekeeper. Have built sports star mansions, apartments, track-homes, commercial buildings, and built stuff for Google in western US. I've travelled and lectured on bees, having been heavily involved in raising a new breed of honey bee in the 1980s. So, been there, done that, as a top flight professional in both vocations...and laughed at "Richard Red Bar." Makes sense, though, and makes no difference to the masses what it really started out as 170 years ago.
Thanks for the info Norm:)
fantastic comment. Thank you for the knowledge.
Never heard of a "Richard's Red Bar", must be the American version. Mine are "Richard's" and they are "red", but they are referred to as a "glass bar" or "glazier's bar". I would usually do that entire job with only a glass bar.
@@CraftAero As someone who hasn't worked with those things, it definitely looks like one of those things that have several specialities and does them really well. A jack of all trades perhaps, but sometimes that is exactly what you need. (Or in this case, a bar of all trades.)
For the nails left in the baseboard I've taken to just cutting them off flush with the backside using an angle grinder, leaving the stubs in the trim piece. I've found it to be easier and quicker than pulling and it doesn't do any further damage to the trim.
I do the same staying mindful of their location when shooting nails upon reinstallation. If you accidently shoot over an existing nail, who knows which way and where that new nail will wind up. Through hard knocks, I have had the new nails curl around making a bit of a mess in that trim I worked so hard to repurpose.
@mrogers1329 That's what putty is for. 😁
You are absolutely correct and I have used my fair share of that stufff.
Any tips for removing baseboard with coped inside corners and not destroying the ends? I find that they end up destroyed, especially when nailed into the corner through the narrower portion on colonial base.
Hey carpenter fella. Ive been at this for 45 years in hundreds of years old homes. I often use a razor knife to start scoring the paint caulk line around the room. Then I prefer to start loosening the base with a heavy 6" mud knife prying out. After and or during that depending on how secure it is I add a flatbar and use together until no mudknife needed. Then two flat bars or a hammer flatbar. Using the flatbar against the mudknife avoids crushing soft spots in drywall with no wood backing and creating extra mud repairs.
Use trim screws to install will make removal super easy.
As an industrial tradesman this came naturally to me, but kudos to you to educate those with little experience working in an unrelated profession. 👌
cool... I'm going to need this here in not to long I'm going to upgrade my front bathroom soon.. get rid of a pedestal sink with a floating vanity, hang a small cabinet new mirror and light plus new tile floor..
Best wishes with the project!
Haha, that thumbnail remind me of an old house i had in Kingston, On. The walls sheeted with the small old style sheet rock, plastered over with about 1/2 inch of cement mortar, followed by a 1/4 inch of plaster. And probably 30 coats of paint. I pulled a baseboard off, thought i had cut thru the paint. Well, I didn’t. The paint stayed attached to the baseboard, and peeled off in a huge sheet. It stayed together, and i used spray adhesive to glue the paint back on to the plaster before removing the baseboard properly. The plaster was sanded smooth as glass, i`m surprised the paint stayed on to begin with.
It's handy to have one wide, thin putty knife to slip between the wall and the pry bar. It's also a good excuse to buy an oscillating cutting tool for the weirds spots that are hard to pry apart without damage. Oh, and comfy kneepads are danged good to have.
Damn, this is therapy...
use the multitool to cut off screws remaining on the trim. then you don't have to deal with holes on the other side. wear eye protection. after you get pulled out a bit a large prybar works if you put something between it and the drywall like a 12" square of 1/4" plywood.
Thanks for the great tips. You show the Richard Red Bar, but link to a bar by Titan Tools. Any reason for that?
There's not a real reputable seller for the Richard's red bar on Amazon. The titan bar is a bit cheaper but it's almost identical. I own both.
I'm glad I knew this at the age of 14. Thanks dad!
It may have been your channel that I remember that the multitool is good for removing caulk. I can't remember the exact application, but couldva multitool have been used here some way?
I'm going to do this in like 20 years. thought i'd watch how to do it properly now.
Another way to pull the trim is to pry off of the floor and lift the base upwards after cutting the caulking. This will pull the base up and away from the wall and not tear the paper loose; then you can just pull it off the wall. I can pull all of the base in a house in about ten minutes this way.
I'll have to give that a try, thanks for the tip:)
@@TheFunnyCarpenter I’ve been installing flooring for 37 years; it probably took me the first 10 to figure that out 😄
The Richard’s red bar comes in 7 1/2 or 10 inch. Which one do you recommend?
I like the 10"
So you have my red bar!! Yea it does have my name on it! 😂
Lol that's probably my 10th one! They easily go missing on job sites!
Ever covered fixing a 'bouncy floor' ? I have one room that has the exact same flooring as my entire upstairs (appears to be a ~1" thick hard wood, tongue and groove perhaps?) BUT for some reason this room has an excessive bounce that makes the whole room kinda shake just when someone walks in. You can tell from looking at the floor against the trim (where the ~2"wide planks are perpendicular) on one side of the room that there's clearly a wave; high > low > high > low > high... you can tell with a ball on the floor or even sitting in a computer chair because you roll away. Problem is, i cant tell if this is the floor, subfloor, or a problem underneath without what looks like TEARING UP THE WHOLE FLOOR? yikes, it might not even be reusable even if its "only" nailed/stapled down. My guess is this was either just installed before allowing it to acclimate and therefor the flooring itelf is just squishing; but if they nailed or stapled every piece down then it still shouldnt have bowed this much? or perhaps its only secured on the parallel (plank long-ways) sides of the room and thats why the swelling is bowing... IF its as simply as getting one side up and just letting it self 'level' and then maybe trim the one edge side down and stuffing it back in under the trim /securing again so it doesnt get tons of gaps that'd be great. Problem is I have no idea how to get this flooring up to just check if this is an easy fix, hard fix, expensive fix or if/how to keep the flooring reusable if for some reason i had to take the whole thing up (worried about floor/color matching).. I pulled off trim on one side and found some nails but not a clue how to get these out with such little clearance against the wall and nothing to take nails out or pound them through easily to pull up one edge. TIPS? TRICKS? IDEAS? Appreciate any insight people here might have.
Outdamnstanding video...Thanks for sharing.
👍👍👍.Thanks
Cheers mate
30 years?! I learned that after ONE baseboard. Imma need to see your credentials.
It took me a minute to discover this wasn’t the caulk shaving video I was looking for.
if i have to pry very hard to remove the base boards a wide putty knife under the pry bar spreads the psi to a larger area , reducing chance of damaging the drywall.
Love my red bar, but I'll add one more tool...a putty knife for the red bar to put pressure on.... Commented before you pulled the putty knife out haha 🍻🇨🇦
It's hard to say which is handier, the red bar or the 2" putty knife.
@@TheFunnyCarpenter I would have to say the putty knife, only due to the width of it, and the ability to cut the wallpaper off at the edge of the upper part of baseboard. I've used the red bar to remove materials off the trim, but the flexibility of the putty knife is more handy for cleaning, before reinstall. I tell people "let me remove your trim/baseboard to make it cheaper on you", because nothing worse than laying flooring, and dealing with that pesky space under the existingtrim, and installation issues at the end.
I use the big bar that you advise against...but get some old smooth timber cladding 2ft long and use it behind the bar to ensure the load is transferred along the wall and not a point load behind the bar that messes up the drywall. I've done away with all that faff of nails, glues(horrendous- think about the next time the skirtings need to come off and destroys the drywall!), filler, sanding etc... I just use 40mm x 3.5mm pozi screws and sink them in flush then a dab of paint over the top.... Our 15 year old laminate will soon need replaced and the skirting boards will be a doddle now...lets face it, most skirting is hidden by clutter, plant pots, tv /media stuff and furniture.... Last skirting boards I did I took the gloss off back to the wood with a heat gun, even Nitromors is garbage these days and the heat is way cleaner/safer...repainted with self priming sartinwood...
Forget all of that. Put a scraper blade on your oscillating multi-tool and run it down behind the top of the baseboard. Fast, Efficient. cuts through the caulk without cutting the paper on the drywall. Gently pry the baseboard away from the wall while you do it. Done. Easy as pie.
Cut the caulk, find the first stud, pry against it and then pull the board off with your hands. This will ensure you dont screw up the drywall.
I wish it was this easy, lol. My baseboards are driven in with something like 3 inch hand hammered nails, 2 per stud, top and bottom.
Even my girlfriend stayed to watch this video! (note to self: Don't shave for a bit) Haha, I wanted to see if they sold, but I guess that is going to be a wait, since it was 12 minutes ago the video came online. We bought a house from 1923, and boy.. crooked doors, mice, roof leaks, the works, but I have all of these videos to learn from!
Ya I should have gone into this in a bit more detail....well I did but I cut that part out because I was rambling big time! But yah it's key to keep your leverage points below the finished drywall. Which is very easy to do with the red bar, or even the zenith trim puller.
We have 50s. It's crazy how low the standards were
@@mattymattffs if it still stands after 70 years the standards werent that bad. most houses built today wont last half that
@@bmxscape That's just because of all the updating people had to do. Especially when you look at electrical, the standards were criminally low. Takes someone immoral to install wiring like this.
Hey, how about an update on your tractor. You like it? Using it?
I ended up the a John Deere 1025R. I love it! I got a box blade for it and probably use it every couple weeks to touch up the driveway. The snow blade will be in heavy use pretty quick.
Get some pallet forks - Once you put them on you will never take them off! They are more useful then the loader bucket - I hope you got quick attach for the loader@@TheFunnyCarpenter
Have you ever used wooden wedges instead of a doorstop or pry bar - for real wood mouldings (baseboard, door trim, etc) wooden wedges are slick (5 inches long, 1 1/2 wide and 3/4 thick) - they are also slick for separating a lot of other things too where you don't want to damage parts - I keep a bucket full of various sizes in hard wood and soft wood - they have been traveling with me for 30 years - They get constant use!
Wooden wedges are a godsend! I used to get the greatest wooden shims from the cabinet company that I worked for. They were so precise and pointy. One day I got a great demo on how they made them on the table saw. I will hopefully make a video about this in the future. Wooden wedges are the best!
Wooden Wedges are a staple of the building conservation industry - Indispensable for very controlled dismantling when you don't want to damage the parts. I have jigs for the table saw and bandsaw - the bandsaw ones are a bit rougher but the bandsaw jig is a bit safer in my opinion - wedges are also interesting as folding wedges - I have even cut some out of HPDE and PVC trim recently to push the last course of concrete blocks up under an existing sill - then tuck pointed and filled the cores. When I was taught to weld my mentor used steel wedges all the time to align, clamp and move the parts. Steel wedges have gotten pricy as of late. The utility of wedges, rollers and levers seems to be lost knowledge these days. While I like the Red Richards Bar I also strongly recommend the 12" www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/tools/hand-tools/pry-bars/32014-restorers-cats-paws?item=60K2108 @@TheFunnyCarpenter
Selling used baseboard online is pretty wild.
I did flooring for a time. All we did was take a utility knife along the edge of the base board.
didnt the cut proff gloves get a cut? ^^ can be seen at 2:59
Great technique. Any tips for removing baseboards that have been glued to the wall?
You can try a 4 or 6” putty knife and see if that will slice the glue.
0:00 Wild guess.. A knoife? 0:05 Guessed right, it’s a knife
where is the link to the other pryer
That tool looks like a hive tool for moving frames in a beehive.
I'm not even in the business, my dad showed me how to do this. When pushing against Drywall with a tool, put a board between the drywall and the tool. The force from the tool will be dispersed on the larger surface and will not damage the drywall. Same principle as walking on ice... disperse the weight so it doesn't crack... Physics.
nice....removing old big quad in a corner?...quad used instead of trim on door jamb to tiny walk in bathroom (between two wardrobes)
Putting a wallboard knife or putty knife behind the pry bar when prying can prevent the pry bar from damaging or denting the wallboard when prying off the baseboard.
That's what I've done. Still being very careful, though.
Oh damn I used to cut just like that. Not anymore, thanks
I do like you cutting with knife horizontally . I'm surprised that in this video board where fixed with thin pins. I my self use screws. So after repeated kicking over the years they still will not gona come off.
Also: "Don't be the lazy dingbat who lays your new tile floor and just butts up your tiles to your existing baseboard, burying the bottom ~1" under the tile!" I can't express how annoying it is to pry the baseboard back, cut all nails with an oscillating tool and spend your time shimmying the baseboards out, praying you don't crack your tile, then having to add quarter round to the new baseboard to hide the immense gap!!! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!
2:06 beehive tool
Its caulk. Caulking is an action.
You are almost there, but there is an even better way. Knifing the top edge is critical, if the base is caulked or painted to the wall. Next step, take a hammer and driver the corner of a 6" drywall taping knife behind the baseboard. Flex the blade so you can tap the end of the handle without damaging the wall. As you are tapping the end of the knife with your hammer, slowly swing the knife so that the handle is vertical. Drive that knife until the blade is about two thirds behind the base. Now grab another knife and do the same thing, in the exact location, slide the second knife behind the first and gently tap it into place. The taping knives are now stacked behind the baseboard. Now you can drive a flatbar (Wonderbar) between the knives and lever the base off the wall, while never doing any damage to the wall or baseboard, as you have a thin, tempered steel plate on each side of the prybar, spreading the prying force, and preventing plaster, drywall or trim damage. Once you start, you no longer need to hammer the knives, just slide them as you easily pop the trim off. Be aware that this will booger up those knives, so don't plan on using them for drywall finishing when you are done. I learned this from an old renovation carpenter, and I have removed thousands of feet of trim with little damage.
Know tells you to sharpen your puddykife with a file. just to replace a dull edge not sharp.
good tip