How to Remove a Vinyl Baseboard

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Things You'll Need

  • Heat gun

  • Putty knife

  • Gloves

  • Protective glasses

Vinyl baseboard is glued to the wall to fill in the gap between the floor and the wall. You may decide to remove it when it becomes damaged or because you want to use a different type of baseboard. When removing vinyl baseboard, it can be difficult to get it off without damaging the wall that it is attached to because the adhesive may have it bound to the wall very well; however, you can remove it yourself with the proper equipment.

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Step 1

Prepare to remove the vinyl baseboards by setting your heat gun to medium heat and putting on safety glasses and gloves.

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Step 2

Locate the end of one of the baseboards, and heat that end by holding the heat gun 3 to 4 inches away and moving it back and forth to soften the glue holding the vinyl baseboard to the wall and make it easier to remove.

Step 3

Place a putty knife behind the end of the baseboard that you heated, and pull on it gently to detach it from the wall.

Step 4

Continue to heat a section and pry it off of the wall until you have removed the entire piece of vinyl baseboard from the wall.

Step 5

Heat the leftover glue with the heat gun, and remove it with the putty knife.

Tip

If you can't pry any of the sections off the wall with the putty knife, add more heat with the heat gun.

Warning

Do not scrape the wall too hard with the putty knife, or you could damage the wall. It is important to move the heat gun back and forth to keep it from burning the vinyl or the wall.

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