I've just completed the first small bit of my flooring project. This is the first time I've installed wood flooring, so I've really found this discussion board and hardwoodinstaller.com to be absolutely invaluable! Thanks, everyone!

I would like to get your opinions on how to finish the baseboard molding that I will be installing into the rooms where I am putting in wood floors. I've picked a 623 ("Colonial") style, 3 1/4" tall in unfinished pine. The flooring is Bruce American Originals Maple 3" planks. The existing doors and door casings are painted white and I am leaving them as is. The wall color will vary by room. I would like a nice but still casual look when this is all done.

I'm considering leaving the molding as is, with just some coats of semi-gloss polyurethane on it. Or, I could stain it and then poly. I'm having trouble getting a good stain match to the maple flooring on some test pieces that I've tried. With Minwax "Vermont Maple," the match is pretty close but the yellow streaks in the pine look bad.

What do you all like for your own homes or homes that you've worked on? Do you think it will look "unfinished" if I leave the pine its natural color with just clear polyurethane? Would you stain? Would you paint?

Here is a picture of the room I just completed. You can see the pine moldings laying on the Bruce maple floor:

I would paint same as door casings. Now if the door casings were not white, perhaps matching the floor.

I agree with Ken .. Did them both ways ,and the stained base kind of looks out of place with the white door and trim .. I would also set a couple of paper clips on the floor , nail the base , and pull the clips .. this will allow the wood to expand .. you won't notice the gap the thickness of a clip ..

Thanks, guys. I really like the wood look, and would have preferred replacing the doors and casings with natural wood as well, but I didn't feel up to the extra effort and expense. So I guess I'll be painting the base moldings white!

Thanks, Nick, for the tip with the paper clips. I assume this is just to remove friction between the moldings and the floor, so the floor can expand without scraping? I am floating the floor everywhere except the stairwell.

If you nail the base snug to the floor sneakymoose , it won't be able to expand at all ..

Also, it makes it makes painting the baseboards easy, since you can slide paper or plastic underneath.

Gotcha. Thanks, again!

Maybe it's just me, but I've always liked white base. It kind of frames the flooring. Like a picture frame.

To me, stained base that matches the floor looks like the floor is trying to come up the wall. Same with 1/4 round.

Match your existing trim.

You get too much exposed woods of different species and it starts to look bad, IMO.

I finally got a chance to finish this room! Here is a photo with the white trim.



Thanks for the advice, everyone. I actually took photos at every major step of this room. You can see the rest of them if you like.

Looks good sneakymoose .. Enjoy your new floor .. Make sure to get some felt for the furniture ..

good choice on the trim contrast is always a nice touch