How to cut a 45 degree wood baseboard

Ceilings

Ceiling plinth performs not only a decorative function, visually separating the walls from the ceiling, but can also hide the joints of various finishing materials of the ceiling and walls. Not every interior design involves the use of a skirting board, but more often than not, the overall look of the room seems incomplete without it. There is nothing complicated in fixing this element. fillets. almost all types of skirting boards are attached with glue. But the question of how to properly cut the ceiling plinth in the corners of the premises can confuse many. Indeed, even in the simplest room there are internal corners, where the plinths of the ceiling plinth must be precisely and beautifully docked. And in a more complex configuration of the room, you will also have to dock the skirting boards, performing the outer corner. In this article, we will look at various options for how to cut a ceiling plinth with and without tools at hand.

First you need to figure out how to cut the ceiling plinth, the answer to it depends on the material from which the fillet is made. At the moment, we sell ceiling skirting boards made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), expanded polystyrene (polystyrene), polyurethane and wood.

PVC ceiling skirting boards are the cheapest. Dents and creases are easily formed on them, which cannot be repaired, so the product must be thrown away. Also their disadvantage is electrostaticity. the ability to attract dust. You can cut them with a sharp construction knife or hacksaw.

Styrofoam ceiling skirting boards are also cheap. This material is very fragile, it easily crumbles during processing, therefore, it is necessary to cut the expanded polystyrene with a sharp knife or a hacksaw on metal, without making too strong pressing forces.

Ceiling skirting boards made of extruded polystyrene foam are slightly more expensive than polystyrene foam, they are denser and more difficult to cut. However, they crumble less, making them easier and more comfortable to work with. Cut with a construction knife and a hacksaw for metal.

Polyurethane ceiling skirting boards are the most expensive at the moment. They are durable, elastic and moisture resistant, can be easily cut with a construction knife and do not crumble. The disadvantage of polyurethane skirting boards is their dependence on temperature changes. For example, over a gas stove, a polyurethane skirting board will permanently deform and crackle slightly. If you try to process or cut such a skirting board, it may bend or deform in other ways.

Wooden ceiling skirting boards are dense, heavy products that can only be cut with a hacksaw, preferably with fine, dense teeth. You can also use a cloth for metal.

Before proceeding to the enumeration of the methods of how to properly cut the ceiling plinth, I would like to note that there is a possibility not to cut the plinth with great precision. There are special corner pieces on sale into which the edges of the skirting board are inserted. In this case, it is enough to cut the plinth strip at an angle of 90 °, and the corner element will hide all the flaws. But this method is not always used, since the dimensions of the corner elements are slightly larger than the skirting boards themselves, so the corners in the room will stand out against the general background. Sometimes it can look bulky. However, if the design of the room allows the use of corner pieces for ceiling skirting boards, it makes sense to use them. Further instructions will be useful to those who nevertheless decided to accurately cut the skirting boards at a given angle.

How to trim the corner of a ceiling plinth using ceiling markings

Marking the skirting board on the ceiling also allows you to cut the corner evenly and accurately. The only drawback of this method is that it is difficult and inconvenient to keep the plinth plinth suspended during the cutting process. Otherwise, you can mark the cutting angle in this way even more accurately than in other ways. Applying the skirting board to the installation site, all wall flaws and deviations in the corner size are immediately taken into account.

How to measure and cut angles for baseboard, crown moulding, etc

Cutting the corner of the skirting board:

• First of all, two workpieces must be cut at an angle of 90 degrees.

• We remove this bar and apply a striker, also resting its butt against the wall. We outline the line.

• The point of intersection of the outlined lines will be the mark at which the skirting board needs to be cut.
• Again we apply each bar in turn and mark the cutting point on them.
• We draw the line from this point to the other edge of the plinth.

We cut off the skirting boards along the outlined lines, join them and apply them to the installation site. Please note that this method is more convenient to cut the inner corners.

How to cut a corner of a ceiling plinth using a miter box

The miter box is a simple carpentry tool that allows you to cut the workpiece at the desired angle. Most often it is a plastic, wood or metal tray with vertical slots for cutting at an angle of 90 ° and 45 °. There are also more complex miter box designs. for cutting at angles of 90, 60 and 45 degrees. For more professional work, a miter box with a swivel mechanism is used, where the hacksaw can be fixed at any angle to the workpiece.

How to cut a skirting board with a miter box. inner corner:

• We apply the plinth to the ceiling, measure the required length.
• Then we install the plinth strip in the miter box so that the position coincides with the position of the plinth on the ceiling.
• The plinth strip must be pressed against the far wall of the miter box.
• Hold the plinth with your left hand.
• We choose such a position of the hacksaw when the angle is 45 degrees and at the same time the handle of the hacksaw is as close as possible to the left hand.
• We cut the workpiece without making excessive pressure on the saw.
• The next step is to trim the plinth striker. We also install it to the far wall of the miter box.
• Press and hold with your right hand.
• We choose such a position for the hacksaw when the angle is 45 degrees and the handle of the hacksaw approaches the right hand.
• Cut off the skirting board.

Next, we join the trimmed plinths and check the cutting accuracy. For a more accurate orientation, they also say that in order to complete the inner corner, it is necessary to start cutting from the front of the skirting board. After trimming, wooden skirting boards will most likely have to be adjusted with a file.

How to cut a ceiling plinth with a miter box. outside corner:

• In order not to be mistaken with the dimensions, it is better to start by marking the inner corner, and then cut out the outer corner. Otherwise, a situation is possible when the planks may not be enough in length.
• It is necessary to attach the plank to the ceiling and outline the dimensions.
• Install the plinth strip and press it against the nearest wall.
• Hold with your left hand and choose a position for the hacksaw at an angle of 45 degrees, when the handle approaches the left hand.
• Cut off the workpiece.
• We install the striker to the nearest wall, hold it with the right hand.
• We set the hacksaw at a 45 degree angle when the handle approaches the right hand.
• Cut off the workpiece and join the corner.

Trimming the workpiece with a miter box is only suitable if the angle between the walls is even. 90 degrees. If the accuracy is poor, you will have to use other methods.

How to trim a ceiling plinth with a miter box template

Something resembling a miter box can be done by applying the required cut angles to paper, cardboard or wood. Draw two parallel mowing lines, locate the center, and then set the required angles with a protractor. The advantage of this method is that you can postpone any angle, including more than 90 degrees. Of course, before cutting the corners of the ceiling plinth, you must first check the angle between the walls using a corner and measure with a protractor.

The technique for cutting a ceiling plinth using a painted miter box is exactly the same as using the miter box itself. We press the plinth plinth to one of the parallel lines, then set the hacksaw at the desired angle, which is already outlined, and cut off.

DIY impromptu miter box

Making a miter box with your own hands is also not difficult.

You will need three wooden planks or boards, which must be put together in a U-shaped box. Then the necessary angles are marked on the walls of the box, and a cut is made with a hacksaw. As a result, you should get a wooden miter box, in which grooves are cut.

A combination of an impromptu miter box and a template with marked lines. For the convenience of cutting, it is necessary to build something in which it will be convenient to hold the plinth strip, since it is difficult to keep it suspended. It is enough to put together a corner from two wooden planks or boards. On paper, you need to draw a mowing line with angles for cutting at 45 degrees or at any other. Then we apply the baseboard blank to the corner, press it with our hand, as described in the technology for using the miter box, move the piece of paper with the template under the edge where we are going to cut it, and cut it off. In the process of cutting, we focus on the line drawn on the paper.

As an impromptu miter box, you can use anything, anything. that we form an angle. For example, a table pushed against a wall.

Important! Pay attention to the rule of making measurements for trimming the ceiling plinth. To mark the inner corner, you need to measure the length directly from the corner itself. To outline the outer corner, you need to be guided by the fact that the plinth will protrude deep into the room at a distance equal to its width.

It is not necessary to fix the plinths of the ceiling plinths before cutting off the striker and trying on their location. Only after the two strikers are perfectly aligned in the corner, you can start attaching them to the ceiling. Minor imperfections can be finished with a file or a nail file in the case of wooden and polyurethane skirting boards. To fit foam products, you will have to wield a sharp knife.

If suddenly, even after adjusting the skirting boards, a small gap remains between them, do not despair, it can be repaired with a putty. Cutting the ceiling plinth yourself is not difficult. But in order not to spoil many products, it is better to pre-train on small blanks.

How To Cut a 45° Angle (With a Hand Saw)

Important nuances

If you tried as best you could, but a small gap at the junction still “got out” do not be discouraged. In wooden fillets, such a gap is easily covered with furniture wax. To cover the gap on the baseboards made of polyurethane, foam, plastic or gypsum, a putty is perfect. Naturally, the color of the composition should match the color of the skirting board.

All cracks in the area of ​​the ceiling fillets are sealed with putty.

Wide ceiling fillets are certainly beautiful, but they can only be mounted on perfectly flat walls. If the plane of the wall in relation to the ceiling is a wave, then it is better to buy narrow polyurethane fillets, they are elastic and will smooth out this drawback.

Perfectly flat walls are needed for a wide fillet.

Most of the questions arise about how to cut the wallpaper for the ceiling plinth. There is nothing complicated here: the wallpaper is glued with a slight overlap on the baseboards and when the wall is completely glued, take a large spatula, apply it to the corner and cut off the excess along the blade with a knife.

How to cut wallpaper for a ceiling plinth with your own hands.

But keep in mind. neither the knife nor the spatula can be torn off the wall until you have passed the entire plane. That is, they put a spatula from the corner, cut off the wallpaper along the length of the blade, and then, without lifting the blade from the wall, move and cut until you reach the next corner.

Method number 3. Applied universal

A 45º trim is a common option, but what if you need a different angle and only have a hacksaw and a pencil? It turns out that there is a very simple way out of this situation. Plus, this method is universal, it is suitable for both external and internal corners.

over, I can assure you that those angles that visually appear to be straight, in fact, have deviations by a couple of degrees. As a result, you buy a good tool, cut it off at 45º, and when joining, the gap between the skirting boards “comes out”. This problem disappears here. And then, using an example, consider how to cut a ceiling plinth in an inner corner.

Take a fillet, apply it on one side of the corner and use it to guide 2 mowing lines, along the wall and along the ceiling.

Tip: so that the mowing line is inconspicuous, they can be carried out not with a pencil, but, for example, with a nail or the edge of a knife.

Method number 1. Classic miter box

The classic miter box is a U-shaped bed with slots in the opposite sides. A piece of a suitable size is inserted into this stock and sawed off with a hacksaw through the slots in the sides. The idea is not new, the tool is already several hundred years old, but despite the simplicity, not everyone knows how to properly cut the corner of the ceiling plinth using such a miter box.

Not everyone knows how to cut a ceiling plinth in a corner using a classic miter box.

Tip: when trimming, the ceiling plinths are applied to the side of the miter box that is closer to you, and the floor plinths, on the contrary, must be applied to the side of the tool farthest from you. This is not a dogma, but it is much easier to work this way.

It is easier to work with floor skirting boards, as the miter box lies on a horizontal plane, it is easier for you to orient yourself in the position of the skirting board. People most often make mistakes when trimming the ceiling fillet, it is simply incorrectly put into the tool. There is a simple but important rule here.

Important: the side of the ceiling fillet, which touches the wall, should be directed to the upper edge of the side of the miter box, and that part of the plinth that borders on the ceiling is placed on the bottom of the miter box.

Skirting board trimming scheme.

The corner, as you know, has 2 sides, so, in order to make less mistakes, train yourself to put the bar that will be mounted on the right side of the corner into the miter box on the right, and the bar that is attached to the left, put it into the miter box on the left. Details about the intricacies of using the classic miter box are described in the video in this article.

How to properly trim the inner and outer corners of the ceiling fillet.

In addition to the classic U-shaped miter box, there are two more types of similar designs. a professional and a rotary tool. As for the professional version, only masters use it. The device is quite bulky, but it turns at any angle and has a hacksaw that can be fixed in the desired position.

Professional miter box with the ability to fix the hacksaw and part.

The swivel device can be safely called a “” miter box. The only advantage here is the ability to clearly fix the angle of rotation of the bar. On the one hand, it is easy to work with it. set the corner, put it on the plinth and cut it off. But on the other hand, you need to get used to such a tool, if you do not have experience with a hacksaw, then you should not take a rotary miter box.

How to work with a swivel miter box.

Tip: when choosing a classic U-shaped miter box, firstly, do not take Chinese products. And secondly, try to buy models with the possibility of rigid fixation of the part inside, one of these models is shown in the photo below.

A miter box with the ability to fix a part inside is much more convenient to work.

How to cut a skirting board at any angle and without gaps. 3 working ways from a practitioner

There are more than enough tips on how to cut a plinth at 45 degrees on the net now, the only bad thing is that most of them are given by people who have never done this. Next, from the point of view of practice, I will tell you how to cut skirting boards at the corners with your own hands in 3 options, and you will learn both traditional methods and folk universal recipes.

The science of how to properly trim ceiling skirting boards in corners is not as difficult as it might seem.

A few words about tools and materials

Floor skirting boards are now made of wood or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), in other words, plastic. Ceiling fillets have a slightly larger list:

The range of ceiling plinths is much wider than that of the floor direction.

• Polyurethane. these skirting boards have good elasticity and can bend around radial and other curved surfaces, but in any case they need to be cut at clear angles;
• Foam plinths are the simplest budget option, the price of foam plinths is low and they are cut very easily;
• PVC. the principle is the same as for floor skirting boards, but the range is much wider;
• Wooden. similar to the floor ones, only here there are still wide models;
• Gypsum. with the advent of polyurethane and polystyrene, gypsum ceiling fillets receded into the background, firstly, they are heavy, and secondly, fragile. But in fairness, it’s worth mentioning them.

Since it is impossible to properly cut the ceiling plinth and its floor counterpart without a good tool, we will dwell on this issue in a little more detail.

The best, almost perfect tool for trimming all kinds of skirting boards and more is the swing miter saw. The high-speed disc makes smooth and precise cuts, and the bed in these units can be rotated at any angle. The only problem is the serious cost of this tool.

The miter saw is almost the perfect tool for trimming skirting boards and more.

It is believed that one of the best hand tools for accurately cutting small pieces of wood is the backsaw. In principle, this is true, but to be honest, a really high-quality saw, even with the current assortment, is not easy to find. If you still decide to buy a similar tool, then take a saw with a fine tooth.

The bow saw is convenient when working with a miter box.

In theory, foam and polyurethane can be cut with any sharp and sturdy knife. But at the same time, you need to have a firm hand and at least a little experience in cutting foam. Plus, it is very problematic to cut wide fillets with a knife.

Without experience, making a clear cut with a knife is very problematic.

Personally, in the absence of trimming, I only use a hacksaw for metal. It is suitable for cutting absolutely any material, from foam to wood. By the way, they often ask the question of how to cut a plastic baseboard for the floor, and so. take a hacksaw for metal and you definitely won’t be mistaken.

For trimming skirting boards, a hacksaw for metal is considered one of the best tools.

Method number 2. Cutting by template

Most often, both ceiling and floor skirting boards need to be cut at 45º. If there is no specialized tool nearby, then an impromptu miter box can be drawn on a notebook leaf. From the school geometry course, we know that the diagonal of any square in relation to the base has an angle of inclination of 45º.

The 45º angle can be set by attaching the plinth to the diagonal of the square.

Next, you need to draw a square and draw 2 diagonals in it. these will be the required 45º. You just have to correctly attach the plinth to the leaf and mark it. True, in order to cut off the plinth exactly without guides, you need a good eye and a right hand.

Three working ways to trim skirting boards

For floor and ceiling skirting boards, the trimming instructions are almost the same. But if on the floor the curved corner can be covered with something, then on the ceiling this is already a problem, so we will pay more attention to how to cut the ceiling plinths.

Output

All three methods described by me work, the choice depends on which tool you have in stock and what your professional skills are. If after watching the video you still have questions, welcome to the comments, than I can, I will help.

If you are not confident in your abilities, then for both floor and ceiling skirting boards there are connecting elements that allow you to do without trimming.

Indoor floor

Inside corner view

First, let’s set the left and right skirting boards at right angles. We insert the left product into the miter box, applying it to the outside, cut off the left inner corner. Then we do a similar operation with the right one. Done.

Composition and features of the material

To understand how to properly cut the baseboard, you need to understand its composition. This will help you choose the right tool and cutting technology.

• Styrofoam. The price and strength of this material are the lowest. But since we create a decorative ceiling decoration, strength is not particularly required.
• Styrofoam ceiling skirting board is more dense. than regular foam. The most common knife is used to cut such material.

Tip: sharpen the knife well before use. This will eliminate the presence of torn edges at the cut.

How to cut a skirting board straight

• Wood. Here you have to put more effort into processing. Use only a hacksaw for wood.

Tip: The finer and more frequent the saw tooth, the smoother the edges will be. You can even use a sheet for metal.

• Plastic. How to cut off a plastic skirting board? The same method is suitable here as with a tree. a saw, a hacksaw. Alternatively, you can also use an angle grinder.

Using a regular hacksaw blade

Cutting methods

The product is installed around the perimeter of a rectangular room. Trimmed to trim right angles. Therefore, we will consider how to cut the skirting board at 45 degrees.

Indoor ceiling

Interior ceiling corner view

By analogy with the outer corner, we cut off the inner one. We only cut the inner left and right edges respectively.

It is important to remember: the product is always mounted upside down on the ceiling. Therefore, insert it upside down into the miter box. This will help you cut the skirting board correctly.

Cutting with a miter box

What is a miter box? This is a special tray made of wood, aluminum or plastic with provided grooves to guide the saw at the desired angle.

Here is a quick guide to using such a carpentry tool:

• Training. We take the product and put it in the tray. Align in the position in which it will be installed on the ceiling.
• Cutting. With the other hand, insert the cutting tool into the groove. It can be a knife or a hacksaw. And we cut it boldly. The device will not let you miss the intended place.

You should know: a blade for metal is also suitable for cutting foam.

• Treatment. Wood skirting boards may need to be filed to level the cut edges. Plastic or foam can be tweaked with a knife, the main thing is that it is sharp enough.

Tip: When cutting, do not put pressure on the product. Styrofoam can crumble, and the tree can split altogether.

It’s so easy and simple to use the miter box

Cutting without miter box

If you do not have such a device, and you are not going to purchase it for one-time use, then you can use the following methods, how to cut the plinth at 45 degrees.

• The first way is to make this simple carpentry tool yourself. To do this, knocks down the most ordinary wooden tray. Then we measure the cut line with a protractor or school square. We cut the grooves and we have a primitive device ready.

How To Cut Wood Trim. Ace Hardware

• Second way. how to cut a skirting board at an angle is even easier. It is especially painless to use it in cases where the corners of the room are not even.

We don’t need a tray. Two boards knocked down at 90 degrees and a stencil made of cardboard with a line drawn for orientation is enough.

• Third way. In this case, we do not knock anything down at all, but simply use a table set against the wall or any other similar structure.

We mark the future joints directly on the product itself, on the wall and on the ceiling. We apply the plinth the way we are going to mount, and cut according to the marked marks.

The simplest way without the use of special tools

Remember: hold the tool vertically while cutting to obtain a right angle.

Some helpful tips to make your work and preparation easier

Next, we will talk about the tool with which you can trim. This section also contains useful information on joining skirting boards at corners.