You know that weird feeling when you have been living with a carpeted floor and now you decide to laminate the floor with tiles, wood or stained concrete, and when you do it it’s lower in height than the old carpet.
You think that you have got a problem because now you have to remove that expensive flooring and redo the whole place again.
Which is a very expensive procedure considering the fact that you will have to do it twice.
So to avoid such expenditures you started searching for solutions and came across something called a quarter round molding.
What Is A Quarter Round Molding?
As the name suggests quarter round is a convex molding with a cross section in the form of a quarter circle
. A variation is a base shoe, a quarter of an ellipse quarter round molding has two sides that form a 90-degree angle, and the third side forms a curve that equates to one-quarter of a circle.
What Is The Use Of A Quarter Round Molding
Quarter round molding is used to close the gap between baseboard molding and the flooring.
It is typically used as a decorative build-up element in mantels and other architectural features, and at the lower edge of baseboard to hide any gaps between it and a floor.
How To Cut A Quarter Round Molding With A Miter Saw [5 Easy Steps To Follow]
This is the million dollar. So let me explain step by step as to how you have to cut a quarter round molding with miter saw.
Tools You Will Need
- Quarter-round molding
- Paint/stain and varnish (preferred)
- Tape measure
- Carpenter’s pencil
- A miter saw or manual miter box and back saw
- Earplugs and an eye protection
- Electric brad nailer
- Wood glue
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Start Off With Measuring The Base Of Rooms
As the first step in your expedition, you will have to carefully measure alongside the base of the walls where you want to attach the molding by using your measuring tape and a pencil.
Now, make an estimation of the total length you would require for each of your rooms.
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Measure The Quarter Round Molding
Once you have successfully managed to accurately measure the base of your rooms, you should proceed to the next step and in order to do that you must start measuring the length of each quarter round molding you have.
I suggest that you write these measurements down preferably on the back of the quarter round molding so that you do not forget or confuse the measurements with another piece.
start from an inside or outside corner at the ends of each room. I would recommend you to mark each and every piece of molding with a straight line by using a tri-square.
At the apex of the tri-square, you must mark a vertical line down the sides of the extra piece of your wood.
This would be helpful for you in determining which side of the line should be cut.
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Proceed With The Cutting Of Quarter Round Molding
In order to cut the quarter round molding you must position one of the ends of the molding inside your miter box just in the same way how it would be installed through the base of the walls.
Now carefully place the molding with the miter box’s wall. align your hand saw with the marks that were made during the previous steps.
While doing so, you must make sure that the rounded edge is up and also facing forward.
You must not forget to cut on the sides along with the vertical line while sitting outside this line in such a way that your measurement is accurate.
I suggest that you keep the thumbnail right on the line and drag your handsaw towards you in order to start off with your first cut.
Slowly start going deeper and get a deeper groove, in this way you will get the job done faster than usual.
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Align The Angles
When you are successfully done with your first cut, make sure you use of the scrap piece of your molding in order to secure the next piece attaching to it to have the appropriate angle.
In order to do it correctly just set the extent of your molding above the scrap piece and mark a line on this.
The line you make must match the angle of the initial length. Now, make a cut onto the scrap till the marked line.
Now you should Put both these pieces on your floor and see whether the length and scrap pieces are matching exactly.
If yes, utilize this piece of scrap molding for cutting the next attaching length of your molding.
When you are done with the previously mentioned steps, make sure you carefully install the quarter round molding on the desired location in your house, work place, or where ever you want.
To install this, I suggest that you use wood glue. Wood glue is also known as furniture glue or white glue.
The usage of glue will provide better adhesive qualities and will help you do a permanent job.
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How To Reduce The Time Of Installation
The common idea about this job is to use an electric miter saw but that will create a lot of mess with the chips and waste so one must use a miter box or maybe a hand sliding miter saw, because the cuts used for quarter round molding are minor and do not require any heavy equipment.
The process can be made much easier by using an air compressor and a pin nailer.
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Additional Tips
Usually in home trim projects having a partner to help you would be very useful
When you’re cutting a long piece of quarter round, extreme focus is required and the extra pair of eyes and hands is always very helpful, they can hold one end of the quarter round to stop it from moving during the cut or falling after.
Home trim projects typically require long lengths of quarter round to complete so make sure you are well stocked.
Using a workbench or a clamp would be helpful in keeping your quarter round stable with no wiggling and movement.
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Safety Measures
The fact that you’re using a power tool means that you should follow some ground rules to keep yourself protected and safe.
- wear ear protection
- use eye protective goggles
- make sure that you are wearing a pair of work gloves
you should practice using the tool before using it. Use it on old scrap parts or waste material ∙
Reading the user manual is also very essential so that you get to know the working of the tool inside out and are familiar with its controls and mechanics
∙ at all times you should be attentive and cautious and you should keep a sharp eye to see where the blade is cutting