MDF moldings in new construction or only real wood

Hello everyone,

we are currently installing the flooring in our new building. We have chosen design vinyl. Now it is about the baseboards. We were strongly advised against MDF baseboards here, as mold can develop due to residual moisture. Apparently, this is not the case with solid wood baseboards.
Do you have any experience with this? Is it really advisable to avoid MDF baseboards in new buildings?

Thank you very much and best regards

We simply installed ours half a year later. Theoretically, you can also cut them all beforehand and label the back. Then the installation for an entire house won’t take half a Saturday and the dirty work is done.

I haven't heard that explicitly before, but it sounds plausible in the sense that MDF acts more as a sealant. That means if there is still so much moisture in the walls, it can escape worse at the spots where these baseboards are. Real wood would be diffusion-open and thus allow the moisture to escape. But: only as long as it is untreated. As soon as you paint the real wood baseboards, a barrier is also applied. Therefore, you probably shouldn't install baseboards in the first year anyway. Overall, though, I doubt that in a new building, where floor coverings and drywall are already allowed, there is so much moisture that you specifically get a mold problem at the baseboards.

That does not matter at all. Do whatever you like with it. Mold will not be a problem.

My daughter has MDF foil-coated in her new building. With every wipe, there are scratches that do not make these strips look any better. She regrets not having thought about this small detail and would have preferred to use solid wood (painted white). That's what we did, and since I have already owned "cheap" foil-coated ones myself, I cannot understand their justification for existence. Alternatively, if it fits color-wise: solid oak or beech oiled or glazed (that was our first thought but it wouldn't have matched the color so well).