I also like the look without the quarter round molding... so I do not have it in my house!

Oh yeah! I'm so happy to hear this. I was dreading the addition of the shoe moulding! I'm very happy to hear that it is optional. Worthy, thank you for the link to doorstop mouldings. I'll talk to our GC today! Thank you both. Jaymie

yes, pure;y a matter of taste. I like the look of built up moldingd, and we added the quarter-round at the base board.

We used 2x6 for base and have no quarter round. I love the smooth, clean look. We have the 2x's on both stone and wood flooring. Be sure to tell the hardwood installers you will not be using quarter round so they have this in mind during installation. It does make a difference with them.

Allison, I was just squinting at some pictures of your trim this morning trying to decide if you had a shoe moulding or not, so I'm glad you chimed in. I think the proportions and clean lines on your trim are wonderful. I will make sure to have our GC coordinate this with the floor installers. Thanks for the pointer! Jaymie

We preferred the square look without mouldings for our house. We're happy with the results.

I had shoe moulding in combination with the wood floor in the condo I recently sold, and have it with the wood AND tile in the house i'm building. One of my DD's has wood and tile, and doesn't have it, but I don't think she or DH even thought about it.

IMO, it's a personal choice, and I chose to use it because I thought it looked more finished off.

And just for the flip side...

Many people I know choose to NOT have it because it gives the impression that the molding is there to hide flaws and/or sloppy work!

Thank you all for you input. It sounds like this is MOSTLY a personal preference, but here is my follow up question. My GC is advocating the shoe moulding for the following reason.

Our site finished hardwood floors were installed and then the base boards installed over them. Right now, the base boards look wonderful with no gaps between the base board and floor. However, our GC says that in the future, when we sand down and refinished the floors, there will be a gap which will become more pronounced each time the floor is refinished. The advantage to having the shoe moulding is it can be removed, the floors sanded and refinished and then the shoe moulding is put back on, but set a little lower. I suppose the shoe moulding could be added at a later date if the floors are refinished, but for those of you who have site finished hardwoods and no shoe moulding, how do you plan to handle this?

TIA again for your input! Jaymie

We refinished the flooring in our old house several years ago, and I don't remember having that much of a gap issue (although we did not have to sand that much off of the floors). We're planning to have site finished hardwoods in the new house, and I had not planned to use shoe moulding. I would say wait on the shoe moulding, it can always be put on later if that is an issue.

The floors in my house - which was built in 1966 - have been sanded ONCE (in the mid eighties).

If that is the only concern... I wouldn't worry about it!

Thanks. You're confirming my initial reaction that this wasn't a big deal. I think I'll wait until the floors are finished and everything is painted, but I'm thinking that this isn't an issue either. Thank you for responding! Jaymie

No shoe moulding here either. I'm sure trim carpenters love moulding because it hides sloppy work! I think clean-lined, unadorned trim is elegant in it's simplicity.

"Right now, the base boards look wonderful with no gaps between the base board and floor."

The problem you have now is that wood expands and contracts as the moisture content changes.
Normally narrow in the winter during heating season and wider in the summer during cooling season.
You will see it in the gaps int he hardwood floor between the boards also.
When the baseboard shrinks gaps will open up between the bottom and the floor. The wider the baseboard the larger the gap.
If you set the baseboard tight in drier conditions it can even cause splitting and crushing of the wood fibers when it expands between the nails holding it and the flooring.

By using smaller and smaller sections of wood the movement is decreased and the resulting gaps are less obvious.

Jaimielo,
I have seen the additional shoe molding in older homes. I prefer to keep everything clean-looking. - no shoe molding here.
I am looking forward to see some of your pictures.
Good luck!

My home is brand new, higher end - and we paid extra for the shoe molding - just because i like it (DH opposed - a little, but I won) Either way is okay in a new home. Someday - when you refinish, it will need shoe molding.

{{gwi:1454301}}

(oops, that's a CLOSE UP I posted to someone else! Anyway - you get the picture!