Baseboards look like simple work: cut to length, nail to the wall. Then you meet the first corner that is not square, the wall that bows, and the floor that dips, and you find out that the money in this job is made or lost on the joints. Price by length, but look at the corners before you quote.
To supply and fit standard primed boards in one average room, charge $290–$490 in the US, £185–£370 in the UK, C$320–C$550 in Canada and A$420–A$950 in Australia. Removing old boards and finishing with caulk and paint are priced on top, and the calculator shows both.
Calculator
Set the job details to get a price to quote, then check what that price leaves you per hour once driving, supplies and tax are counted.
Charge about
$370
per job, boards included, for 50 ft
per job, boards included, in your own currency
$48an hour in your pocket at the typical price
Adjust the numbers above to match your job.
The price is built as a base fee plus a rate for the size of the job, then adjusted for the options you pick. Time is an estimate for one person working alone; change it if you know your own pace.
Price list
| Job | United States (USD) | United Kingdom (GBP) | Canada (CAD) | Australia (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hallway or small room | $195–$320about 30 ft | £140–£260about 9 m | $220–$360about 30 ft | $300–$640about 9 m |
| One average room | $290–$490about 50 ft | £185–£370about 14 m | $320–$550about 50 ft | $420–$950about 14 m |
| Three rooms | $740–$1,340about 150 ft | £470–£1,050about 45 m | $820–$1,500about 150 ft | $1,160–$2,850about 45 m |
| Whole house | $1,860–$3,450about 400 ft | £1,140–£2,700about 120 m | $2,050–$3,850about 400 ft | $2,950–$7,500about 120 m |
| Hourly rate | $40–$100what working pros bill | £25–£38what working pros bill | $45–$90what working pros bill | $55–$100what working pros bill |
| Minimum charge | $150smallest job worth the trip | £100smallest job worth the trip | $170smallest job worth the trip | $180smallest job worth the trip |
Prices are per job, boards included in local currency, from a fair budget price to an established operator in a higher-cost area.
United States: Installed prices of $6 to $9 per linear foot are typical with standard material. Labour alone runs about $3 to $8 a foot, so always say whether your rate includes the boards.
United Kingdom: Called skirting boards. On masonry walls they are often fixed with grab adhesive and screws instead of nails. Tall period profiles in older houses take longer to scribe and joint, so charge more for them. Carpenters commonly work to a day rate of £200 to £350.
Canada: Installed prices of $6 to $10 per linear foot are typical with standard MDF, with labour alone at about $3 to $5. New-build tract work pays far less per foot than renovation work in lived-in homes.
Australia: Called skirting boards. Published per-metre rates of about $20 to $55 usually cover labour only, with primed MDF board adding roughly $12 to $20 a metre.
Method
A base fee plus a rate per linear foot or metre. This is the trade standard and what the calculator uses. Measure each wall, add them up, and take off the door openings.
A flat price for each room, which customers find easier to compare. Work it out from your length rate, then add for rooms with many corners, bay windows or built-in units.
The customer buys the boards and you fit them. The rate drops by about a third. Check what they have bought before you agree a price, because warped or short lengths mean more joints and more waste.
Useful for a whole house with doors, casings and other trim mixed in, or where the walls are in poor shape and nobody can say how long scribing will take. Give an estimate of days up front.
Price factors
Straight runs are quick. Every inside corner needs a coped or mitred joint, every outside corner a clean mitre, and every long wall a neat splice. A simple square room has four corners. A room with a bay window and a chimney breast can have twelve. Count them.
Older houses have bowed walls and uneven floors. Boards have to be scribed to the floor or packed off the wall, and gaps filled afterwards. Allow up to half as much time again in a period property.
Prising off old boards without tearing the wall takes care, and what you find behind them often needs patching. Add about 20 percent, and more where boards are glued or the plaster is fragile.
A 3 inch MDF board cuts and bends easily. A tall hardwood or period profile is heavier, dearer to waste and slower to joint. Charge more per foot as boards get taller or the timber gets harder.
Fitting is half the job. Filling nail holes, caulking the top edge and painting take about as long again. Agree whether you are leaving the boards ready for a painter or finishing them yourself.
An empty room with finished floors is ideal. Working around furniture, fitted carpet or a new floor that must not be marked slows everything down. Ask what will be in the room on the day.
Worked examples
A 12 by 12 ft bedroom with new flooring down and no baseboards. 45 ft of primed MDF supplied and fitted, ready for the painter.
Clean, empty rooms like this are the quickest work in the trade. A base fee keeps a single room worth the trip.
A living room with a chimney breast and bay window, 18 m of skirting. Old boards removed, new MDF fitted, caulked and painted.
Removal and finishing nearly double the price of a fit-only job, and they nearly double the hours. Quote each stage as its own line so the customer can see why.
Three bedrooms after new carpet, 40 m in total. The owner has bought pre-primed skirting and wants it fitted, plus new trim on one doorway.
Labour-only work has almost no material risk. Check the lengths delivered before you start, because short boards mean extra joints on every long wall.
Your costs
A mitre saw and a nailer are the two tools that make this work pay. Boards for each job are covered in the calculator.
| Item | USA (USD) | UK (GBP) | Canada (CAD) | Australia (AUD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mitre sawA 10 inch (250 mm) sliding saw handles almost every profile. | $200–$600 | £150–£500 | $260–$800 | $300–$900 |
| Finish nailer, cordless or with compressor | $150–$450 | £150–£400 | $200–$600 | $250–$700 |
| Coping saw, level, pry bar, caulk gun and hand tools | $80–$200 | £60–£160 | $100–$260 | $110–$280 |
| Primed MDF board for one room | $60–$180 | £70–£140 | $80–$220 | $170–$280 |
| Nails, adhesive, filler and caulk, per room | $10–$30 | £8–£25 | $12–$35 | $15–$40 |
| Liability insurance, per year | $500–$1,500 | £80–£250 | $600–$1,600 | $450–$1,100 |
Avoid these
Two rooms with the same length of wall can differ by hours if one is a plain box and the other is full of corners. Count the corners and add for every one beyond four.
Mitres, mistakes and defects use up board. Order about 10 percent more than the measured length, and price it in. Running short means a second trip to the supplier on your own time.
Customers often assume 'install baseboards' means finished and painted. If your price is fit-only, say so in writing. Finishing is nearly half the work.
Old boards can hide crumbling plaster, gaps at the floor and wiring. Tell the customer before you start that repairs to the wall, if needed, are extra.
Questions
To supply and fit standard boards in one average room, charge $290–$490 in the US, £185–£370 in the UK, C$320–C$550 in Canada and A$420–A$950 in Australia. Charge about 20 percent more to remove old boards and about 45 percent more to caulk and paint.
In the US, about $6 to $9 per linear foot installed with standard material, or $3 to $8 for labour only. In Canada, $6 to $10 installed and $3 to $5 labour only. Small jobs come out higher per foot because of the base fee.
In the UK, about £8 to £26 per metre supplied and fitted, or £5 to £12 fit only. In Australia, about $20 to $55 per metre for labour, with primed MDF board adding $12 to $20 a metre.
One person takes three to four hours to fit an average room, with boards ready for paint. Removing old boards adds about an hour, and caulking and painting about as long as the fitting.
Yes. Add about 20 percent, which covers careful removal and getting rid of the old boards. Wall repairs behind them are a separate charge.
Trim and finish carpenters bill about $40–$100 an hour in the US, £25–£38 in the UK, C$45–C$90 in Canada and A$55–A$100 in Australia.
The rates on this page were set in November 2026 from the published price guides below, then checked so that the calculator, the price list and the examples all agree. How we work out prices.