What to do about baseboards and electrical outlets?

10 years ago

We're getting new flooring out in throughout the house. It was going to be on out DIY list to slowly change out all of the tiny baseboard to thicker 6 or 7 inch plain. But our flooring guy said that if we take out all of the old baseboard and buy the new kind, he will cut and install it free of charge.

My question is what to do about all of the low electrical outlets? The new baseboard will hit right in the middle of the outlets. Cut out room from the baseboard so the outlets stay flush with the wall? Other suggestions? It's happening next week. Hiring an electrician to move outlets anywhere is cost prohibitive.

woukd you do 6 or 7 inch baseboard for ceilings that are 10 ft high?

Featured Answer

User

10 years ago

Since moving the outlets is cost prohibitive, the other option is to do cut outs in the base molding to fit around the outlets. How that is done depends on several things.

First, stained or painted base? Either way, the cut outs need to be done before staining or priming/painting.

Second, how will the cutouts be done. Simply cutting out to go around the plates will look kinda odd, unless the base molding is a simple rectangular stock. If there is any detail to the top of the molding, some kind of detail needs to be applied to the edges of the cutouts. Could be as simple as a round over or angle routed on the edges. Or a bit more complex with a Roman ogee profile.

A third suggestion is to add returns on all the exposed edges made from the base stock.

All those ideas will require a lot more work than simply installing the molding as usual. It will have to be cut and altered, primed/stained and finished/painted before installing.

It is really nice of the floor guy to include installation, but any of the above means a lot more labor and not what he anticipated. So, discuss how and what would be best for you, and pay the extra labor. It will still be way less than moving the outlets.

You might ask if he would prepare the moldings and let you finish, but that would require a second visit, so more labor/time on his part.

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Comments (10)

Stephanie Mantilla
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you very much! They will be simple rectangular stock baseboards. There will be around 30 outlets total. Our floor guy was with us in the house when we brought up 6 inch or higher baseboards but maybe he didn't realize all of the outlets we have and where the baseboards would hit.

I'll bring it up with him and see what he says about cutouts.
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talley_sue_nyc
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Can you talk to an electrician about whether there's enough slack in the wiring to shift your junction boxes down a couple of inches, or up? If there is, you might be able to DIY something like that.
talley_sue_nyc
10 years ago
Also--10-foot ceilings can take a high baseboard. Maybe you could go w/ a 9" baseboard, and cut out holes in the middle of the flat board.

I have 10-foot ceilings and a very tall baseboard. I've never measured it, but I'm thinking 8" or 9".

And I have outlets smack in the middle of the flat section of the baseboard. That's a fiddlier cutout.

I'll try to take a pic tonight and post it.

Here's an interesting discussion where the guy decides to bevel around the outlet.

http://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/27561/how-can-i-trim-around-an-electrical-outlet

Here's a how-to, w/ good detail.

Maybe your guy could do the big cutouts, and you guys can come along later and add all the beveled pieces.

http://workabouthouse.com/blog/2015/3/23/how-to-put-baseboard-around-an-outlet

(My 1921 baseboards are composed of a flat board, with a separate piece of decorative molding along the top, and a separate decorative shoe molding at the bottom. You could progressively add detail that way!)
User
10 years ago
those bevels are good looking, especially with the rounded top base, but way more than necessary for plain flat base molding. My idea was to make the cutouts and simply add the bevel(45°) with a router.router bit
talley_sue_nyc
10 years ago
Maybe the folks who did that bevel had a miter saw, but didn't own a router.
User
10 years ago
Those pieces are a bit too small to be safely done with a miter saw.

There are usually several ways to do any job. The main factors are cost and time. Time is saved by having better/more/proper tools. While the results shown in your examples look good, those have to be done by a DIYer or at least on a DIY basis simply because the time involved for a pro would be enormous. Plus, the pro would have the router/etc. to do the job much faster.

I'm not belittling any DIYer, but the idea I got from your original post was the floor guy would install the base trim immediately after finishing the floor. At least that is how I did jobs like that.

I kinda doubt he would ---or should ---be held to the extra labor to make/finish cutouts for nothing.

I also see you asking questions about learning to do small jobs by yourself, which I am all in favor of seeing folks learn.

so, I try to help, not seem to belittle anyone's ability or tools.
sloyder
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
you could mount the electrical outlets in the baseboard old school horizontally, and patch the hole in the wall. another option is to just raise the outlet higher.
randy427
10 years ago
You could extend the receptacles from the wall, using plastic junction box extension rings, just enough to frame them with 1" wide pieces that are the thickness of the baseboard. Then install the baseboard around the receptacles.
summilux
10 years ago
I faced a similar problem when replacing our baseboards after refinishing the floors. Depending on the baseboard style, randy427's solution is a great idea. My short term solution was to raise the outlet box enough to clear the receptacle, then cut off the bottom part of a HD oak cover. Eventually I'd like to make a solid cherry frame to match the baseboard and have a window that will expose the immediate surrounding portion of a cherry outlet cover.