Hardwood Floor —part 3: How to Trim

This is part 3 of our Hardwood Floor series. If you want to see other videos of the series, visit the following links: hardwood floor part 1: how to prepare hardwood floor part2: how to install hardwood floor part 4: how to stair and handrail

In this video we, are showing how to make a trim, and how to install trim.

Trim and finish 7.1. caulking, between wood and stone 7.2. Trim using finish nail Use the stud finder to find the wood stud behind the wall. 7.3. planer and sander to save money better color match than buying molding. If you have this kind of plain plank, how do you make this kind of trim? Use planer, file and sander.

If you want to see other videos of the series, visit the following links: hardwood floor part 1: how to prepare hardwood floor part2: how to install hardwood floor part 4: how to stair and handrail

For the full video tutorial, visit Genius Asian.

Complete Guide to Hardwood Floor Trim and Molding

Trim is what separates a professional-looking hardwood floor installation from an amateur one. The flooring itself can be laid perfectly, but if the trim work is sloppy — gaps along the walls, mismatched stain, visible nail heads — the whole room looks unfinished. This guide covers everything you need to know about making and installing trim for hardwood floors.

Types of Trim You Will Need

Different transitions and edges call for different trim profiles:

Baseboard molding: Covers the expansion gap between the floor and the wall. Standard baseboard height ranges from 3.25 to 5.25 inches. Taller baseboards give a more finished, upscale look.
Quarter round or shoe molding: A small, rounded strip that sits at the bottom of the baseboard where it meets the floor. It hides any remaining gap and accommodates slight unevenness in the floor plane.
T-molding: Used where hardwood meets another flooring material (like tile) at the same height. The T-shaped profile bridges the gap between the two surfaces.
Reducer strip: Creates a smooth transition from hardwood down to a lower surface like vinyl or carpet.
Stair nose: Covers the exposed edge of hardwood at the top of a stair tread. Essential for safety and appearance.

Making Your Own Trim to Save Money

Buying pre-made molding that matches your floor species and stain can be expensive — $3 to $8 per linear foot for hardwood trim. As shown in the video, you can make your own trim from leftover flooring planks or inexpensive lumber of the same species using a few basic tools.

Steps to make baseboard trim from a plank:

Rip the plank to width on a table saw. For a baseboard, 3.5 inches is a standard width.
Use a hand planer (Stanley No. 4 or No. 5) or an electric planer (DeWalt DW735) to smooth the face and create a slight chamfer or bevel on the top edge.
Round over the top edge with a file or a router with a 1/8-inch roundover bit. A sharp edge collects dust and looks unfinished.
Sand progressively: 80-grit, then 120-grit, then 180-grit. Finish with 220-grit if you are applying a stain.
Stain and finish to match your floor. Apply the same stain and polyurethane you used on the floor itself for a seamless color match. This is the biggest advantage of making your own trim — you cannot buy a better color match than using the same wood with the same finish.

Installing Trim with Finish Nails

Find the studs. Use a stud finder (Franklin ProSensor 710 or a simple magnetic stud finder) and mark each stud location lightly with a pencil above where the baseboard will sit.
Measure and cut. Measure each wall section and cut the trim to length. Inside corners get a cope joint (one piece butts flat against the wall, the other is coped to fit its profile). Outside corners get a 45-degree miter.
Nail it up. Use a pneumatic finish nailer (Bostitch BTFP12233 or similar) with 2-inch 16-gauge finish nails. Drive nails into studs wherever possible. If you do not own a pneumatic nailer, a battery-powered brad nailer like the Ryobi P320 works for shoe molding and lighter trim.
Fill and touch up. Use color-matched wood filler (DAP Plastic Wood-X) to fill nail holes. Let it dry, sand flush with 220-grit sandpaper, and touch up with stain and finish.

Caulking Between Wood and Stone

Where hardwood floor meets a stone fireplace hearth, tile entryway, or concrete threshold, caulking provides a clean, flexible seal. Use a paintable silicone-latex caulk (DAP Alex Plus or GE Silicone II for kitchens/baths) in a color that matches the lighter of the two surfaces. Apply a thin, consistent bead using a caulk gun and smooth it immediately with a wet fingertip or a caulk finishing tool. See our guide on making a caulk finishing tool for a DIY solution that gives professional results.

Alternative Methods

1. Pre-Finished Molding from the Flooring Manufacturer

When to use: You want a guaranteed color match without any staining or finishing work.

Pros: Exact color match to your floor, already finished, saves labor time
Cons: Expensive ($4-8 per linear foot), limited profile selection, long lead time if ordering
Difficulty: Easy (install only)
Estimated cost: ~$4-8 per linear foot

2. MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) Trim

When to use: Budget projects where trim will be painted, not stained.

Pros: Very affordable ($0.50-1.50 per linear foot), pre-primed, available in many profiles, easy to cut and nail
Cons: Cannot be stained to look like wood, swells if it gets wet, not as durable as hardwood
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated cost: ~$0.50-1.50 per linear foot

3. Flexible Vinyl Trim

When to use: Curved walls, bay windows, or irregular surfaces where rigid trim cannot follow the contour.

Pros: Bends to match curves, adhesive-backed for easy installation, water-resistant
Cons: Looks like vinyl (not wood), limited color options, can yellow with UV exposure
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated cost: ~$2-4 per linear foot

Tips and Tools

Tools for trim work: Miter saw (10-inch minimum), coping saw for inside corners, pneumatic or battery finish nailer, stud finder, tape measure, wood filler, 220-grit sandpaper, and caulk gun.
Tip: Always acclimate trim lumber in the room for 48 hours before installation, just like you did with the flooring. Wood that is too dry will swell after installation and buckle at the joints.
Tip: For cope joints, cut the profile with a coping saw and then refine the fit with a round file and sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. A tight cope joint is far superior to a mitered inside corner, which always opens up as the house settles.
Tip: Leave a 1/16-inch gap between the bottom of the baseboard and the floor. The shoe molding covers this gap and allows the floor to expand and contract seasonally without pushing the baseboard off the wall.
Tip: Pre-finish your trim pieces before installation. It is much easier to stain and polyurethane trim on sawhorses than on your hands and knees against the wall.

If you are planning to tackle the full installation from the ground up, start with hardwood floor part 1: how to prepare for subfloor assessment and material selection.

When to Call a Pro

Trim work is well within reach for most DIYers, but a few situations call for professional help:

Complex stair nosing and curved transitions. Stair nose trim on a curved staircase requires custom milling and precise fitting. A flooring installer with a stair-specific jig can do in an afternoon what might take a homeowner a full weekend.
Historic home trim matching. If you are matching existing ornate trim profiles in a pre-war home, a millwork shop can replicate the profile with a custom router or shaper setup. Trying to match a complex ogee or crown profile by hand is an exercise in frustration.
Large rooms with many transitions. If your project has more than 3-4 different flooring material transitions (wood to tile, wood to carpet, wood to stone), the number of specialty trim pieces and precise cuts adds up. A professional flooring installer has the tools and the inventory of transition pieces to handle this efficiently.
Refinishing entire floors with new trim. If you are refinishing all your hardwood floors and replacing the trim throughout, the scope of the project (sanding, staining, finishing, trim fabrication, installation) becomes a multi-day job where a crew with professional dust containment equipment is worth the investment.

For the next step in the series, continue to hardwood floor part 4: how to stair and handrail.

Always verify contractor licensing and insurance in your state. Cost estimates are averages and may vary by location.