# Stacking baaseboards



## Mr Smith

What's your system for stacking baseboards in a renovation? I'm not a new construction painter but am bidding on a complete reno of a house. I assume that spraying the first coat on baseboards is the way to go?

Has anyone used 'Erecta Racks' with success? Looks like you'd need 3 sets of braces or brackets for baseboards. The pro set only has 2 brackets. It's pricey though. With shipping in Canadian Dollars, it's close to $400.

https://erecta-rack.com/

What about Stack Racks?

https://stakracks.com/

Anyone have a cheaper DIY method to build one? Cheap and lightweight. I was thinking something like PVC pipe for brackets? I'd like to break it down and throw it all in a hockey duffle bag for portability.


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## RH

A few years back I had a lot of them to do. I got some cheap 2x2s, laid the first two (or use three - one at each end of the trim and the third in the middle - if working with longer lengths of trim or mdf) down parallel to each other, placed the trim across them, leaving gaps where spacing blocks would go. Then the second 2x2s had a spacing block at each end and in the middle to keep them separated from the already stacked and painted trim. Just kept building them higher as I did the trim. It was fairly easy to do, accommodated lots of product, and was relatively cheap. Of course it wasn’t a portable solution, just done to accommodate the one really big project.


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## lilpaintchic

2x4, 1 1/2" PVC, scrap pieces of plywood.

Screw through PVC cut to about 3-4 ft to the 2x4 st 12 in intervals. Make 2 2x4s that are identical. Make em as tall as is reasonable. We used 6-7 ft. Screw to the outside of the 2x4 with 2 1/2 in wood screws.
Attach scrap plywood about 3ft x 1 ft (ish) to the bottom of each 2x4.
Use another scrap 2x or piece of plywood(that's what we used) as long as is reasonable (we used a piece about 6ft long) as a brace between your 2x4s and attach it to them. Done. We threw a 54itload of 12's ans 16's on em. Worked beautifully. Built 2 separate racks for about 50 bucks or so. Just unscrew em and you're good to go.



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## jennifertemple

Here is what I did when boards were dry to the touch, u cut strips of Polyester sheeting, quick, cheap & simple!


View attachment 102095


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## futtyos

*My version*

I was working in a small condo. The GC was doing all kinds of stuff, so I was limited on space and location. I designed my rack to go against a wall and have only one side available to stack baseboard on, but this could work for both sides if longer wooden dowels were installed that stick out in both directions. 

I believe the wooden dowels are 3/8" oak.

The upright 2x4s unscrew from the wooden bases, which also can be unscrewed if need be.

























As you can see, I built my own saw horses so I could paint the baseboards at a height that was most comfortable for me. The store-bought lower saw horses really were hard on my back. What I liked about this setup is that once you got the baseboards onto the racks, doing a 2nd coat only meant carefully picking up a baseboard, walk backwards a few steps, set down on saw horses, paint, then pick up and put back on the rack.

The GC has since taken on painting the baseboards himself, so I repurposed the stands to provide shade for scraping metal railings on the balcony:











futtyos


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## Wildbill7145

2X4, a big bag of 4" or 5" deck screws driven in about an inch at a slight angle about 2" apart along the length of the board. Place boards aligned about 8' apart depending on the length of your stock. Each painted board is rested with the back against the screws. I've just found laying them flat takes up too much floor space.


I've got about 4 pairs of these and they've done very well for me over the past 15yrs. I cut my 2X4 into 4' lengths. Easy to carry around and store. Very, very cheap method to solve your particular need.


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## Mr Smith

This looks easy to build. Just use 5" deck screws. You could bolt the base and make it portable. It's just 2x4's. You only need to do one side for baseboards. Build two of them.You could add more stability by using longer boards for the base.


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## mattpaints82

I started using these homemade racks. Made of 2x4's 1/2" conduit, 3/4" conduit brackets and plywood bases. Works really well... however it is a pain to haul around. I have since purchased the erecta rack, and I love it. Everything breaks down into a duffle bag for easy transport.


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## mattpaints82

Here is a couple pics of the erecta racks in action. So far I have only used them to rack 8' doors.


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## ridesarize

Mr Smith just use 2×3 or 2x4 blocks, and 1x3 furring strip stickers cut in half (48" long).
Stack furring strips on blocks, add painted boards. Stack more blocks and a sticker, add more painted boards. 


I can fit 1800 linear feet of 4" boards (or 230 8' boards) in a 4x8 footprint and 5 feet tall. 

No screws, no pvc, no bases, no hardware. 
40 bucks, reusable for years, good for shop use, and portable too.

Used these through the years for thousands of boards, including thousands of pounds of 20' long Ipe.

Here's my pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbf1_x_FtGe/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=jyihq484lza2


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## futtyos

*Nice!*



ridesarize said:


> Mr Smith just use 2×3 or 2x4 blocks, and 1x3 furring strip stickers cut in half (48" long).
> Stack furring strips on blocks, add painted boards. Stack more blocks and a sticker, add more painted boards.
> 
> 
> I can fit 1800 linear feet of 4" boards (or 230 8' boards) in a 4x8 footprint and 5 feet tall.
> 
> No screws, no pvc, no bases, no hardware.
> 40 bucks, reusable for years, good for shop use, and portable too.
> 
> Used these through the years for thousands of boards, including thousands of pounds of 20' long Ipe.
> 
> Here's my pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbf1_x_FtGe/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=jyihq484lza2


Just watched the video of you painting these. I can only get about 40 boards max on my setup, but this is for small condos.

I would have liked to see you stack the finished boards, but I think I can envision it. I am going to keep this setup in mind for larger jobs.






Just a question. I am guessing that you have tried rolling the paint on with a small roller, then brushing it out - and if so, why do you prefer using just a brush? 

futtyos


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## Mr Smith

ridesarize said:


> Mr Smith just use 2×3 or 2x4 blocks, and 1x3 furring strip stickers cut in half (48" long).
> Stack furring strips on blocks, add painted boards. Stack more blocks and a sticker, add more painted boards.
> 
> 
> I can fit 1800 linear feet of 4" boards (or 230 8' boards) in a 4x8 footprint and 5 feet tall.
> 
> No screws, no pvc, no bases, no hardware.
> 40 bucks, reusable for years, good for shop use, and portable too.
> 
> Used these through the years for thousands of boards, including thousands of pounds of 20' long Ipe.
> 
> Here's my pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bbf1_x_FtGe/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=jyihq484lza2


What's a "furring strip sticker?" Is that just a 1x3 board? Will the blocks fall off when you are doing long 16' baseboards by yourself? I could easily see myself knocking those little blocks off onto the wet boards underneath at some point. Would you consider fastening them with screws to the 1x3 furring strip so it's one piece?


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## NuLook Painting YK

1x4 cut to 48” with 2x4 blocks (customize the height to what you think you need) screwed to either end about $75 in new material made me 30 some sticks. The picture is of 5” by 16’ tongue and groove boards. 


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## ridesarize

Mr Smith said:


> What's a "furring strip sticker?" Is that just a 1x3 board? Will the blocks fall off when you are doing long 16' baseboards by yourself? I could easily see myself knocking those little blocks off onto the wet boards underneath at some point. Would you consider fastening them with screws to the 1x3 furring strip so it's one piece?



Furring strips, 1x3" boards.

This system is very sturdy unless maybe you start the whole stack on uneven ground.
I've never knocked boards down while doing this method. I just lay the blocks up there flat and they stay put. I've stacked double blocks before too for 3" in between rows. 

You could screw the blocks to the furring strips as long as the screws are countersunk in and the stacks still stack up straight with no wobble. But also at that point it's a little bit less portable, still good for shop environment though.
.


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## kmp

I use 1x2 furring strips as well but I cut the 2x4 into 4x4 inch pieces and nail a 4" piece of 1x3 furring strip to it so my 48" piece of 1x3 sits flush with it. If you have 10' plus pieces of trim you will need three stick and block set up for each level so 9 4x4 blocks and 3 48" stickers, Start with one set on the floor and build it up. You can get 5 or 6 per level with 6" trim. They can get shakey so don;t go more than 3' or so. It makes no difference what type of system you use you will not have enough room or parts. The erecta rack and similar systems look good and probably work well but you could go bankrupt buying enough of them to do a house full of base and case.


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## ridesarize

futtyos said:


> Just watched the video of you painting these. I can only get about 40 boards max on my setup, but this is for small condos.
> 
> I would have liked to see you stack the finished boards, but I think I can envision it. I am going to keep this setup in mind for larger jobs.
> 
> Just a question. I am guessing that you have tried rolling the paint on with a small roller, then brushing it out - and if so, why do you prefer using just a brush?
> 
> futtyos


I used brush only to apply the primer and the paint so I would avoid any possibility of hairs or fuzz getting into the finish. Other reasons are that I wanted to work the primer in by brush and create even brush strokes the entire length of the boards. if I had rolled them with coverstain it would be difficult to lay out the primer and have it look smooth. 

On the Heritage Red finish coat, I brushed it so I could put the paint on wet, get good coverage, and make those 8 foot long brush strokes witout the corners showing through.


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