LVP INSTALL / BASEBOARD issue: I could use some help/additional information / input about baseboard trim when installing LVP.
I bought the LVP from Home Depot, so am eligible for their $2.49/sf labor install price... which was cheaper than another local non-Home Depot installer quoted me. He wanted $3/sf.
But... HD is insisting that I have to use this 11"/16" quarter round moulding trim...to cover the gap / space created by the carpet removal. Which will look awful! ... and is NOT what I want to use.
A much better option would be (what I did when I removed carpet from the bathroom -if you can imagine anyone actually putting carpet in a bathroom!!!) ... was to use a piece of 1/2" quarter round and insert it under the bottom edge of the existing base trim, with the flat edge facing out...so that it blends right in! As you can see in the photo... it looks MUCH better! Well, at least good-enough for me. (This is not a high-end, fancy house…so high-quality finishes are not an option, financially. Primed QR will suffice. I just have to get the best option I can afford on my VERY limited budget! So, for all you top-notch, finish carpenters out there…pls cut me some slack! Also, I’m embarrassed by the filthy floors and trim, in these photos, but living in a construction zone…so everything is gross!)
When I suggested this option to the HD flooring dept. supervisor she told me that they could not allow that, b/c, in order to ensure that the work was done in a manner which would keep their warranty intact...being sure the flooring was installed in such a way that there would be no floating, or wiggling or moving-around of the planks... they had to nail-in the quarter round trim to the existing baseboard...to be sure the QR trim would hold the edges of the planks firmly in place.
While that *theoretically* makes sense (in some ways, like a 'Corporate CYA avoid-any-liability BS strategy’ way) ...in reality there will be such a TINY amount of overlap at the spot where the quarter round adjoins (is nailed to) the existing trim -maybe only 1/8 of an inch, or less!!...I can't imagine how trying to nail small finishing trim nails or brads in that TINY section... would actually result in that piece of trim being a legitimately stabilizing factor! ?? ! So, again, while that may make *some* sense -in theory- ...due to the specifics of this particular situation, 1/8" or less for a good 'bite' of solid connection... nah...I think it's nonsense.
But more importantly (to me) is that I do NOT like the look of that curved piece of quarter-round trim (which will also be a big dust collector)... and does NOT aesthetically match with my existing trim. And MORE significantly, my existing trim has these little decorative corner pieces, at every corner...and the larger curved quarter-round they want me to use...will STICK WAY OUT (over almost half an inch!!) ...and not -IN ANY WAY- be able to blend in at EVERY SINGLE ONE of those corner junctions! YIKES!! See photos.
So, I have a couple of questions:
Is there another option... besides the one I mentioned I used above... which I would like to use again, on this job? (I've asked a couple of handymen as well as the Home Depot flooring measurement guys that came to measure, and no one knew of any other options, besides removing and replacing ALL the original trim. NO WAY is that an affordable option for me!)
I also asked AI / Google search, and it didn't really have any other workable suggestions.
So the other question is: IF I choose to have a different installer install my flooring (and thus forfeit my Home Depot warranty) but have the ability to install the trim I WANT to install, to have the aesthetic look I WANT to have in MY house with my new (expensive!) floor...(which I strongly feel one SHOULD BE ALLOWED to have! within reason, of course, when dealing with an entity like HD).. how likely is it that I'll ever actually need to USE my warranty...and then be bummed-out that I forfeited it?
I asked the 2 flooring experts that were helping me at HD... how often people come back to claim warranties on their LifeProof LVP flooring... and they said "several times a week." !!! (But one of them pointed out that that's based on many thousands of customers, so -statistically- there may be VERY little chance that I might end up needing to actually use the warranty.
As a single, disabled, senior woman living on a very low fixed SSDI income of $1,044 a month (if you can imagine trying to survive on that in today's world!!) ... I have to always try to save money whenever I can. Home Depot wants to charge $140 just to slide my refrigerator out (it's a new refrigerator with good wheels, which will take about 30 seconds to slide out! And to slide out my electric stove, which also might take about 1 to 2 minutes at the most!) So, $140 for a couple of minutes of work! SHEESH!!! That feels almost criminal to me!
They also want to charge $708 to remove and dispose of a small section of wood floor (that another guy was only going to charge $350 to do!) According to the HD measurement guy, they are also going to insist that that same ugly quarter round be installed under all my kitchen cabinets, which would look awful, and be a real mess to clean! Ugh!
So, for all these reasons, I think I'd prefer to use a different installer, ...but I'm also a little concerned about voiding my warranty on the flooring.
Sorry for the long post, but does anybody have any helpful feedback? TIA
(I clicked on the option to add images when I posted this…and attached 4 photos. Why didn’t they show up?)