In one or two places, I have a run of baseboard molding that has a few inches of tile flooring at one end, and the rest is carpet (which I am now replacing with wood). Here is an example, where the eat-in kitchen area transitions to the family room:



I am putting in 3-1/4" 623 molding for the rooms with wood flooring. This molding will be taller than the existing stuff, mostly because it will be above the wood floor instead of just on top of the subfloor. And it looks different.

Do you think that I should remove the grout so that I can replace this piece of molding? Or is there a more appropriate way to transition to the baseboard that I am using for the wood?

In other rooms I was fortunate enough to be able to transition at door casings or rounded drywall corners.

In the picture shown, where the base stops at the door casing, what is directly across from it?
Meaning, if you ran a line perpendicular from that point, would it run the whole length of the tiled room, or is that area a small pass-through between the two rooms, so you could possibly cut the tile back to the point where the base meets the casing? Then the new base would only sit on top of the wood flooring.

Does what I'm asking make sense?

The tile runs from that wall at the back of the house all the way to the front wall. It does a little bit of zig zagging as you can see in this picture. I really don't want to remove the tiles -- they make a nice separation between the family room and the kitchen. For reference, the close-up photo from my previous post (above) is at the right edge of the sliding glass door.



I'm thinking that I'll need to remove the baseboard (and grout) for it to look right. I can replace the grout that I remove, I just wasn't looking forward to it.

I see.

You say your replacing with taller base. Will the bottom be wider than the, what looks to be, 9/16" wide base you have now? It may cover where the grout is/was. Even if it the grout, or gap where the grout was shows a hair, you could shim the bottom of the base out a hair to cover it. I wouldn't shim it so much that it was noticable, but after its caulked you'd never tell.

If that doesn't work, and you do have to grout, at least its not very much.

I agree with bayside... you won't have to grout any. What you got now is casing for base and changing it to 623 3 1/4" is a good move. What I would suggest is to also dress up that patio door where the tile guy failed to undercut the casing. I have some photos showing an easy way to rectify that situation.

The main question is are you going to be installing base shoe along with the new baseboards?

The 623 base is 9/16" thick, but once I nail and paint it it may stick out a little further to get to 5/8". The existing baseboards are also 9/16".

Bayside, that's a good idea regarding the shim... The grout line is 1/4" generally, but along the wall there it is most likely thinner. When it comes time to install the new molding, I can dry fit it with a shim and see how it will look.

Jerry, it figures that my builder would use casing as base molding! I never liked how it looked, perhaps that is why. I really like the look of the 623 because it is nice and clean with a simple ogee at the top.

I am not installing base shoe unless I mess up and cut rows too short. Bruce's instructions call for a 1/2" expansion gap at each vertical surface (1/4" for glued or nailed). The 9/16" molding just barely gets me there, and on one or two walls there is a gap between the drywall and the ground... But mainly, the room is only about 17' by 13' and is separated by tile before it gets to another room with wood. So I figured as little as a 3/8" gap is probably fine.

What are your ideas for dressing up the patio door?

Thanks!