Nail baseboards to studs or not necessary?

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farmerjohn1324

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Just paid someone to install a whole house full of baseboards. I have never done this before, and always thought you had to find the studs. He didn't. He just nailed them to the bottom plate of the wall.

This is normal procedure? They look good, I suppose.

Pics tomorrow.
 
As long as the nails are anchored to something solid it shouldn't make a difference.
 
quicker to install to the bottom plate so you don't have to find the studs as you go.
nail it low enough and it will be covered by the shoe molding.
 
quicker to install to the bottom plate so you don't have to find the studs as you go.
nail it low enough and it will be covered by the shoe molding.

The bottom plate is 1.5" tall, correct? (Because it's a 2x4).

What if they are 5" baseboards? Still okay to nail to bottom plate?
 
Any way to put them in without a nailer? With just a hammer?

Drive them in with a hammer, use nail punch to countersink, fill, sand, paint or finish. If it's hardwood, pre-drill first.
A neat trick to avoid marring the surface if you're not comfortable with a hammer is to nail through a wood shingle, into the baseboard. when you've driven the nail flush with the thin end of the shingle, snap it or pull the shingle over the finishing nail and then use the punch to drive it home. The shingle will protect the baseboard from missed swings of the hammer.
 
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Just paid someone to install a whole house full of baseboards. I have never done this before, and always thought you had to find the studs. He didn't. He just nailed them to the bottom plate of the wall.

This is normal procedure? They look good, I suppose.

Pics tomorrow.

This is normal.
 
The bottom plate is 1.5" tall, correct? (Because it's a 2x4).

What if they are 5" baseboards? Still okay to nail to bottom plate?

With tall trims I do what I call stitch nailing - one high, one low.
The high one needs to be in a stud.

Shorter trims can nail right into the sole plate.
 
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