Sloping floors arghh!

[lupinfarm]

Not been on the OHW for awhile but I have a problem with sloping floors. I have a run of baseboard to install over a
36" length the floors slope approx 1inch. Anyone have opinion on what to do, my DH says I should follow the contour
of the floor, however I am putting up Tongue and groove paneling on top so I think I should level the baseboards. Your opinions would be appreciated.

[Lynners]

I'm interested in this as well. We have sloping floors although it has been improved a bit (2.5" to 1"). Our baseboards have quarter round at the bottom and it makes it less noticeable. In our kitchen where we have t & g wainscoting, there is no baseboard, just quarter round.

[SkipW]

Are you only installing base on a 36" section?

Does it match up to any other trim/base/door casing?

If it does not have to match up to another piece of base in height, either in a straight run or at a corner, how about scribing it to the floor so you can have straight t&g above? That way there is no gap at the bottom or top. This way may cause you to see the height difference because it's over such a short run, but maybe not. Otherwise you can follow the floor and taper the cuts on your T&G wall....

Since it is only a 3' piece, why not try it both ways and see which you like better?

[lupinfarm]

Skipw---no i have entire room to do but the 36" run is right when you come in the door. I think to install the baseboard level
might draw your eye away from the floor and also the t&g wainscoting will be all the same height . I would think that would
be easier for cutting the boards and installation as I would not have to measure each board separately--tedious or what? The baseboard in the remainder of the house is just simple 1x material with a bull nose on top. Hey Lynners glad to hear someone else has the same "Old house" problems I do, I was unable to level the floor as the high spot in the floor is more
like a hump than a slope and is confined to one corner of the room pretty much. Strange eh!. Well everything about this house
sure is strange. I did some research on the web about trimming out for sloping floors and alot depends on what floor covering
you are going to use, the degree of the slope ( could hide it with 1/4round, shoe molding etc, and what you can live with).
Unfortunately I cant upload any images as I am using a loaner laptop ( my DH old one) and he has Linnux not windows
and the Linnux wont let me upload from my camera. Well when I get that little "bugaboo" sorted I will upload images
of my trim work.

[SkipW]

Skipw---no i have entire room to do but the 36" run is right when you come in the door. I think to install the baseboard level
might draw your eye away from the floor and also the t&g wainscoting will be all the same height .

I agree that the wainscoting will be easier, but you will only draw the eye away from the floor if you do a bullnose or shoe, otherwise, won't you have a gap UNDER the baseboard as the floor slopes away? I'd think that would be pretty obvious too....maybe I missed that you said that already.

I just re-read your post and see you said the slope is more of a hump in the corner. That seems to me that really would do well for scribing the base to the floor, leaving it level for the T&G. Just my .02

[lupinfarm]

Hi Skip W ---I am planning on adding a cove or 1/4 round or shoe molding to the bottom but it will have to deeper than average as I will probably have to cut the bottom to match the contour of the floor. Not sure about the bull nose on top of
between the base and t&g yet. See my picture below. It may be a very large image, new software not sure how to resize images yet.

[sooth]

My opinion on this is to have the baseboard and t-g follow the floor. If it were original, it would have sagged along with the floor/wall, and it would no longer be level. The only places where you would want to correct any leveling issues would be for counter tops/vanities since you want those surfaces to be level, and not have items roll off the counters. Furniture in rooms can also be propped up with floor coasters, shims, etc.

So yeah, if it were me, I'd follow the floor. If there's a large bump or curve in the floor, I'd scribe the bottom so that it sits nicely, but the overall board would follow the general slope of the floor.

[sooth]

To be clear: I'm also saying that your t-g should be crooked by that one inch also. Are you running the t-g vertical or horizontal?

[lupinfarm]

Hi Sooth...I am running the t&g vertically. I cant unfortunately take the t&g to the floor as I dont have enough additional
t&g to do it. What I have done instead is level the baseboard and I am planning on running some trim in front of the baseboard that will follow the curve of the floor. There is really only one spot that is curvy the remainder of the floor is out of level to
a lesser extent. Hoping this is not to confusing. Will try and post images when work done. I was iniitially going to use self leveling cement to level floor, however after I bought the bag of sl I found out I would need a primer also and I just couldnt
afford it so I gave up on that idea. My DH says I am being too picky about the slope. He says it adds character.

[gregV]

I SO agree with your DH!
Just leave it as it is. It's an old house and floors are not going to be level.
During the restore of my house I actually took out all the 1930s leveling they did as it just looked stupid weird. So much nicer to see the floors flow along with the rest of the house as everything has shifted, sloped and tilted throughout the last couple hundred years.