![\"\"](\"http:\/\/ridiculousredhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/office-floor-1.jpg\" "\\"office")
<\/a><\/p>\nThis is pretty classic baseboard made up of three parts. \u00a0There is the main 1″x 6″ board, a curvy top piece and quarter round trim in the front. \u00a0 Of course me being me, I researched the best ways to remove the trim. \u00a0I prepared myself that it was old and might just shatter and be useless. \u00a0I got my tools together – utility knife, hammer, small flathead screw driver, wonder bar, small blocks of wood and a Sharpie marker.<\/p>\n
To start I cut down all of the joints that had been painted over so I could pull each of the three parts off separately. As soon as I starting slicing the paint was chipping off everywhere, which you can see to the right of the outlet above. \u00a0Then very gently I would try to get the screwdriver behind a board and pull enough to get the wonder bar behind it. \u00a0I pulled a little bit off the way down the wall until I could pry it off in one piece. \u00a0After the first piece of quarter round came off in one piece I got a little excited it might work after all! \u00a0The top piece came off in one piece as well. \u00a0As they came off I marked the back with the sharpie so I would know where to reinstall. Then it came time for the main board.<\/p>\n
Let’s just stop here and discuss what I learned from my Google research. \u00a0I was told by the lovely folks at This Old House that in order to avoid damaging the wall when prying the wood off, you should place a block of wood behind your hammer or wonder bar. \u00a0Since I didn’t want to damage my walls, I found a small piece of pine I thought would serve this purpose well. \u00a0I put it behind my wonder bar and tried to pry the wood off. \u00a0The wood didn’t budge. \u00a0As you can see the wall did. \u00a0The whole wood block went through it. \u00a0Thank God I didn’t use a bigger block.<\/p>\n
My house was built in 1933 according to all the town records but our walls are not plaster. \u00a0I’m not sure if it was built with the wall board we have here or if it was renovated in the 1950s and the walls were redone. \u00a0(I found 1950s newspaper behind some trim.) \u00a0Either way, this stuff is brittle. \u00a0Like I had to watch my elbow because if I turned the wrong way I would have put a hole in it brittle. \u00a0After seeing what was behind the trim that was unpainted, I realized that the walls are really being held together with the 14 layers of paint on it.<\/p>\n So with a lot of loving care, finesse and cursing, I proceeded. \u00a0I learned that brute strength was my best asset here. \u00a0(Don’t laugh. Just because I am the size of a 12 year old doesn’t mean I can’t ripped a weak wall down with my bare hands if I get mad enough.) \u00a0Also helpful was only putting the hammer at the joist and using that for leverage.<\/p>\n Next problem – outlets in the baseboard. \u00a0I know nothing about electricity. \u00a0I am smart enough not to touch things I don’t know about that can set me on fire.<\/p>\n I figured that I would pull the board away from the wall, and then maybe my uncle could help me unwire the box, take it off the front and then rewire it. \u00a0Great idea, except that when I pulled the box out of the wall I saw wires covered in cloth. \u00a0Oh, cloth wire, I thought I was rid of you! \u00a0My stepfather Howell had worked on rewiring my house because of this exact issue but never got to finish before he passed away. \u00a0I guess he never got to this room. \u00a0So what to do?<\/p>\n I scraped all the paint off of the screws and removed them. \u00a0Then I cut the edges free of the paint. \u00a0I figured this whole thing was going to have to be replaced so I bent the side tabs 90 degrees forward and pushed them through. \u00a0I am sure I am going to get mean fan mail for mutilating a junction box but unless you are an electrician and want to come help, \u00a0shut it.<\/p>\n The good news is that I only hurt myself bad enough to bleed once. \u00a0I was taking down a shelf in the closet and the screwdriver bit on the drill jumped off the screw and onto my finger. \u00a0 I should be sponsored by Neosporin. \u00a0 After a band aid and some lunch I brought some of the baseboard pieces to the workshop. \u00a0They were already a chippy mess so I thought it would be “so much easier” to strip the paint off now and then reinstall. \u00a0TB just loved- loved- this idea. \u00a0(TB did not love this idea.)<\/p>\n Some of the paint had chipped off to show that it was originally stained. \u00a0A lot of times in old houses, the bedrooms or upstairs rooms were originally painted to save money while only the public rooms would have stained wood. \u00a0Since it was stained, it was probably stain grade wood. \u00a080 year old stain grade wood. \u00a0I seriously couldn’t wait to get the paint stripper on it.<\/p>\n Here is the SoyGel paint stripper soaking. \u00a0The wood is beautiful.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n