Ok - this is probably the first of many questions I will have as I just got a sweet deal on maple hardwood flooring (I live near Dalton, GA) and am going to install it myself.

ISSUE: I am going to install 3/4 inch thick hardwood strip flooring in an area where I currently have carpet with baseboard at the wall. The baseboard sits about 1/2 inch off the subfloor.

QUESTION: Should I remove the baseboard before I install the hardwood or leave the baseboard intact? If the answer is to leave the baseboard intact, then how much space should I leave between the edge of the new hardwood and the existing baseboard?

I am a bit confused here because if I leave the baseboard intact it seems that it would impede the expansion of the wood, given that the hardwood will actually sit higher than the baseboard. But, if I remove the baseboard and reinstall it on top of the wood, it would not match the baseboard in the rest of the house.

Thanks in advance for any replies! Newbie jokes are welcome!

A common problem. You have 3 choices. Leave the baseboards as they are and install baseshoe after installing the flooring. You still leave a gap between the existing baseboards and the installed flooring. The baseshoe covers the gap. OR, remove the baseboards and re-install, making them higher than the other areas of your home. OR, remove the baseboards, but rip a 1/4" of the bottom of them so they'll match in height to the baseboards in the rest of your home. Your call.

Thanks for the reply, Gary. If I leave them there, then how much space should I leave between the baseboard and the flooring.

Most of what I have read calls for 3/4 inch between the wall and the flooring. If I leave 3/4 inch between the baseboard and flooring, there is no way that quarterround will fill the gap? Will they not impede the expansion of the wood if I leave less space?

Unless the area you are flooring is huge, you usually can leave less than that 3/4" that is often called for. About 1/2" is typically fine. On this board, we have discussed this expansion issue many, many times in the past. The consensus is that if a floor were to expand enough to fill up a 1/2" gap around the perimeter, you would have other, much more serious problems going on. The only way wood is going to move that much is:
1) it got flooded
2) it was very poorly nailed
3) it was subjected to extremely high levels of humidity for a long period of time

Any of these scenarios would cause floor failure anyway. Having a large expansion gap would not have saved the floor. Maintaining moderate temp and humidity, along with installing the flooring properly and acclimating prior to installation, will ensure that the flooring moves very little.

I totally agree with Gary here!!!

The expansion space is there so the walls do not get pushed off the foundation, if a catastrophic flood were to happen.

Well - that would be pretty far fetched, since it will be installed on the second story of our home in the hills of Northwest Georgia. Thanks for the info...we looked at it last night and I believe that I will leave the existing baseboard in place and lay the flooring about 1/4 inch off that and fill the gap with shoemolding. Thanks again - all I have to do now is figure out where I will send the kids while I do the work.