Found a trick for scribing baseboard to uneven walls

Been fighting with 100 year old plaster walls in my living room. Took a scrap block and some pencil lead, used the block as a spacer and traced the gap. Anyone else use this method or got a better way to handle it?

3 comments

3 Comments

riley431d ago

That "scribing with a scrap block and pencil" trick is the classic way to handle it... I usually tape a few pencils together to make a wider spacer for bigger gaps. Just make sure to keep the block perfectly level as you trace, or you'll end up with a wavy cut that doesn't fit right. A sharp utility knife helps clean up the line after you make the cut too.

the_xena1d ago

My house is from the 1920s so I feel this pain hard. Tried that method once but my block slipped halfway through and I ended up with a line that looked like a seismograph reading. Switched to using a contour gauge for the really bad sections, takes forever but saves on wasted baseboard. Had a buddy who used a hot glue gun to attach his pencil to the block, swore by it.

jordanblack1d ago

Yeah taping a couple pencils together is smart for bigger gaps, I've done that with a fat sharpie taped to a 2x4 chunk for huge wavy spots and it worked way better than trying to do it in two passes.