Do you know how to remove baseboards? If you are intimidated by attempting to remove trim, you are not alone. Removing baseboards is one of those tasks I always thought should be done by a professional. When I considered trying it for myself, my amazing (but non-handy) husband, Duane, gave me one of those –are you sure you know what you’re doing– looks, which gave me the motivation I needed to try 🙂
Scroll to the bottom of this post for a how-to video!
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How to Remove Baseboards
Aside from Duane’s lack of confidence in my abilities, the key element that pushed me to learn how to remove baseboards was running across a tool called the trim puller.
I purchased the tool on Amazon.The reviews were awesome and I thought, why not? So, allow me to share my experience, along with a detailed tutorial, and honest review from a true beginner.
Materials Needed
Step 1: Remove Caulk Seal
Run a box cutter along the entire length of the trim to break the seal between the caulk and the wall. Make sure you apply enough force to see a small gap. No need to remove the caulk. Hallelujah.
Step 2: Place the tool in the seam and pound
I recommend you watch the video at the bottom of this post to see a better demonstration. Be sure and hold the puller straight up (vertically) and pound from the top until it goes all the way in between the board and the wall.
Tip: Begin at one end and work your way to the other end of the trim.
Continue along the length of the wall
Step 3: Remove the trim and leftover nails
Once the entire piece is detached, gently pull the trim off. There will be some nails sticking out of the wall. Use the back of your hammer to remove them. You can also use needle nose pliers if you can’t grab them with the hammer. Using the hammer to remove nails towards the end of the wall can be tricky because walls and door casings can get in the way. Pliers will work better in that case.
Tip: If the nails are impossible to remove you can pound them into the dry wall, as the new trim should cover them up.
Watch the video below for a visual demonstration of how to remove baseboards and another tip of what NOT to do. Learn from my mistakes!
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Janice Thomas writes detailed tutorials for novice woodworkers and DIYers. She also works as a university professor in the health care industry. Have a question for Janice? Feel free to send her a message here!
Hello Janice,
Thank you for your very interesting presentation of Trim Puller on your great website, I reall enjoyed it..
If I may, I would like to point out, that the best practice is to start insert Trim Puller at the very end of the baseboard first and twist the handle in horizontal movements rather than up and down, and move along the baseboard about a foot or two to other end.
That is the bast and easiest way to make it work and most importantly prevents damage to either wall or baseboard.
I am hoping, that would be helpful to you and you may think of making another video using this technique.
Thank you for your time.
Kind Regards,
Ed
Hi Ed! Thank you for your comment! You are absolutely right. I did mention this within the post. It doesn’t show that well on the video, I admit. But I concur, starting at the end is the way to do it. I have removed a lot of trim with the trim puller and it works great despite my imperfect technique 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you Janice, that’s great.
Ed