Suggest to the builder that because there is no increase in labor you will happily pay the difference in materials -- maybe .25 per linear foot.

to me it wouldn't be worth the money. That $6000 could buy a nice vacation that will give you memories for a lifetime.

If you put enough furniture against the wall you will not even see the baseboard.

What is the height of your doors & ceilings? What size are your window and door casings? What style is your trim? For example, if you have 3 1/2" crown moulding, I think you need 5 1/2" base. It seems a 5K sq ft house should have some features over and above a 2K to 3K sq ft house.

Will try to ask if they let us install it ourselves to save the money or to not add any baseboards lol and we'll buy it ourselves and install it. I somehow doubt they'll let us though since they're a national builder

Yeah, $6000 is a lot. I'm not sure how realistic it is to be spending that much. Is that normal for baseboard upgrades? I'm wondering if that price is from when the lumber prices surged and they never brought the upgrade price back down after lumber prices dropped.

I don't have enough furniture to cover up the trim 😅

The height of the ceiling is 9 feet 4 inches (seems to be pretty common height for homes in FL) on 1st floor and 8 feet ceilings on 2nd floor with vaulted ceiling in the loft. The doors are 8 feet on 1st floor and 6'8 feet doors on 2nd floor.

Was planning on adding crown molding to the dining room since we aren't going with a tray ceiling in the dining.

Does that price included the window and door casings? Seems like the size of your home should have the extras added. We upgraded to larger trim and don’t regret it, but we signed a contract pre covid. Thankfully, we didn’t have to deal with the lumber up-charges!

acm - pardon my ignorance as I do not know any better but why do you say that? The reason why I ask is I have seen the trims go for 2-3 per foot but I'm not sure how many feet the house will be but I'm guessing it can't be 2000-3000 feet in trim. Or could it 🤔

K Latham - no, it sadly doesn't. The trim for the doors aren't going to be upgraded and will be standard. No window casings either. The upgrade is only for the floor Baseboards

If it were me, I would need to know the total upgraded price for everything. If it's a more modern style, the smaller, but more sleek style might be fine. Is the trim real wood or all mdf? Some "mdf" is no more than paper wrapped cardboard!

Also, if you DIY it later, are you counting on the extra labor and/or work involved with finishing it?

As far as wood prices, my husband bought all the trim to finish our lower level late last summer (2020). He was short a few pieces, and when he tried to order them in May or June (2021), the price had gone from $1 a foot, to $10 per foot, with a 12 week wait time!

Get a bid from an independant contractor ....(all the painters I've had over the last few years do a wonderful job with installing both crown and floor moldings). I think the upgrade is visually worth paying more... but $6000 seems a bit over the top.

If you are able to contract out for the finish work, can you get a "credit" on your build?

Mary and Kathy,

I would love to get an independent contractor but I don't think the builder would allow that during the build.

The only way would be to have them install the standard and then hire someone to come remove the standard 3.5 in floor trim and to add a taller floor trim afterwards.

We are anticipating of going for a modern look

I have a picture of what the 5.25 in baseboard looks like vs 3.5 in baseboard

Please also note there's one with 6 feet doors and one with 8 feet doors.

The one with 6 feet doors and standard floor trim is a build they're working on and the 8 feet with upgraded baseboards are the model home

Mary,

I believe the trim is MDF but I'll have to check with the builder. It looks like the 5 1/4 one from home Depot for $2 and some change.

I would be counting on extra labor to DIY later and I feel like it would be a lot of work but it may be worth it if I can save 3-4k.

Wow that's insane how much the cost went up. Hopefully it's more stable now that lumber has dipped. Not in my builders case though it seems 😕

MDF is fine for crown moulding. It can be a problem for window and door casing, also baseboard. The PROPER method for MDF trim requires it to be sealed on the back side before installation with an oil base primer. This will "slow down" moisture damage. As for baseboard or door casing, if you get water, the mdf trim can swell up and be ruined. This may not be an issue in your area. And if someone actually floods, it won't matter if they have wood or mdf.

At this point I would varify with the builder that the flooring is to be installed first,(easier to rip out, and prevent water damage when cleaning floors) the 5 inch is soo much nicer looking and because it seems to be important to you, if you don't do it, YOUR eye will always go there and you will have regrets....IMO.

Hi, Mike,

A 9' +/- ceiling demands a 5 1/4" base.

This is another case of a production builder's model home with multiple "upgrades" being different from what clients actually get. Production builders typically make 100% markup on "upgrades" so you can bet the actual cost of the change is only half--or less-- of what they've asked for. Shame on your builder.

Take this little test. Without removing your eyes from the computer screen, can you recall the height of the baseboard in the room you are in? That should tell you how important the height of the baseboard is.

Thank you for all the responses everybody!

We decided to go with the 5 1/4 as we would likely regret not having in afterwards. What we put into consideration was the amount of work it'll require to remove the existing trim, possible damages to the paint and wall during removal and having to do it ourselves or hire someone to save some money compared to doing it with the builder.

Not sure if the trim itself is MDF or actual wood. The design center person didn't know the answer to it. But as Mary said, if there's a flood, it likely won't matter if it's MDF or wood because that'll cause damages.

Mark, I can definitely visualize where 5 1/4 Baseboards are if my eyes are closed because I currently have it our house now lol.

I would definitely want the taller baseboards, but I have several thoughts on the topic:

- I suspect that even a small house has more baseboard than one assumes at a casual glance, and 5000 square feet is a very big house -- over twice the average American house, so -- yeah -- this is no small job.

- You're talking about high ceilings and tall doors. You need the higher baseboards to balance this out. Honestly, I'd rather see the baseboards taller than 5 1/4".

- I agree with the above poster who points out that this involves NO additional labor, and I would try to negotiate the price down.

- Do you have the option to upgrade in only some parts of the house? For example, upgrade the baseboards in the living areas, but stay standard in the bedrooms.

- Yes, MDF is fine for crown.

- Great test, Mark. I definitely know the size of my baseboards -- I'm the one who cleans them!

- You say you're working with a national builder. They start you with a low price, then profit-profit-profit from upgrades. This is their game; this is how they "win" at the building game.

Hi Mrs. Pete.

Thank you for your insights! Before the lumber went up, they charged $4300 but now it's $6020. This is including the labor and for the 5 1/4 upgrade. They do not allow us to customize which rooms we can have it in unfortunately :(

Yeah, the national builder is charging a lot for everything. If you buy the base home, it literally lacks a lot (White Walls only, 3 1/4 trim, carpet in all living areas sans wet areas, entry level cabinetry with level 1 granite, builder grade tiles which lack a lot of character and color). The cost to build with everything we want is getting towards the 20% base price of the home and it's so stressful.

We've omitted upgrading all the easier things such as door knobs, faucets, light fixtures.