What size nails for Quarter Round or Shoe Molding

How thick is your 1/4 round? If it’s 3/4 thick and you are shooting into baseboard, 1 1/4 brads ought to be good enough. What is behind the base? What could the nail be potentially shooting into?

Plus (and this makes it a bit more difficult to remove, but you want this stuff to stay on, right?) you could get yourself a tube of construction adhesive and put a little dab every foot or so. Watch that you don’t get it all over the place (that stuff can get messy quick), and that quarter round will stay where you put it.

Good luck!

-- If I could just get this whole "Time/Money" problem figured out...

Quarter Round will be 3/4×3/4…......

-- Wilson Boudreaux

Either, but why do you choose 1/4rd over shoemold ?

I have not found shoe moulding 3/4×7/8. They all seem to come 5/8×3/4.

I want at least 3/4×3/4 coverage.

-- Wilson Boudreaux

If you have base board that should cover the espansion joint,or are you just triming for a different look? shoe molding 1’’ or1 1/4’’,if you use quarter round 1 1/2’‘brads.put something under it for a small gap so the floor can expand and contract.It can be as thin as the cardboard cover for a book of matches.that is how I done my living room,400 sq ft.

Once I pull the carpet, i will know more about how much coverage I will need for expansion. If my base board goes to the floor, I have the option of using quarter round, or rent a flush cut saw, remove some base board 7/16 off the floor. That would give me the under-the-wall expansion that I need. If that happens I can use 5/8×3/4 shoe mouldlng.

If I choose not to cut the base board, then I would need 3/4 coverage.

Strange that you should mention a spacer under the quarter round I was thinking about that this afternoon.

thanks for the info…......

-- Wilson Boudreaux

I recently completed a very similar project. We also went with quarter round because raising the trim would require raising trim even in areas we didn’t refloor. I bought an 18 gauge nailer since the 15 gauge one was too big. I think as long as the nail fully penetrates the baseboard you should be fine, the only thing behind it at that level should be drywall and 2×4 bottom plate.

A few suggestions:
We repainted the quarter round and trim together so there wasn’t a visible crack between the two. It looks great but fill your nail holes with putty. The caulk I used shrank and were still noticable after painting.

I also used 13 mil plastic cut into 12” strips. I put it down first, then nailed the quarter round in place. Painted and then waited until the latex was almost dry and pulled it out. It worked really well, kept the paint off the floor, and pulled out easily.

A word of caution on a new air hose. I have an old one that I leave attached to the compressor and a couple that I only use when I need a longer run. The brass fittings on the other hoses still have rather sharp knurling on them and I got some scratches on the floor from it. If I was more careful or wrapped it with something that wouldn’t have happened.
-Brad

Brad that’s a good idea,you could cover the couplings with pipe wrap and tape it in place

YES BRAD…..great ideas. I had thought of having an old towel as a pad when I need to put the nailer down, but I had not thought of wrapping the brass work on the air line to avoid scratches.

Thanks to everyone for such great information. This forum is great…...!!!

-- Wilson Boudreaux

For wood-to-wood nailing, the length of the nails should be twice the thickness of the molding. If you’re nailing thru drywall, add the drywall thickness (typically 1/2”)

The size (gauge) should be as small as possible. If you can get away with it, 23 gauge pin nails wouldn’t require filling.

I find that business cards make excellent spacers between the flooring and the moldings.

As far as protecting the floor, an old towel should work just fine. The finish on engineered flooring is really tough so scratching is seldom an issue.

f you DIY your flooring, you can probably skip the 80 tooth blade. Your cuts will (or should be) hidden by your baseboards.

-- Adversity doesn't build character...................it reveals it.

Are you painting the moulding? At HD a lot of those smaller profiles are available in the white PVC and fake plastic wood looking material, which are both paintable with some scuffing up. A Delta chop saw is over kill, your cross cuts will all be hidden at the ends of your runs and you can just use your table saw and a miter gauge or a hand held trim saw, but I won’t tell your wife. The floating floors are all very slippery, so no spacer is needed when you put down trim moulding – just don’t bear down on it hard when you nail it. My wife and I did our entire attic, about 800 square feet in a weekend. Hardest part was I bought 69 cent a square foot stuff and it required a lot persuasion to click together. But any piece that had it’s edge damaged by the hammering block was saved for the ends of the runs where short pieces were needed.

Oh, and prepaint your trim. If you use a pin nailer you’ll only need to touch up your scarf joints later. Even then, plan your runs of trim so cuts are hidden behind furniture.

Well….today is a good day….

My Senco 18MG 18GA Brad nailer (with nails) came in an hour ago. I was comparing a 1 1/4 bard nail to quarter round on the wall, and it looks like the 1 1/4 length will work out very well. I have an ample supply of both the 1 1/4 & 1/1/2 nails should I feel one or the other won’t work.

The Diablo 80 TPI came shipped along with the Dewalt DW 713, has been installed and cut tested, so no issue there.

We were lucky enough to pick up the flooring (600 sqf) this morning (high rain percentages expected for the next four days). We leave for a bike gathering in Kerrville, TX on April 4th returning on the 9th. The flooring will have acclimated for more than ten days. (that’s good right).

We should begin the project around the 11th. We are so ready to get this done….... It’s all about bragging rights …....right….??

Thanks again for all the info…...!!!

-- Wilson Boudreaux

Hi Hazleton, For years I have been harping on my need for the Dewalt DW 713 or facsimiles. But I could never justify the purchase. That is until this project popped up. She knows the DIY project will have saved us some $1500 in labor costs, so she didn’t scream when I purchased $650 in needed tools….

I have always had the urge toward small wood projects, but we were so busy riding the countryside over the last ten years (thirty-eight states in ten years). well, I think the time is right for getting back into the shop and play with some wood….and the right tools will go for toward personal satisfaction…..right…..???

OH…..hope to use pre-painted wooden quarter round.

-- Wilson Boudreaux

Is the blade rated for cutting engineered flooring? I loaned my mitre saw to a buddy doing his floor and the blade was duller than mud when I got it back. When we did our basement we bought a blade specifically for cutting engineered flooring, it cut way better and stayed sharp the whole project… something to think about.

-- "Checking for square? what madness is this! The cabinet is square because I will it to be so!" Jeremy Greiner LJ Topic#20953 2011 Feb 2