“Caulk and a gallon of paint will make a carpenter what he ain’t”

Working on renovating an old building donated to our church. Showed this method to one of the guys working on it. His response was, “ Where were you ten years ago!”. Ha!

As we say, “do your best, and caulk the rest”

"Walls are rarely 90°" My house: are you sure about that? Legit whoever made my house were perfectionists

That looks like over handling squirrely Dan

As a painter (aka the guy who caulks the baseboards) I love seeing these clean seams, shows someone cares about what they are doing.

Back in the day all inside corners we're done that way. My Dad taught me this and I get a perfect corner every time. Thanks Dad!

Learned that in the 80's, We called it a coped 45°corner joint! It really speeds up doing trim work in newer houses.

This is the most concise, yet thorough guide to coping baseboard in the history of the KZfaq’s. Well done, sir!

My father legendary saying “fix it with caulking”

Commenting so this kind of stuff will show up in my feed instead tiktok voice over cra. Keep it up dude

*Me, covering myself at night with cold sweats:* “W-what angles are the walls...?”

My dad was a carpenter, he showed me this trick. You can rub the edge with a carpenter pencil before your cut it with the coping saw.

Tip from a pro who does this almost every day: Most baseboard going into homes has a big flat spot on the bottom of the profile, just like the stuff Steve is using. It's easier and faster to cut this stuff upside down in the miter saw. Do the 45 cut Steve does first, then move the saw blade to 3 degrees the other way, and use the miter saw to do the back cut on the flat part. Then you only need to cope the profile by hand, which can save you a lot of time. And always cut your cope first, and then cut the piece to length. With MDF becoming the standard for trim, it can chip easily when coping. If it does, it's easier to just redo the whole cut, so leave yourself room to trim to size last.

To me, this is heaven. I'm an interior painter and we fix all the dry wall and baseboard f*** ups, and this its something I really wish we took the time to do. Thank you

The first time I saw this trick was from Leah over at See Jane Drill, but it never gets old. Thanks for this demo and for helping mitigate that feeling we need 100% perfection in miters and woodworking.

I first saw this done on "This Old House" when I was a kid years ago . I knew about it, I just didn't understand why it was done. Now I do. Thanks!

Nice video been doing this for over 50 years. And yes it does work very well. Always remember do your best caulk the rest.

For those wondering why the inside corners of your house are rarely perfectly square, the answer is that the framing might be a little out of square, but it's typically the drywall and mudding that's put in corners that often put it out of square

This is the type of shorts that make me enjoy youtube. Great stuff

So cool to see! I have been working in remodeling homes with my dad for 5 years now he has shown me this method, nice to see other people use it

Finally a true carpenter that doesn’t butt baseboard

Best explanation of this for non-pros I’ve ever seen. Thanks!

Yep. Thats how we do it in New Zealand as well my handyman mate. We fill in too. Done and dusted. Tools in the van, Job done, knock off at 5pm, home, shower, dinner, kids, RUGBY!!!!!!!!! Winning!!!!!!!!

thank you for the video. I was running into this issue, and I wasn't sure how to do the coping. easier then i thought

Genius tip!!!! It's the second time I see you using a hand tool in all those past years. Historical moment. Haha. Thank you for sharing.

I'm always suprised when I actually find a useful tool video! That's a very interesting technique

In sweden we always do straight clean cuts in inner corners. It looks good and always works, we only do the 45 angles on outer corners

I cut pairs of scrap base board at 45 left and 45 right, another pair at 44 left and right and a third pair at 46 left and right on the mitre saw. Label them and keep them in a bucket under the mitre saw. Use these to test each corner and figure which pair work and set your saw to that.

This is the most important thing I've ever learned on KZfaq that didn't involve a explosion.

Coping corners is way easier than you think. He did a good job describing how. Also, when you walk in a room you want to look past the coped edge. Put the board that isn’t coped against the wall you would see first when you walk in.

I cope with a jigsaw. Keep a sharp blade and your way faster than a coping saw. Further I don't often cope painted base. It is rarely so far out that the difference is worth the time. This is more useful for stained trim, where you need perfect miters to look good when finished

If you fill it in with caulking anyway, than why go through all this extra effort? You could have stopped at step 1 and caulked it. Same thing

Where was this video last fall when I put in new baseboards Steve?

I have been doing this for years. It worked a treat. We in the UK call it skirting board, the varied applications of the English language

Dude! Where was this video 6 months ago! Thanks, this actually helps someone like me who doesn't have a ton of experience and is always looking for a better way

Or you measure the degrees in the corner, divide that number by two, and set your saw at that number. It works perfectly every time.

The title should say “how to cope baseboards”.

I wonder if this "coping saw" will stop me from drinking wine.

As someone who lays base every week, no one has trouble with base on inside corners lmao.

Sometimes I think I’m a relatively smart individual, and then I see something like this that I never would have thought of...

I use a degree finder for crown and base tells me exact cut everytime

Awesome tip and instructions! I never even thought of googling/searching this but I'm about to install skirting boards in my new kitchen and this just randomly appeared through stories, this trick is gonna make my life so much easier! Is there also a trick to matching two boards in the opposite way where the corner is sticking out? Or is it the same trick too?

Whomever built my house had a motto "thats close enough"

Sounds like a lot more work than just adding caulking

I always do 45° cuts for normal corners. I take my time and get the measurements right, but if your having this issue it's a lot faster to angle the board a bit and trim off the inner edges. The closer to the face the boards can meet; the more seamless it looks

You got me thinking and I came up with this. Base boards were invented to prevent wall kick outs.If the people who build the walls were to install kick boards behind the walls you would not need baseboards. Just a nicely placed painters tape and caulk and paint. All done. On the other hand nice work. Much better than the other way.

This tip is gold.

When you miter cut it.... turn your saw back to 90 degrees and cut most of the straight cut with the miter saw. Use the coping saw just to cut the squiggles at the top....

I recently saw Rob cosman demonstrate howto do this for trim around the inside of a box or drawer. He took well over 1/2 hr to show howto do it. He is much more fussy. He is building fine furniture. I thought the contrast was funny.

Wish all builders were so neat.

Excellent,the best way to do it Many Carpenter don't do it just because they don't want to spend a little more time and do it right this is the strongest and durable way to do it..

Good tip, however you missed the part that eleminates the gap you end up with in the video. The avoid the gap place a ruler om the piece you are going to cut 45 degrees while pushing it up against the straight cutted piece. Draw a line along the edge og the ruler om the board. Now make the 45 degree cut along that line. Problem solved. 😁

Lmao I like how we has a little notch that fits perfectly. Everyone else is going to butcher this technique I bet 😂

My foreman taught me this my first time doing interior work, thought it was pretty nifty

When I used to do a lot of insulation and remodeling work, this "seemed" to work really well. What I found out by maintaining working relationships with customers is that bugs really enjoy the comforts of those tiny voids in trim and decor. So, your work will look nice, but there is a chance that some 6 legged creature will use your work to evade discovery and untimely death.

also pro DIY'er tip. get enough extra to do a few practice pieces of whatever your doing. Laying flooring -> Start where its unseen so you get all your practice in there and when you get to main areas you have it down pat. The difference between a Journeyman and an apprentice is they know how to hide the crimes. Love your concise and down to earth methods keep it up Steve.

I use to do touch up in new houses and honestly it doesn't matter. The base could be like the first example and just filling it with caulking would make it look better after a coat of paint.

I would flip the base board upside down and do the back cut with the saw then just cope out the contour by hand. It can be faster for some people, slower for others lol

I messed up my kitchen baseboard corners. ... now I'm coping by watching this video.

Damn. Now I know why most places I have seen have corners that look like that. Except the house I grew up in, made in 1958, where every corner was exactly 90°, and every join was cut at 45°. Even after 53 years, all joins are still closed tight.

Eliminate the gap with a different type of gap, even though we're going to caulk it anyway.

"How to get perfect corner. that cap i would fill with caulking." Really perfect. I have never coped any trim and never needed any caulking. If you can't cut few simple miter for sure you can't build rest of house.

Thank you! This just saved me countless hours and headaches!

Lol that would take forever. Now imagine applying that on a 2000 sqft house .. hallways, closets, living spaces ect

Or if use a grinder with a sander disc! Take a few pieces to practice and will make this process a lot easier and faster!👍🏻

I think this technique is better illustrated by using stain-grade baseboard because having tight corners is much more critical. And to any of the self-proclaimed 'carpenters' saying who notices a gap, it is noticed but not in the way you perhaps think it is. Having tight miters and crisp clean lines in a job all comes together to make one beautiful job that says that you took pride in your work and are worth what you charge. The homeowner will not always see the specific miters but they see the overall work and love it. They will usually refer you to others and call you back for any other related jobs. The contractor, if they are not a slum-lord type of contactor and also prides themselves in quality work, they will want to hire someone capable of delivering quality that will impress their customers.

I usually use a test piece to tweak the angles by a degree or two . It’s very fast with a chop saw . In the end the guy said to use a little caulk anyway - lol

Even after you do what I just showed you, and you still have a gap, just fill in with caulk.

The fact that a wall is RARRLY at 90° angles is concerning lol 😆

Just cutting and adjusting the angles to fit without a gap is better than coping in my opinion. Also more satisfying and easier.

Good job for a diy'er. Coping the inside corners are definitely the way to go, for a professional job. What I used to do is use the miter saw to cut the straight part of the baseboard and just cope the top of the base. Caulk and paint. If your working with trim that's going to be stained, take extra time, for a perfect fit.

In reality, if you're doing trim that's going to be painted just 45 it. It will be much faster and the caulking will hide the imperfections. Remember, time is money 💰

You could find the pitch and adjust your saw, or use caulk in the first place. No one other then the guy putting it up is going to look that hard at the base board.

Some miter saw like the smaller one from festool have adjustable fences. That way you can take your bevel gauge to take the exact bevel from the corner and copy it with your fence. Perfect miter and it saves so much time

I really never cared about this but I continued watching because it seems so satisfying to know

I'm 36 years old now. I learned this from a 90 year old guy when I was 15 years old. I won't 45⁰ basboard I'll always cope it.

Rarely? How about never? Ive never met a true 90 in any house, apartment or cabin...

I love how everyone talks about inside corners and coping but if the wall is not parallel with the other wall you can have the same problem

I like this technique. I've used it many times.

I never found it overly difficult to adjust the miter off of 45 a degree or two. You get decent at guessing the angle after doing a few corners and is think it's faster than cutting that by hand.

In N.Z. we call this technique, in carpentry, a "Secret Mitre", - i guess the secret is, that it's not really a mitre joint at all but a butt joint.... We use this technique on a lot of trim work....

This is the old school way of doing it. Good to see the old ways, helps appreciate new techniques. I still don't own that saw though.

Thank you so much! This is valuable information to a 16 year old

This is called coping....with a coping saw. Professionals do it everyday.

Pro tip: when you have a lot of base to do and you gotta knock it out fast, use an angle grinder with a sanding disc to cut your cope!

Caulk it and paint it. Famous quote from everyone’s favorite carpenter. Lol

I use a T-bevel, always comes out perfect. Thanks

This title should be called “How to turn a 30 second job into a 5 minute job”

This trick also works with inside corners for crown molding as well. I've also done it with a 80 grit flap disc on a grinder instead of using a coping saw, and had better results.

In Australia (Mate) we call it scribing your skirting boards. It’s a great way to install skirting boards. It gives you a few millimetres room to play with your measurements as it allows a couple of millimetres for cover if you work your way around a room. Also allows a couple of millimetres extra as It will only apply pressure to the other board and not push the miter past and into the plaster board. This allows installation process to be done much faster and neater then mitring as you will not have to recut and joints will be near on perfect. With more expensive brands of paint. You should quiet easily be able to fill any discrepancies in the mitres.

I was doing baseboards when i first got into woodworking.

Or just caulk the 45. It looks pretty much the same in the end

I love how he cuts off the lead edge of the second piece, as if it's going to be invisible at the top...

I like to do the same thing, but if you take a piece of the trim and very tightly wrap it with a piece of sandpaper and adhesive, you can very easily sand out any imperfections in your cut and eliminate the need for caulking

Litterally did a whole room and closet the other day, and while not perfect a 45 degree angle on both trim does the job. Caulking to make it look perfect, and of course a coat of paint. No wonder contractors give you unbelievable quotes for a few pieces of trim, mainly because they work like this

Buddy, I'm caulking up to 2 inches of gap😂😂

Instead of the coping saw I use a sanding disc on my angle grinder...find it easer than trying to cope it.

The secret to a perfect coping cut. Is to cut with a coping saw. 1/8 of an inch of the edge. Then with a rasp smooth the actual angle to a perfect fit. You will not need caulk to fill in the gap like he did. My grandfather taught me this. Thank you Pops.

Honestly if you have the time and patience to do this for an entire house, go for it. But if your walls aren't at 90 degrees, you've got bigger problems. Not like people will say "oh the walls look warped but at least the skirting looks nice"