I am having a difficult time trying to remove the trim/baseboard in my walk-in closet. We have painters coming and a custom closet install in a few weeks. Neither of those teams can/will remove the baseboards for us. I purchase a trim puller and have the standard DIY kit for pulling round moulding and trim. However, I discovered that the trim must have been installed prior to the hardwood floor installation when the home was built. The trim is slightly sunk below the floor boards. The trim is also not nailed just at the middle or top. It is nailed toward the top AND bottom of the trim, horizontal with the floor. The bottom nail is actually slightly below floor level. I cannot get leverage to pry the top nails out because of this. I get zero movement on the bottom nails either. We were trying to keep the trim in one piece, but I don't even know how to remove it even if I were to break it given that the bottom nail is below the top of the floor boards. I've heard that a jamb saw would be useful to cut it at the floor level and then an oscillating blade to cut the bottom nail from the walls. I'm not competent enough to use a jamb saw.
I've attached a few images showing the problem. Any suggestions? I really don't want to bring a carpenter in. We're already paying a ton for the customer closet and painters. When something simple becomes complicated…
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You've all been extremely helpful. I was able to get the trim off using a combination of suggestions provided and a lot of cursing and sigh breathing. I've discovered what I feel might have been a shoddy installation job. Perhaps one of you can educate me on whether or not the floor was installed correctly.
So I pulled the quarter round off of another section of wall and discovered HUGE gaps between the wall and end of the hardwood floor boards. I realize wood expands but I always assumed wood typically is installed right up to the drywall itself, or has a minimum gap for expansion. The gaps I'm seeing are .75, 1, 1.5, 1.75 inches from the wall to the end of the floor board. Does this look like a skimp job by the builders or is this pretty typical? Here's a few more pics.
Best Answer
The problems I see are the bottom nails nailed into the baseboard. Get a keyhole saw or single handle hack saw, see picture below, and cut those bottom nails. Then pull the baseboard straight up. Use a pair a vise grips to yank the nail stubs out of the wall. If you cut the nails close to the side of the baseboard, you can just leave them in and not damage the outside surface.