The Front Entry: Shoe Molding

Yes, I am still plugging away at the front entry makeover, and installing flexible shoe molding was my latest task. As a quick reminder, last fall, I partnered with Spoonflower. They provided all of the beautiful William Morris reproduction wallpaper for this room, and Andy and I hung it together with the nailbiting twist that we ended up with zero usable pieces left. I’m not sure we could do that again.

After that, I tried to settle on a new paint color for the woodwork. So many of you thought the green was a perfect match, but it was always a no-go for me. In real life, it did not coordinate at all. Also, the paint job was over forty years old and in terrible condition. It was dotted with gouges and dings, and as old oil paint does, it had clouded over in some places. Eventually, I landed on the color Sail Cloth by Benjamin Moore, and I have been painting the woodwork in stolen moments ever since.

After I finished painting the baseboards, I turned my attention to replacing the shoe molding.

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What Is Shoe Molding?

Since many of you are old house lovers, you probably already know what shoe molding is. So, I’ll keep this brief. Shoe molding is a small piece of trim that fits at the bottom of the baseboard. It creates a finished look, and it takes the brunt of bumps and scrapes, so your beautiful baseboards don’t have to. In the scheme of things, the shoe is simple and inexpensive to replace or repair. Fancy original baseboards are not.

I’m about to lay down the only complicated part. Shoe molding is also called shoe base or base shoe. Quarter round is often used as shoe molding, but base shoe is an actual profile of shoe base. Are you still with me? To clarify:

• Quarter round is literally a quarter of a circle. It is commonly used as shoe molding.
• Shoe base is a different profile. At a glance, it is very similar to quarter round, but it is taller than quarter round. If you put four pieces of it together, it would make something similar to an oval with two nearly straight sides. If you ask for shoe base at a big box store, you might be offered quarter round instead.

All of this is relevant if you are trying to match what you already have or trying to purchase something new. Otherwise, it is FYI only. Here at BHH, the profile of the shoe molding is neither quarter round nor shoe base. It most closely resembles modern wood window stop.

Curved Shoe Molding

A feature that makes our entry feel special is a curved wall on both sides.

The two curved walls look beautiful, but off-the-shelf molding comes in straight pieces made of wood, MDF, or polystyrene. As-is, it is not flexible enough to round a curve without breaking.

There are several workarounds to this dilemma because craftspeople were solving these kinds of problems before any of us were even born. In fact, I imagine that rounded walls and baseboards were part of their regular repertoire, whereas nowadays, the labor to create a curved wall would be too cost-prohibitive for most people. In other words, we are cheap now, and most regular construction laborers do not know how to make it happen.

When I install the crown molding, I’ll go into all of these techniques more in-depth, but the workarounds include:

• Kerfing – making small cuts to the back of the trim to make it articulated.
• Piecing – This probably has a different official name, but it involves cutting the trim into triangles or angled pieces, then pushing the narrow sections together into a curve. For me, this would include a whole lot of trial and error since I almost failed geometry in high school. If you do it correctly, the trim should not require too many repairs or much fine-tuning.
• Plaster – Many old-style cornices were made from plaster cast from molds instead of wood. Plaster makes the most sense on crown molding since it is spared from too many bumps and dings over the years. Shoe molding made from plaster probably would not last very long.
• Steam – isolating the section of molding that you want to curve in a steam box is also a solution. The wood soaks up the moisture, and over time, you can incrementally bend the trim piece until you reach the proper curve.
• Flexible molding made from plastic polymers – This is a modern substitute.

Flexible Shoe Molding

Last spring, when we refinished the floors, I removed the original shoe. It was splintered and coated in layers of paint. The profile was nearly gone, and it was not worth salvaging.

When I removed it, I discovered that whoever installed it chose kerfing to round the curve.

I was open to that idea, but just for fun, I ordered a sample of flexible molding from FlexibleMillwork.com. Flexible Millwork carries many in-stock profiles that match the standard options sold at big box hardware or specialty millwork stores. They can also do custom runs if you need something extra fancy.

Although I was excited to try one of the old methods of curving wood for the crown molding, once I saw the flexible shoe, it made a lot of sense to me. The give of the rubberized piece would survive a lot of abuse. Also, it would last indefinitely, even if the rest of the shoe required replacing.

Installing Flexible Shoe Molding

After I received the sample, I intended to order two longer pieces to make the install easier. Then, all heck broke loose with COVID-19, and suddenly it was three months later, and my new renovation budget was zero dollars. I had one two-foot piece, and I would not be getting more.

Tips and Tricks for Installing Flexible Shoe Molding:

• Paint shoe base and baseboards before installing them. I swear that this is the most ignored tip I ever give, but it’s probably my best one. It is time-consuming and tedious to paint trim next to nicely finished floors or carpet. It’s also wasteful if you prep with painter’s tape. Avoid that nightmare by painting everything first—dab on touch-up paint at the end.
• Join flexible shoe to wood shoe with a scarf joint with the wood on top if you only have a short piece of flexible molding. The rigid wood will keep the rubber edge from pulling away from the baseboard around a sharp curve.
• While I made do with 12 inches on each curve, I recommend using a piece that extends at least 4-6 inches beyond the curve on both sides.
• SAFETY: Use a clamp to hold the flexible shoe firmly to the chop saw fence. The saw cuts smoothly through the plastic molding, but it does bounce a little. Without a clamp, the risk of a severe finger or hand injury is real. If the piece of trim jerks out of your hand, it will pull your hand right towards the saw blade.

I attached both types of shoe with a compressor and my brad nailer loaded with 1-1/2 inch brads. Since I was connecting it to the original baseboards, I did not use any adhesive. Construction adhesive was not necessary, and I was concerned that it would damage the baseboards in the future.

The flexible shoe was a hair thicker than the stock wood trim from Lowe’s. To compensate for that, I shimmed the wood trim forward, so the pattern lined up on the front. It was not an exact match, but it was close.

In a perfect world, I would have had a longer piece of flexible molding, and I would have ordered wood trim with the perfect matching thickness. This was a project about making it work, not perfection.

I filled in the scarf joints and nail holes with regular wall patch.

Once the patch dried, I sanded everything smooth and added a line of caulk to fill the gap between the top of the shoe and baseboard. Finally, I smoothed a coat of paint over the caulk and touched up the nail holes and scarf joints.

It is not perfect, but I am happy with it. It thrills me that I made it work without spending any extra money. Throwing money at problems is easier, but I get a great sense of satisfaction when I use what I have on hand.

No one will be coming to my house to lay on the floor to look as closely at my work as I do.

Eventually, I will fix the short plinth blocks. Previous owners undercut them when they installed the linoleum and vinyl that Andy and I removed when we refinished the floors. Currently, the short plinth blocks look a little silly.

In the meantime, the steps to the back staircase are looking their polished best again.

Wow! Seeing the photo below makes me realize just how far we’ve come with this hardworking entry.

The next task is the crown molding. I found some filthy mildew-covered pieces of crown hiding in the basement. I am pretty sure I can salvage them to reuse here in the front entry. After a good scrub, I can already tell that most of the pieces still have a lot of life left in them. Unlike installing the flexible shoe molding, I will have to rely on one of the old ways to round the upper curves. Cheers to another making do project.

How are you faring at your house? Is the new crush of work and school-at home taking over, or are you finding a little bit of extra time for household projects?

PS: Pin it for later!