# Baseboard Installation Cost 2026 Canonical URL: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/baseboard-installation-cost/ Plain text: https://www.simplywise.com/blog/baseboard-installation-cost/llms.txt Publisher: SimplyWise, Inc. (https://www.simplywise.com) Published: September 22, 2026 Updated: October 27, 2026 Category: Project Cost Guides Summary: Baseboard installation cost by the linear foot. Set perimeter, openings and material to get net footage, sticks to buy and a priced materials range. --- Log in (https://simplywise.com/login) ## Baseboard Installation Cost: Price It by the Linear Foot Priced the way a trim carpenter bids it. Set the perimeter, the openings you take back out, and the stock. Add SimplyWise as a preferred source (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=simplywise.com) Net footage, sticks to buy, and the cost Material Primed MDF, 3-1/4 in colonial. Paint grade, hates water. Room perimeter (ft) Door and cased openings Stock length Every opening takes out 3 ft: a 30 in door, two jamb legs, two casings. Crew hours Rate, dollars an hour The rate starts at the May 2025 median wage for Carpenters. A wage, not a billed rate. 130 linear feet of base to run Stock to buy9 sticks at 16 ft, 144 ft Materials$98 to $133 Labor$465 Materials plus labor$563 to $598 Primed MDF is two sellers listing the same 623 colonial profile, both read September 11, 2026. At a glance 1. Base runs by the linear foot, less about 3 ft for every opening. 2. Primed MDF in a 3-1/4 in colonial listed at $0.68 and $0.92 a foot at two sellers. 3. Height moves the stock price more than species does. 4. No publisher we accept states an installed price a foot, so we price stock and hours. ## How baseboard installation cost adds up per linear foot On the calculator's default 130 ft room, baseboard installation cost works out to $4.33 to $4.60 a linear foot in stock and crew wages, before overhead and margin. That is primed MDF stock plus the calculator's default 16 crew hours, which you set, at the $29.12 median carpenter wage. Measure the wall, take the openings out, buy sticks, then cut, cope, nail and caulk. No publisher we accept prints an installed price a foot. Every figure in circulation traces to a lead aggregator or a marketing page, and neither binds anybody. ## Take the perimeter, then take the openings back out Tape every wall for gross perimeter. The openings that come back off it are what everyone gets wrong. Each door and cased opening is worth about 3 ft, and that figure is built, not guessed. A 2/6 door slab is 30 in wide. Two jamb legs at 11/16 in add 1-3/8 in. Two colonial casings at 2-1/4 in add 4-1/2 in. Call it 36. Closets get base inside. Fireplaces, tub decks and cabinet runs do not. ## What the stock costs by the foot Four materials at 3-1/4 in tall, by the linear foot, at named sellers on September 11, 2026. | Material | Seller one | Seller two | | --- | --- | --- | | Primed MDF, profile 623 | $0.68 a foot | $0.92 a foot | | Finger joint primed pine | $1.37 a foot | $1.94 a foot | | Solid pine | $1.04 a foot | $2.37 a foot | | Cellular PVC | $1.67 a foot | single seller | Spreads that wide are real: a loss leader at a discount millwork house is a full margin item at a lumberyard. ### Height moves it more than species Hold the seller still and grow the profile. One hardwood house lists primed MDF at $0.92 a foot in a 3-1/4 in colonial and $1.56 in a 5-1/4 in speed base. One lumberyard lists the same finger joint line at $14.99 an 8 ft stick in the 433 and $18.29 in the taller 431. A built up base is three sticks. A 5-1/2 in single ripple at $1.98, a base cap at $0.97 and a shoe at $0.65 come to $3.60 a foot, each cut and nailed on its own. ### What we will not price Three numbers are missing on purpose: a published installed price a foot, a waste percentage, and a feet-per-hour rate. Nobody we accept publishes any of them. Rounding up to whole sticks is the only waste model here, and it is how waste lands on your invoice. ## Turn the takeoff into a priced job SimplyWise Cost Estimator (https://www.simplywise.com/cost-estimator) turns a photo into an itemized estimate in about 6 seconds, with material and labor lines. Pricing is $29.99/mo or $239.99/yr, about $20/mo on annual, with a 7-day free trial. ## Where the hours go in baseboard installation cost Nobody loses money on straight runs. They lose it on the corners and the finish. Inside corners get coped, because a coped joint holds when framing moves and a miter opens up. Outside corners want a test cut, since no wall is a true 90. Old floors slope, so long runs get scribed. Fill the holes, caulk every joint, sand, prime the cut ends, paint. On a repaint, add pulling the old base and patching what comes off with it. ## What the labor side pays Carpenters posted a May 2025 national median of $29.12 an hour and a mean of $31.55. The 10th sits at $19.43 and the 90th at $48.03, across 670,090 jobs. Place moves it: the Hawaii mean is $42.06, Mississippi $23.69. These are wages employers pay, and the survey skips the self employed, so your rate carries burden, truck and margin on top. ## Price baseboard installation cost in four steps 1. Measure the gross perimeter Tape every wall in every room that gets base. 2. Deduct the openings Take off 3 ft per door and cased opening. That is net footage. 3. Pick the stock and count sticks Settle material and height, then round up to whole sticks. 4. Add hours, fasteners and finish Price your hours, then add brads, filler, caulk and paint as lines. ## Keep reading - Construction Calculators (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/construction-calculators/) - Drywall Installation Cost (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/drywall-installation-cost/) - Flooring Cost Calculator (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/flooring-cost-calculator/) - Paint Cost Calculator (https://www.simplywise.com/blog/paint-cost-calculator/) ## Sources ### Trim prices read live - CM Windows and Doors, 623 colonial base (https://cmwindowsanddoors.com/products/623-16-primed-colonial-base) ($10.92 and $21.84 a piece; 2026-09-11). - Baird Brothers, MD623M (https://www.bairdbrothers.com/12-x-3-14-MDF-Primed-Colonial-Baseboard-MD623M-P578.aspx) ($0.92; 2026-09-11). - Baird Brothers, WM623 pine (https://www.bairdbrothers.com/916-x-3-14-Pine-Colonial-Baseboard-WM623-P55059.aspx) ($1.04; 2026-09-11). - Sutherlands, mfg 1427831 (https://sutherlands.com/products/item/7584865/metrie-3-1-4-inch-x-9-16-inch-x-8-foot-primed-finger-joint-pine-base-moulding) ($15.49; 2026-09-11). - Sutherlands, mfg 1427834 (https://sutherlands.com/products/item/2540094/metrie-3-14-inch-x-12mm-inch-x-8-foot-white-mdf-base-moulding) ($18.99; 2026-09-11). - Sutherlands, mfg 5104052 (https://sutherlands.com/products/item/1630391/metrie-12foot-x-3-14-inch-colonial-finished-pvc-baseboard-moulding) ($19.99; 2026-09-11). ### Profiles and dimensions - Baird Brothers, MD163M speed base (https://www.bairdbrothers.com/916-x-5-14-MDF-Primed-Speed-Baseboard-MD163M-P579.aspx) ($1.56; 2026-09-11). - Baird Brothers, WM356 (https://www.bairdbrothers.com/1116-x-2-14-Pine-Colonial-Casing-WM356-P20473.aspx) (2-1/4 in casing; 2026-09-11). - Sutherlands, 2/6 by 6/8 door (https://sutherlands.com/products/item/3107356/30-inch-x-80-inch-hollow-core-primed-flush-right-hand-flat-jamb-prehung-interior-door) (30 in wide; 2026-09-11). ### Wages and product - BLS OEWS May 2025 (47-2031 Carpenters; 2026-09-11). - SimplyWise Cost Estimator (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simplywise-cost-estimator/id6670619664) (App Store 4.8; 2026-09-09). ## Common questions about baseboard installation cost ### Takeoff and scope **How do I work out how much baseboard I need?** Add every wall in the rooms that get base, then take off about 3 ft for each door and cased opening. Round the net up to whole sticks. **Why deduct 3 ft for a door?** A 2/6 door slab is 30 in wide, two jamb legs at 11/16 in add 1-3/8 in, and two colonial casings add 4-1/2 in. That is 35-7/8 in. **What waste factor should I add?** None is printed here, because no publisher we accept states one for trim. Rounding up to whole sticks is the waste model you actually pay for. ### Money **What does baseboard cost per linear foot?** At 3-1/4 in tall, primed MDF listed at $0.68 and $0.92 a foot, finger joint pine at $1.37 and $1.94, and solid pine at $1.04 and $2.37 on September 11, 2026. **Why is there no installed price a foot here?** Because no publisher we accept states one it is bound by. We price the stock and leave the hours to you. **Can SimplyWise price a trim job from a photo?** Yes. SimplyWise Cost Estimator turns a photo into an itemized estimate in about 6 seconds, with material and labor lines. Free to try, at $29.99/mo. 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