Should I Do Floor Or Trim First

There is a possibility that the walls or trim may be damaged by the installation of the flooring.

Should i do floor or trim first.

Screw a strip of the same thickness to the floor next to the wall. Opt for floor installation first because it s often a messy process. If you paint first and then do floors there is a good chance that a lot of dirt dust sawdust or tile stone dust will end up on your freshly painted walls and trim. Walls are put up first then the floor covering comes later.

Also the lack of baseboards and other floor trim means you can paint all the way down without any masking. When you run a floor sander around a room there is the possibility of scuffing up newly. In new construction homes where no flooring has been laid yet this is the way it works. With its smooth sharp edges trim is easier to apply tape to than walls especially when the walls are textured.

Builders prefer to do the baseboards first and then bring the tile right up to the tile. A gutted room eliminates much of the dirt and grime associated with removing old carpet tile or wood flooring. If you paint the trim first you run the risk. Much like the infamous chicken or the egg debate pondering the question of whether to paint walls or trim first can lead you to think in circles.

Now install the new flooring but keep it about a inch from the first filler strip. This piece should be at least 2 inches wide and about inch thicker than the total thickness of the flooring including any vapor barrier or cushion. Most do it yourselfers like to tape off the areas where they don t want to get paint. Home owners generally prefer the look of doing the tile first and then installing the baseboard trim.