Fill baseboard gaps after installing wood vinyl floors

Question

Recently we removed the carpet from our living room/hallway and installed peel-and-stick vinyl flooring. Now there is a 1/4 inch gap visible throughout the room. We're considering our options to fill the gaps and would like some input.

We found some corner finishing wood pieces at the store and painted them white to match our existing molding. It looks pretty well incorporated in the sample area we tested. However there are some miter cuts around the corners and I'm not sure the best way to cut those angles. I have a hand saw and speed square. I tried using them to cut 22 degree angles but it doesn't look so good. Are these corner finishers a viable option? How should I approach these cuts. Images attached.

We brought home some Quarter Round Molding from the store but we didn't like how it looks. I've seen online there is a Shoe Molding; Would that be something to consider?

How should we fill these gaps? Thanks.

Answer 1

Looks like you’ve got a good back saw you just need a quality miter box so that you can cut your angles precisely, Or spring for an electric miter saw.

Personally I think a smaller shoe molding will look the best and if you have a miter box cutting your corners would be much easier than trying to use a speed square.

Whatever molding you use when it comes to where it meets the door trim ( No need to put shoe molding on the bottom of your door trim, that will just look weird ) you’re going to want to put a 45 Deg miter return cut and round it over with sanding block so that you have a soft return towards the door trim to look best.

Even if your miter joints are a little bit wonky you can fill them in with paintable caulk and then paint it all for a finished look.

I prefer to paint all of my molding before I start cutting it and installing it and then caulk any gaps and touch up with a small paintbrush.