Yep. If they just watched the first 20 secs. he basically disclaims the entire video. As a Contractor, I think his methods are spot on. My favorite comment from below so far is, "Just learn to cut your corners....durr durr..." So, sir/madam, are you claiming that you, a human, are perfect? Thought not. Mistakes are made, it's how you fix them that defines you.
No, no, we just like goofing on Canadians, man. Besides, I dig how he likes living on the edge and not using any tape on the floor. I was kn the edge of my seat wigh that one. Whew!
First time I've seen one of your videos. I'm a 66 year old woman but like to do some of my own home improvements. I will be watching more and thank you. Better late than never.
By far the clearest most concise most visually interesting and easy to understand instructions - as well as being clearly present. I had done 15 years of carpentry and still learn something new every time I watch one of his instructional videos. Even just getting a refresher course on the basics makes me realize how much of the small subtle things I’d forgotten. Bravo Ben!
The amount of effort to make a video and upload it is never worth the 413 thumbs downs. Thank you for sharing this tip, this is helpful and appreciated.
I love your stuff. I'm a union carpenter Foreman in Manhatten. But I mostly deal with hanging metal/ wood ceilings in high end spaces. So to say you've taught me a lot about taping, mud and spackle would be an understatement. Thank you very much for your informative videos.
Just want to send a thanks to you, Vancouver Carpenter. I did a small home reno project building a wall for my wife’s music room, and it went pretty well. I watched a few of your videos to help me learn what to do and not do with drywall and trim. Thanks for doing what you do!
Not really "quality" if the miter is wide open. Should have been cut right the first time. I've seen lots of finishers do this and say "whatever its paint grade trim". So if you're a finisher that does this what are you going to do on the stain grade jobs? I've had finishers that had never worked with stain grade try and throw it up like this with open joints and gaps just to have to pull it off and replace it. Plus all that filler at the tip, hollow behind will dry and crack later and look bad down the road once the homeowner is moved in and comfortable. Doesn't give the homeowner a good feeling when they're new home starts showing flaws shortly after moving in
I've never lived in a house in my life with perfectly mitred skirting boards, even when I had a house built from scratch. The only gap filling I've ever witnessed was with thick gloss paint. So I hope whoever buys this place drops something on the floor so they get down on their knees and appreciate the effort! Incidentally, here in the UK tiny gaps often occur because the timber stock wasn't seasoned in the house after occupation, i.e. the skirtings were put on during build and often before the central heating goes on. At the point of inspection the mitres are perfect. Then the family moves in, turns on the heating, and gaps sometimes (not always) start to appear. It's just part of the character of the house I suppose.
A Teleskier ...especially if you get the wood from Selco, it’s all wet one end and twists half an inch out of square, you can always go to wickes and get 100 knots with a bit of timber joining them up.
When the heat is turned on for the first time, don't turn the temperature up all at once. Raise the temperature over a couple of days, otherwise you can crack all of the caulk.
It's funny how it looks so simple but when I attempt it In realize I need to go watch how you do it;) Your videos are awesome and right to the point. Thank you
As a construction working I really appreciate these videos man! Seriously thank you . While I’m Drywalling I watch all these videos and keep leaning things I don’t already know. I feel if we don’t want to learn ,we don’t wanna get better
This is one guy who's videos I don't talk shit on. He's informative, respectable and gives solid opinionated info unlike most of youtube. Also nice to see somebody not constantly spamming shit products that asia makes.
Hahah...at first when I read you comment, I thought you said "this is the only guy I don't talk shit on"...and thought, this guy must be a real Douchebag...hahaha I agree, this guy is great.
sometime, somehow, somewhere this video will help a lot of people who want to fix around their house. I like this work because I don't have enough money to hire a professional>+1
I've often seen gaps in base trim and figured people just have to live with bad carpentry. Your videos show how easily DIYers can fix these. Your attention to detail is much appreciated and demonstrating your technique is invaluable.
I gotta say, this video helped me way more than expected. I did the caulking for miters and it does shrink. You just saved my life with the wood glue thing
Thanks. This really helped me out. I have been trying to figure out how to make my baseboards look better and this video popped up on my feed. It answer a lot of my questions about why my joints look like crap. Thank you for making videos.
I always like seeing what others do. I have used putty, caulk, bondo, and even durabond. One has to be creative when working on old (75yrs plus) homes, nothing is close to consistent or square. Bows in the floor, wall not square to each other, etc. Makes it fun.
I consider Him a Professor. Damn, the thing I've learned from Him. Than U sincerely Vancouver Carpenter. I hope hope U & your family are safe & healthy amid this Pandemic Catastrophe.
Great video.... I’ve said it before.... you always seem to give tips right when I need them. Putting up baseboard and this tip is awesome! Thanks for the videos!!!!
I use wood putty instead of calk for most gap filling. It gives a clean, sharp edge that (as you showed) can be sanded. Also, putty provides some structure making the gap less likely to reopen. Thank you for another great video.
Recently bought my first house, getting little bits done until I'm more confident handling the bigger stuff - I thought I was pretty good with plastering (as we call it here...) until I saw your videos. Thanks for the education! I had no idea that some people call it mud :D I love that name for it! I definitely had a 'told ya so' moment when some got on the floor :P
Turns out the best drywaller on YT (at least your tape & knife work) does trim work too. It would be great to see how you fill inside corners especially with contours! I appreciate your "short & to the point" videos! No long opening music that hurts our ears & not 15 minutes+ of video letting us know how much personality you think you have containing 5 min or less of the content we clicked to see. Many thanks for posting!
I've been watching "how to do baseboard, miters, trim videos all day. This guy is good. I have been a pro painter, sheet rocker, and carpenter and I've gotta say -- this guy is good.
About fifteen years ago I put put up some 4x4 posts on my screen porch, There was open grain in the knotholes and a few other divots that needed to be filled. I used Bondo (a polyester resin-based putty used for auto body filler). It's non-shrinking and extremely strong, and it sands very well too. To finish sealing the knots I used dewaxed shellac to seal them and prevent resin bleed-through, which will happen with Southern Yellow Pine, regardless of how many coats of paint you put on it. They look great today, so it worked well. I can't tell where any of the knots are--the paint is smooth and there's no bleed-through to leave a hint. Great video BTW. I've heard that if the gap is very minor you can take the smooth edge of a Phillips (or Robertson) screwdriver and press it against the edge of the miter to round over the edge and fill in the gap. Obviously that wouldn't work well for a gap as large as you were hiding--the corner would be too rounded and not look good.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot...another product you can get at the home centers (in the paint department) is Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty. It's a powder that you mix with water to a putty consistency and it dries a beige-brown. Like Bondo, it dries without shrinking and is very strong and hard. It sands well and takes paint well too. A good alternative to Bondo, and easier to mix since you just add a little bit of water and stir. I use it a lot when I was a teenager building scenery for my HO railroad. It made great rocks and cliffs.
I'm a carpenter maintenance for Hilton hotel I always watch your technique and execution and I like it work smart not harder always think out of the box there's always solution more mistake more you learn and improve and always share what the easy way to others sometimes its easy to do this for you but not to others always be open minded and respect what someone suggested
OK! As a DIY’er I’m hooked...subscribed. I just finished a room with shiplap and every board required 22 degree bevel cuts....wish I would have watched this first.
One trick we used to use on miter folded beams was to burnish the corners with a screwdriver, or anything that's round, hard, and smooth. You rub the miter to bend those fibers together and close up your corner, it has it's limitations but it's saved me a lot of filling.
Fun, isn't it? :) I've been working on a remodel in a spare bedroom over a couple of months. Level 5 finish over knockdown texture wall and painted popcorn ceiling (1971 house, likely asbestos, already painted by previous owners). Putting my final skim coat on the ceiling tomorrow, then sand and primer before paint. Ben's videos have been kinda following along where I've been in my spare time. One wall had old baseboard electrical (flipped that 12ga wiring and box around for a dedicated outdoor 20A utility circuit, all wiring was run and breakers still in the box, wiring disconnected), cable TV inlet, phone jack, poor patching, curtain rod pullouts, nail pops from the original build, etc, so I practiced a bunch of different filling and taping techniques. My 10yo daughter is getting that bedroom when I'm done and she loves watching the videos and seeing the results when she gets home from school. :) We're just about to trim now and I'll be building a wide flower pot holding window sill. :) Informative videos and fun to watch.
WOW, I can not believe all the "holier than thou" attitude. I am a DIY'r and I appreciate videos like this to help out. I don't think this was aimed at the pros or the one who think they are pros. Besides why are all the "pros" watching this. :) Thanks for the video.
Yeah, most certainly, most pro carpenters, don't do their own painting. If a pro leave too many open joints, the painters may back charge the contractor, or at the very least mock the skills of the carpenter, and demand beers after work.
Because adding information to their database of tricks is what MAKES them PROS! The rest of you just stay mediocre, we don't care...unless you're working for us!
Im a carpenter and was working with a friend of mine 2nd fixing houses for a building company... we were on price so we very busy...and the specs on the job was mitres were not allowed to be opened like in thumb nail...so i was cutting he was fitting and measuring and we got stuck in and he said all your mitres were perfectly done how was that cause we had to use mitre bond glue rapid set on all the the mitres on the skirting, its simple trick, instead of 45* used 47* he laughed at me and said for 20 years he never thought to do that once...works great with plastered walls. But your still giving out sound advice, lots of people turn to you tube now for advice, im sure you ll be inundated with comments, all the best.
Excellent video. Been using caulk for years, will try this although might be harder to sand a complex form like crown. Virtually all corners are more or less than 90 deg. I did OS corner crowns by using an angle tool and setting saw with that and got perfect 46.5 miters on a 93 deg OS corner.
I've done this before on a couple of corners I screwed up and was running low on trim. It was my house and it bothered me because, while you couldn't see it, I knew what I did. Staining all of my work in our current house so I'll have to get it all right.
I learned a couple things by watching this video.....how to repair the trim joints in my house that were like this when I bought it AND how to prevent this if I am cutting my own trim in the future. And your moral character is leagues above all these “pros” who won’t even acknowledge that they’ve ever made a mistake like this before. Thank you for the great video!
As I do my final vertical wipe upwards I slowly slide the blade sideways away from the vertical edge which helps prevent excess filler from piling up along that edge. A common reason for open joints at corners is simply out-of-square drywall due to imperfect framing. I cut tests out of short pieces when I'm installing Oak, etc., trim to be sure of my installation before I ruin long pieces of trim.
I'm from the east coast U.S.A. and I busted out laughing on the spackle/joint compound because your comment was spot on! A ton of people confuse the different types of materials to work with on the eastern side!
I am a first time diyer for home repairs. The video is helping me a lot. I have read a few of the negative comments out of curiosity. If I buy the tools and materials he recommends--and it works--this is all that matters to me.
Let me tell you how I got a quarter inch gap in my mitered inner corner....on my back porch, in my very old house, where Plato’s world of ‘perfect solids, and perfect geometry’ did not visit.
Thanks for the tip amigo...! just went around the house fixing my cornea. I used a narrower putty knife, about an inch wide, handles those corners even better.
After asking a few carpenters that do this work for a living, i found out there are several factors for why the gaps could appear in the trim work after installation. One reason is the trim needs to be acclimated prior to installation, this is mostly never done during construction. The second reason is the corners or joints needs to glued and pinned, that can help quite a bit. Third reason is the temperature changes inside the house, its generally expansion and contraction. I'm in New Jersey and the trim in my house shows some gaps from time to time, more so after a really cold winter.
You are absolutely correct but the #1 reason in my opinion is the piece are cut incorrectly and that is usually because they are using and older saw that it no longer accurate. Plus if there is a huge gap to start you shouldn't nail it! I always double check my finish saws for straight, 90 and 45 angles. most saws have adjustment screws and stops to help zero everything. And like he said in the video, for outside corners going a little over 45 helps the outside corner touch which is the first part you'll notice.
I live in a very old home & trying to do repairs ourselves. Not sure how one of the baseboards got chipped on the edge but this will certainly help. Thanks for your tips!!💙😊
if it is in a high traffic area, you may want to go with bondo instead of a wood putty/filler...this will require a little sanding but will be a more permanent fix...
I can say as a contractor that what he's showing will work in a pinch. We're all advancing our skills at carpentry (in this case trim), hopefully. This is something anyone can do when presented with this problem, whether they cut the trim or not. As a pro tip I will say this on topic: No need to carry any special fillers or spackling. Just mix latex glue in water, not much glue, just enough to make the water look milky (I use stone glue it's cheaper and Ialways l always have leftovers from concrete work, I suppose wood glue could work). Use the milky water to mix durabond or other hot mud. Fill with that. Won't shrink, very strong. In a pinch we've used this recipe to level low spots on floors before laying hardwood or click together. Cheers
Love your videos!! I am trying to redo my house alone on a single teacher budget. I have very little knowledge on these things. Thank you for taking the time to post these how to videos!! They are so helpful!!
I have tried for 30 years DIY on my house and still make mistakes buying the right tools and materials. Making my own gate, that looked simple in a video, cost $500 in supplies and eventually had to hire someone for $700. (; It is really hard trying to find the right painters, plumbers, etc. I found Charlie DIYte from England that has some good ideas too. Good luck on redoing house. Try to have some fun and don't worry about the mistakes if they aren't too costly. Retired teacher-Woman
P.S. to my first reply-I think (only my opinion) women accept less from a workman, are more gullible, and don't want to complain. silly It has been foolishly my experience time and time again to be taken in by unconsciously thinking a workman/woman is a friend. I can't seem to get it that it is a business and not a friendship. I even tip and then realize what an inadequate job they did. My last painter, of which I had ten years ago, and again recently, had an 18 year old sick dog and so the week job went into 3 weeks and- I completed 1/2 the job myself and still paid him for the entire job. Hopefully, you will have more courage and wisdom to, "speak truth to power." ;)
Thank you I bought my first home and unfortunately was not able to pay contractors so it’s DIY. This was one of the hardest jobs so there were a few touch ups. Thank you!!!!!
Awesome. Now I know how to fix my baseboards. Yep, new build and this is how the “pros” left them. Actually the open corners are the least of the issue but I think sanding fixes most of the problems and then repainting
Very nicely and accessibly presented - and a HUGE problem with my DIY moldings! I *thought* that wood putty was the answer, but I really wasn't sure how to apply it! Thanks!
Tip for using a sheet of sandpaper: fold in half one way, then fold it in half the other. Now there's a cross of folds dividing it in four. Tear down one of the folds to the center - just half way across. Now fold the sheet round on itself (fold left, fold up, fold right for instance) and you have a full quarter-sheet, four thicknesses, and none of the folds have brought abrasive into contact with abrasive. Just like your book-fold, but you get a whole quarter-sheet, not a skinny eighth!
Great video ... my hired guys used caulk instead of wood filler and with this help I will attempt to remedy the work...thanks for the help to remedy my stress.
I love the line "Caulk and paint, make a Carpenter what he ain't!" (I refer to myself and no one else, LOL!) Great tips - I've been doing the caulk bit and always disappointed. Thank You!
I agree- these are the most instructive videos that I have found when trying to do a good job on my painting project. All the little details make all the difference. I have spent nearly 3 days RU-vid videos, and now I have my new Newborn dripless caulk gun and the right caulk to do my trim, with my tip cut and sanded to the correct angle. I just wish that I could spread joint compound like this guy- ugh!
I gave automotive body filler, "Bondo" a try for some really bad cracks. It was far better than any wood filler I've ever used, it doesn't crack or shrink, and it gives a more permanent fix. For outside corners that are subject to damage afterwards, Bondo is better.... Of course you need to paint afterwards.
I appreciate all of your videos, and during the COVID outbreak, I used some extra time to do some of this stuff myself...and it’s very cool do do something RIGHT that I would have either paid someone to do, or with small stuff, botched it myself, or just live with it. For the pros complaining...why are you clicking if you’re already so good?
Another trick when you are filling those cracks and then painting, is to use an old putty knife to stick under the trim. It keeps the mess off the floor, just remember to keep wiping the knife off when you are using it while painting.
Taping/putty knife shield on a wood floor is asking for scratches, Tile only. If you have a floor/base gap(you suck) then just use a 3×5 note card(keep a pack in truck) as a shield.
We all have tar paper leftover from doing a roof. Cut some into 4" wide strips and use them to tuck under baseboard, etc. It is stiff, thin and does not scratch or mark. I have been doing it for years and keep a small wad of strips specially for the purpose, reusing them. 😊
Alright lads we've all had coffee so let's just take in what's being said, appreciate the fact he's posted a video to help people,and when that's done give your fannies a wipe and stop complaining and ask yourself why you've just watched a video on dealing with bad corners 🤔
Before we answer your dipshit question Mr KnowsItAll why don't you explain your being here?.. OMG'sh could it be you snuck in to watch and learn from one of the best on how to fix an open miter cut because you jacked a miter cut ?... Everyone has a reason for being here bro so come with it.!!!.. FYI, mine for this one is just because he's a real cutie 😍 since I don't muck my miter cuts😜
Dude- thank you. I figured this out 25yrs ago, when i was 25. Corner bead corners are ACUTE!😂 45° outside miters will never close. People also think that coping is some kind of fancy carpentry. It is an enormous cheat for inside sheatrock 90s, at the floor, being always completely mud blobbed, hollow, and anything but plumb and 90°😂 I have seen a million tradesman vids like this, that are mostly full of dukey. This one is right on time. 46ish degrees, and build the corners out of 2 or three pieces, where you can, before sticking to the wall.
I was a professional trim carpenter for a few years. I found the reason most people had bad miters was a result of laying the baseboard down and tilting the blade - bad method. Better to stand up baseboard and turn table. another tip - never 45 and inside corner - one piece square and cope the other piece to meet it, you will never have an open corner. If you want a line to cope hit the baseboard with a 45 and follow the inside edge of the cut.
Glad I was able to help. Make sure you try the coping saw for the inside miters. Back around 1980 we were doing a lot of upscale houses with Mahogany, a gap or filler was not an option. A trick if you are using finished wood like Mahogany and there and there is a tiny gap on an outside miter which can happen if the wall is not a perfect 90 degrees is just lightly tap the corner of the joint and it will close it up so it doesn't catch your eye. Back to my bathroom reno. Cheers
I watched Scottish finishing carpenter do a high end dental office with 1 1/4" X 6" oak. All the inside and rounded outside corners where perfect, no fillers used. It is possible to do a good job. We all can do it.
Switch your miter saw to about 51°. It increases the lead of your "point" . You may wind up with a small gap on top of where your wall corner meets both planes but it's a small gap and very easy to caulk.
Or when u are cutting and installing skirting boards Save the sawdust and mix the sawdust with pva glue which dries clear Mix it up so its quite wet and use this to fill any gaps. A perfect match wood filler and can b painted or stained ☺
As someone born and raised on the East Coast US who has heard people use "joint compound", "spackle", and "mud" all interchangeably my whole life? That last little zinger was perfect. :)
As I use dry wall mud as spackle since I’ve got a 5 gallon bucket of it and no spackle, though I’m touching up in a room I just replaced all the drywall in the opposing wall and filled in a few nail holes. lol. Great video and very informative, coming to you from Fl.
Thank you for the video! Doesn't wood filler puddys dry hard and crack from impacts and expansion/contraction? Wouldn't paintable non-shrinking silicone or urethane remain flexible and not crack?
I enjoy your vids you’ve tought me a lot but coming from a trim carpenter I found bondo to be far more effective smoother surface no shrinking a little more sanding but imo a much cleaner finish for painted surfaces. Keep up the awesome vids definitely appreciate the lessons!👍
"I don't need tape, I'm a pro!" Famous last words. :) Also, something I hear frequently from my father-in-law about his painting skills. Then the number of times I heard him say "oops" while helping us paint our new house, and repaint my wife's childhood bedroom after she moved out... :)
