To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Baseboard material for garage?

Innovate1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Messages
4,283
Location
Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri
Want something that won't deteriorate when exposed to some water. PVC would be good but it has a lot of expansion with changes in temp. Garage is heated to about 50F in winter and gets to about 90F in summer. Any other materials I should be looking at? It's mostly just to cover the bottom of the drywall to foundation and the profile isn't important - simple square profile would be ok. 6" high would cover all the uneven areas on the wall bottoms.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Hank11

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
1,144
Location
Tennessee
“Some water” If you wash the floor with a garden hose every week, then pvc and a good seal to the floor. For “might get splashed some”, maybe some Miratec trim boards? Miratec is sorta particle board made for outside use.
 

M.Wong

Well-known member
Joined
May 5, 2021
Messages
71
Location
Seattle, WA
I just did this over the summer. I used "1 in. x 5 in. x 8 ft. Primed Finger-Joint Pine Board" from HD and they were about $11 each. I painted them the garage wall color and since it was primed white, the paint work I did could be a little quick and dirty and still look okay. I didn't go with PVC because I didn't want the plastic mess when cutting them or when sanding joints/corners.

Only the areas nearest the car doors get wet so I kept a gap there. (Pacific NW, lotsa rain half the year.) There's very little gap at the back of the garage and near the man doors.

Here is one "before" pic

IMG_8147.JPG

And some "after" pics, though I hadn't sanded/filled the corners yet:
IMG_8184.JPG IMG_8260.JPG

IMG_8190.JPG IMG_8179.JPG IMG_8177.JPG IMG_8187.JPG
 
Last edited:
OP
I

Innovate1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Messages
4,283
Location
Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri
Amount of water is going to vary a lot. The wall to the house it would sit on the slab but it has a generous slope so only occaisional water from spilling something or cleaning the floor - so almost never. The side walls are on a foundation stem wall so basically nothing there either. Just a couple spots near the OHDs will get water fairly frequently in winter or rainy weather. So I could probably do pine and be fine in all but a couple areas. Maybe just use PVC there and be done with it. The wall along the house is the only area that needs a tall baseboard. The slab is about 3-1/4" below the bottom of the drywall. The foundation wall is about 1/2 - 1" behind the drywall and distance varies. I need something to hold the baseboard out as the wall slopes in toward the bottom. So I could probably get away with just tacking some shims to the back of the baseboard and nail it higher into the sill plate.
 

NUTTSGT

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Sep 14, 2009
Messages
50,884
Location
Northern Central Ohio
If I had a wall that touched the floor instead of a course of block, I'd use a PT 1x4. Set it on a bed of good Clear RTV and once the PT is dried out, I'd paint it with some oil based Rustoleum. Use black and you'll never if there was a small gap.
 

DGersic

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
6,284
Location
DeKalb, IL

PoorUB

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 29, 2021
Messages
11,622
Location
Fargo, ND
I have PVC base in my garage here in tropical North Dakota with zero expansion issues. IMO, it is perfect for the job.
 

four.cycle

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2015
Messages
28,592
Location
Tacoma, Washington
^ Seattle?
That "white wood" is fine unless you do not have air circulation at the back and it is exposed to moisture, in which case it rots out.

I used 1" x 4" pine in the store room. Stained it with a dark oil-based Olympic stain.

If you're going to be rolling stuff around, I'd go with 1" x 6" pine, stain it dark, and you'll never see all the bumps and bruises and scuff marks from banging into it.
 

CraigStu

Well-known member
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
4,017
Location
Blacksburg, Va
I would use pvc just cause it is impervious to water. Can you roll your saw outside and do cutting there? When I do that I grab a door remote from one of the cars and out it in my shirt pocket. Then I can open and close the door easily before and after a cut. I also put an air hose out there w/ a blower on the end so I can blow some of the dust away. I'd leave a 1/4" gap board to board to take care of expansion contraction. You could get fancy and cover the gap w/ white tape. Make short pieces 2 pieces of tape so it only sticks to one of the boards and slides over the other one.
 

M.Wong

Well-known member
Joined
May 5, 2021
Messages
71
Location
Seattle, WA
^ Seattle?
That "white wood" is fine unless you do not have air circulation at the back and it is exposed to moisture, in which case it rots out.
There isn't any place where water touches the wood, even when parking a wet vehicle inside after a rain. We'll see how it holds up this winter!
 

four.cycle

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2015
Messages
28,592
Location
Tacoma, Washington
There isn't any place where water touches the wood, even when parking a wet vehicle inside after a rain. We'll see how it holds up this winter!
Doesn't have to be direct contact.

House across the street was completely rebuilt. they fancied up the front porch with nice handrails and two square, tapered pillars, both of which were trimmed out with that "white wood". All well under the roofline, but facing west - right into the weather.
Less than two years later there was a workman over there ripping it all out and I walked over and asked him what was going on. The "white wood" had been tacked onto the "inner frame" (such as it was) and then caulked and painted. Exterior appeared to be okay, until you pushed your finger against it - you could push hole through it with a finger.
Same exact thing happened on the new house that ex-wife's son bought out in Fife.
The problem, as I understand it, is that if it is used - even indoors - with ANY possibility of there being moisture present - you need to have some air circulation behind it.
In your case, I think the only areas I'd be concerned about would be those two very short sections of wall on either side of the garage door entrance and that center section below the fire extinguisher.

That said:
My sister is still waiting for me to go over and trim out the doors in her garage with that stuff, but she's got so much **** piled up everywhere there's no way to get to the areas that need to be finished. But those doors are on an inside wall - not much concern there.

YMMV
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

M.Wong

Well-known member
Joined
May 5, 2021
Messages
71
Location
Seattle, WA
That's good info! Here is a close up of that short section under the small extinguisher, I will keep an eye on it and let you know if I end up re-doing some of it with PVC at some point.

IMG_1504.JPG
 

four.cycle

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2015
Messages
28,592
Location
Tacoma, Washington
^ ONLY way I'd use that whiteboard at that spot would be if that garage door is opening facing EAST, and you've got some serious overhang up above on the roof line.
Just my lousy two cents, of course.

Photo shows the porch I was talking about above. I got my wires crossed - these pillars are straight. The pillars at the boy's house are tapered. Same set-up, essentially: west-facing front wall, maybe 12" - 18" of roof overhang - facing directly into the Pineapple Express.
They used the "white wood" to sheathe the inner structure (plain ol' 6" x 6"), and sealed it all up good with latex painters caulk and painted it, allowing no air circulation behind the wood.
Great stuff for interior work, but not the best choice for exterior.

It may be worth noting here that the entirety of that front porch had to be replaced: hand railings, bannisters, pillars.
 

Attachments

  • porch.jpg
    porch.jpg
    229.1 KB · Views: 86
Last edited:

Firebrick43

Well-known member
Joined
May 12, 2015
Messages
14,002
Location
West central Indiana
Going with PVC. Expansion is 0.18" per 10 ft for 50 F degree change. It's about 60 there now and max will be about 100F so need to allow about that much in gaps to avoid buckling when it gets hot. I can hide some but not all gaps in the corners.
I have never had issue with my garage and the PVC base board and the first year it was unheated, down to 0 and isn't airconditioned
 

four.cycle

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2015
Messages
28,592
Location
Tacoma, Washington
^ Probably a better choice.
I'm a big fan of dark-stained wood because it doesn't show up so much when I bash stuff into it.
Twelve years of ballet lessons made me no less a klutz.
 

PoorUB

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 29, 2021
Messages
11,622
Location
Fargo, ND
If it was put in when it was warm it would just shrink a bit when colder. If put in tight when cold it may buckle when it gets warm. I'm just leaving some small gaps.
Cut your gaps at a 45 degree angle. If they move the 45 degree will hide the gap better.

IMO, you don't need to worry about it. I have one run of roughly 40 feet that has never shown any obvious movement.
 

Leaflessshadetree

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Messages
7,146
Location
Don't ask.
I used aluminum flashing in my shop area. Slipped the bottom edge between the floor and foundation insulation then trimmed out the top edge where it meets the plywood walls.
I did the same with thin vinyl wall panel at the bottom of drywall in my clean room.
 

The Metric System

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2025
Messages
268
We used 8" wide Hardi Board siding. It's cheap, tough, good with moisture, easy to install, and thin enough that we don't have to miter the corners or account for the standoff when placing things against the wall.

Turned out great, would do again.
 

BobnCO

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 2, 2023
Messages
199
I have used Hardi Trim and considered Trex as well, in areas I thought might get wet. Hardi is easily paintable tree never needs paint (and wouldn’t stick well).
 

sizem

Active member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Messages
29
Location
kentucky
I veered in a slightly different direction for my garage. I used 6x36 porcelain flooring tiles from Lowes...super cheap and indestructible, yet easy to cut w/ any cheap wet saw. I attached to the wall (drywall) with construction adhesive using cartridges. Three years in and no hint of an issue. Good luck.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0683.jpeg
    IMG_0683.jpeg
    881.8 KB · Views: 18
  • IMG_0687.jpeg
    IMG_0687.jpeg
    742.7 KB · Views: 18

4x4Pete

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 26, 2019
Messages
791
Location
Stroud
I used commercial vinyl baseboard. Almost no ledge to hold dirt and sparks and it was easy to glue up. Shur trim I think was the manufacturer.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom