baseboard - wood vs. fiberboard?

I'm putting down 3.25" baseboard on a wood floor. Anybody know the pros and cons of wood baseboard? Fiberboard? The style I'm looking for is only available in fiberboard (at the big box stores near me), and I'm wondering about quality, cutting ability, endurance over time, etc.

Thanks much...

 

greengo ...I don't know about reliability over time but I have used both types of trim in my house and I will say the fiberboard seems to be the better choice. It's much easier to cut, it feels heavier than the primed pine stuff, it's slightly cheaper than the pine, and when I nail it with the nail gun, it doesn't crack like the pine does sometime. It also seems a bit more flexible which is nice when your walls are not perfectly aligned. It's easy to work with ...I would say go for it. Just my 2 cents.

fsufan8

 

MDF base doesn't fare well if it gets wet. Since you'll have a wood floor I doubt you'll be doing any wet mopping. Occasionally if a patio door or entry door has the occasional wind blown water infiltration, MDF trim will noticably swell at the bottom edge as it sucks up water like a straw.

It also creates a lot of dust when you cut it and it dulls a sharp blade quicker than wood will. It also puckers up a bit around the nail holes when you shoot it on- if it's paint grade that means you'll need to fill and sand all your nail holes flat prior to painting. It will split if you try to toenail anything, so don't... glue it and clamp or tape it. Fancy profiles don't cope real well, but again, if it's getting painted, inside corners will likely all get touched up with caulk anyway.

Thats about all I've got to say about it.

 

MDF paints well! The puckering that XSleeper is talking about can be taken care of by shaving it off with your putty knife.

Besides the moisture factor, MDF can be damaged easier under abuse, shouldn't be a problem unless you have dogs or rowdy kids

 

I agree with Xsleeper and Marksr, MDF. It so easy to cope, cut, fit, nail, etc. and it takes abberations in the walls well, whereas pine will not flex enough. It comes primed, which is one step done for you. Just call Marksr to paint it for you. I don't paint.