Baseboard Trim: Linear Feet & Stock Sticks Needed

Baseboard runs around the whole room, so the starting length is the perimeter: twice the length plus twice the width. Then subtract the doorways, because trim stops at each opening — a standard 36" door removes about 3 ft of run. That gives the net linear feet of baseboard you actually install.

Trim is sold in fixed stock lengths — 8, 12, 14, and 16 ft are the common ones at home centers. Divide the net run, plus a waste allowance, by the stock length to get the number of sticks. The waste (about 10 %) covers the outside-corner miters that eat a few inches at each joint and the occasional bad cut.

Longer sticks mean fewer joints on long walls, which look cleaner, but they are harder to carry and store. Because you buy whole sticks, the count rounds up. The same method works for crown molding, chair rail, and shoe molding — just leave the door openings in for crown, since it runs unbroken above them.