Installing rubber cove base - Page 2 - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

BKM Resilient · 07-08-2009, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian@prosource

Back in the Uk we tend to use a semi ridged PVC base in 6'6 (2m) lenghts, too stiff to wrap around so all internal & external corners are cut and mitered, as a trainee i spent years doing this, practise makes perfect and if done right the externals do not gape open, fixed with contact adhesive,

over in canada used Rubber base, much more flexible and comes on a roll so able to wrap around corners, very easy.

all base comes with fitting instructions so just follow them and you should be ok.

a point to note, some people on here have said about using heat to help mold the base around corners ect, this is never a good idea, all base be it rubber or PVC has a memory, over time it will always return to its natural size & shape before you applied heat, this is when the joints start to show and gaps appear and the adhesive start to fail, this can happen over hours/days or months/years depending on how much heat you applied.

***********************
I agree 100%. Rubber base is gravy work as far as the skill involved. The only thing hard about it is if you're off you knees you're not working. The glue you will see everyone using here is Durabond 3001. Don't even talk to me about anything else.

Never used a (hot melt) glue gun or a heat gun. In fact, I've never see a pro use one and I'm pretty sure we'd all get a good laugh if a guy tried to use one on a big job. It's just NOT how we do it. Contact cement is only for little returns that are less then 3/4" where there's not enough wall surface to grab the piece and hold it til the glue dries. On normal corners I paste both the wall and the base. Everything is pre-cut.

Vinyl and plastic base are much more trouble to wrap outside corners with but it's still a matter of gouging and bending correctly before trying to glue. The idea that you should use brads, a glue gun, contact cement or a heat gun pretty much means you really haven't perfected the art of forming and adhering the corners properly. As the Brit pointed out, that's a losing battle. Learn how to form the corner and you don't need anything more than the same glue you're using on the rest of the piece.

Floordude · 07-08-2009, 06:13 PM

I use my Crain corner press and make perfect inside and outside corners.

I was going to post a picture, but I can't find it on the website.

ian@prosource · 07-10-2009, 10:16 AM

can you post a link for the corner press, would be good to have a look at it.

never to old to learn more, just because i can do it one way does not mean there is not other ways worth looking at.

Floordude · 07-11-2009, 10:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian@prosource

can you post a link for the corner press, would be good to have a look at it.

never to old to learn more, just because i can do it one way does not mean there is not other ways worth looking at.

They use to have it on their website, but I could not find the picture or anything about it.

It is a V clamp.

weflyfish2 · 11-10-2009, 09:37 PM

Check out a tool on the internet called, Top Set Cove Base Gouge. Works great.

TopFloor · 11-11-2009, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BKM Resilient

***************************
Believe it or don't but I've hung easily over A HUNDRED MILES of rubber cove base...a mile is just a tad over a weeks work...I hung base all day today and yesterday----just under a quarter mile in an elementary school...did was hang base for 3-4 months. So that's got to be 10-15 miles right there...

That is awesome, BKM.

Anyone who can measure his jobs in miles has done a buttload of base. I'll go way out on a limb and suggest that you probably have a decent technique. You should bill it by the mile.

CUSTOMER: (going over bid) Lets see... Huh? 'Baseboard: 1/10th mile'??

BKM: Oh, yah... *sniffing confidently*... You know... 528 feet=1/10th mile, so, yah...

soxfan · 11-12-2009, 06:03 PM

I Powertape every outside corner. If I had a job with 25 outside corners I'm sure I'd hit 24 just right with only a gouge and regular CB glue; but that 25th is always a pain to fix. Even just replacing that one piece is a mess, the paint gets dirty, the floor gets dirty, etc... 2 4" pieces of Powertape and proper gouging gets it looking sharp the first time, every time, at least for me.

Oh and always roll/rub it onto the wall backwards. Rubbing it onto the wall in the same direction you're moving will always leave it stretched out just a bit which will go away over time. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me the last installers used tile mastic to hang the base which made it shrink, I'd have a good 40 or 50 bucks.

Casemill · 12-01-2009, 12:51 AM

Rubber cove base is a pain. Gouge out the outside corners really deep. I use a hot glue gun to stick them. Try to keep the cove base glue as thin as you can so it doesn't show through. If you are using premolded corners, I feel sorry for you. Making your own corners always looks better it you know what you're doing. A scrap piece of carpet works good for pressing it against the wall. It helps distribute the glue. Don't start at an inside corner. Cut the piece that has the inside corner about an 1/8" inch longer than it need to be. That will force the corner tighter against the crappy drywall job. Contact cement also works well for outside corners. I love installing cove base. Easiest money there is.

Floordude · 12-03-2009, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casemill

Rubber cove base is a pain.... I love installing cove base.

OK, so you have been off your meds today....

Casemill · 12-03-2009, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Floordude

OK, so you have been off your meds today....

Yeah! If I could find enough cove base to install every day, all day, I'd do it. Easy money.

majesticmdg · 01-02-2010, 12:24 PM

so do u have a video let me see how u install ur base