How to Cut Shoe Molding
- 1). Measure one wall from the corner, on the floor. Mark a piece of shoe molding with the measurement on the top, where you'll see it when making the cut.
- 2). Set the trim on a miter saw, in the position it will be against the wall, with your mark facing up at you and positioned right under the blade.
- 3). Swivel the blade to a 45-degree angle. If the cut is for an inside corner, turn the blade so it points toward the main part of the trim. If the cut is for an outside corner, point it away from the main part. Make the cut.
- 4). Repeat the process for the piece of molding on the other side of the corner, but reverse the blade setting. If you set the first piece of molding to the right of the blade and swiveled the blade to the right to make an inside cut, set the second piece to the blade's left and turn the blade to the left.
- 5). Set the cut pieces of molding together in the corner, making sure the miter is tight, with no gaps. Nail both pieces to the wall with your trim nailer.
- 6). Make a splice cut for any section that requires two lengths of molding that meet in the middle of a wall. Use your miter saw to cut the end of one of the pieces at a 45-degree angle, as you would for an inside corner. Cut the other piece at the reverse 45-degree angle. Glue the cut ends and nail the pieces with the ends pressed together for a tight vertical seam.
- 7). Cut end pieces straight across, at 90 degrees, at any point where the molding ends against a wall that is not trimmed.
