Skirting Board install advice

WeegyAVLover

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Hi

a
I am planning on installing new skirting boards in 2 rooms.

i have dpent the night attaching additional wood to brickwork just above floor to give additional fixing for skirtings.

i was curious if this was thy e correct way to do it?

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Its a way to do it :)

The building trade has many many different ways of achieving the same results. If this method works for you and gives you what you want, then it's the right way to do it.

Be careful with the screws though if using as all timber runs a risk of splitting when you screw near the edge of it. Depending on how straight your boards are you might want to put some extra pieces of wood on the brickwork that will be in the centre of the skirting board. Screw into these bits to pull the board in and use nails on the rest.
 
PS Love the architrave, woodwork around the window etc, always nice to work/see proper houses like that :)
 
Its a way to do it :)

The building trade has many many different ways of achieving the same results. If this method works for you and gives you what you want, then it's the right way to do it.

Be careful with the screws though if using as all timber runs a risk of splitting when you screw near the edge of it. Depending on how straight your boards are you might want to put some extra pieces of wood on the brickwork that will be in the centre of the skirting board. Screw into these bits to pull the board in and use nails on the rest.

thanks for the reassurance. The issue i was finding is, being an old house, the layer of bricks i waa drilling into had all moved either further in or out so running a single piece of wood along the bottom was not really possible. As well as that the bricks are tough to drill but also fragile, a number of them cracked and broke up when i was drilling into them.

but I had also thought i may need more depending on how the skirting sits against the wall.

When it comes to screwing into the wood I have lost tite scews which have very small heads, so hopefully no issue with wood splitting but we shall see in a few weeks when i get to the skirting install.

thanks again
 
I think some decent construction adhesive would've done the trick - the wooden shims would work but you tend not to find it nowadays (certainly not in my limited experience). I always favour screws for skirting - don't underestimate the advantages a proper wood screw has over a general one ..... this should stop / minimise splitting.

cheers
 
Some observations from a retired Joiner.

If you'd fitted the wooden packers vertically, you'd have a much better chance of a decent fix. You could still do this of course, just a bit of a bind. Personally I'd have cut them to suit, then trimmed so they sit totally plumb with the wall, but a miilimetre or so behind the actual face of the wall. Then brush down the brickwork where the packers are to go, so the area you're fixing to is totally clean. If you can't get a decent fix with a plug and screw, get some decent construction adhesive, Gripfill or similar, then apply a nice thick bead or two to the packer, push firmly onto the wall, then pull back off. If there's Gripfill on both the wall and the packer, you're good to go and simply push back on.

What size and style skirting are you fitting? I'll assume it will cover the plaster line in the pics, so run a scraper around the plaster line to remove the small 'kick' that plasterers always leave behind.

Butt and scribe internal corners, never mitre internally! The skirting will linevitably shrink a small amount, and a mitre will open up. Mitre external corners, which goes without saying.

Which leads to the next point, if the skirting is getting painted, make sure you paint the BACK of the skirting with some decent undercoat, that will stop it cupping/curling when it's been fitted back to the wall a couple of days, same if you're staining/varnishing. In fact either way you could paint/stain all faces and edges just to be safe.

When the whole room has been cut and fitted to length, mark off the skirting where the packers are fitted to the walls, then apply some more Gripfill, push on/pull off as before, then reattach.

If the skirting tries to pull away from the wall, either because it's a tight fit or due to it being a liitle bowed, you'll need to find a way to brace it in place until the Gripfill takes hold. Just nail an offcut to the floor (aware it's a new floor, couple of nail holes are easily filled) then brace from there to the skirting with whatevers around so that the skirt is under tension.

If you want to use screws instead, feel free to do so, but then you have the task of filling and sanding, or if stained plug and pelleting the screwholes.

Hope this is of some use, any questions feel free to ask!
 
Hi thanks for the thorough advice very muxh appreciated.

fitting the packers vertically was not really an option as there was not really enough room between floor and original skirting fitting.

I tried using the gripfill stuff and found it it not to stick to the bricks, i thought this was due to the dust,etc ok the bricks as to why it was not sticking but maybe I never used a thick enough bead of it to grab properly. I also never stuck it, pulled it off and restuck so that may have been my problem.

i have one of those plaster scraper/filers that looks like a cheese grater for plaster, i had planned on using that at bottom of plaster to take of the high spots.

as for attaching the skirtings i have a mixture of 35 & 45mm lost tite screws that have a tiny head on them so there will be some filling to do buy much less than a countersunk screw And only slightly more than a nail.

Just had floors sanded so need to paint the room walls first then I am onto the skirting boards.
 
Question for you about scribing the skirting boards:

Is there any standard or rule of thumb to follow when you scribe a piece of skirting into the other?

By that I mean do you, where possible , follow the line of sight so when the wood is scribed that is iless noticeable? I know filler or caulk is used so it should make it even less noticeable anyway and we are painting it white so again making it less noticeable.
 
You shouldn’t need caulk. Try to make the scribes in the less noticeable places. Also try not to have a mitre and scribe on one length of skirting if possible.
also don’t just cut the scribe at 90 degrees on the skirting. The skirting it’s fitting against might not be sat perfectly plumb on the wall
 
You shouldn’t need caulk. Try to make the scribes in the less noticeable places. Also try not to have a mitre and scribe on one length of skirting if possible.
also don’t just cut the scribe at 90 degrees on the skirting. The skirting it’s fitting against might not be sat perfectly plumb on the wall

Cheers for this - for round the chimney breast I was going to mitre & scribe the short pieces that way if i screw them up its only a short bit i screw up. I have just about enough wood for the room so any wrong cuts on long pieces could screw me up.
 
Do you have a Mitre Saw?
An old trick is to make a 45 degree cut through the piece of skirting you want to scribe, as if you were doing an internal mitre, that will then leave you with a perfect line to cut the scribe to, with a Coping Saw, there's no other way, Jigsaw blades are far too wide to be accurate on the moulding at the top of the skirting, ie: Torus or Ogee.
 
Do you have a Mitre Saw?
An old trick is to make a 45 degree cut through the piece of skirting you want to scribe, as if you were doing an internal mitre, that will then leave you with a perfect line to cut the scribe to, with a Coping Saw, there's no other way, Jigsaw blades are far too wide to be accurate on the moulding at the top of the skirting, ie: Torus or Ogee.

LOL! you have clearly never seen my home renovation thread.... Yes I have a mitre saw :D

I know that trick and have the coping saw ready as well, I just like seeking out hints and tips that can help and make the job easier.

I always find jobs I have never done before harder in my head than they are in reality but when you ask lots of dumb questions like I do on a regular basis you get some really useful nuggets of information from people way better informed than I am

But thanks for the advice .
 
Make your difficult cuts first , the scribes , then you will have excess length to get the mitres perfect , if it’s a decent saw then you should be able to shave off a tiny bit with it , new blade as well 👍
 
Do you have a Mitre Saw?
An old trick is to make a 45 degree cut through the piece of skirting you want to scribe, as if you were doing an internal mitre, that will then leave you with a perfect line to cut the scribe to, with a Coping Saw, there's no other way, Jigsaw blades are far too wide to be accurate on the moulding at the top of the skirting, ie: Torus or Ogee.
Any tricks for an internal 135deg angle, please?
 
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On skirting board?
Don't. It's that simple. Always butt and scribe internal mitres on skirting, as I mentioned earlier :thumbsup:
Sorry, I was not very clear:facepalm:! I meant that the walls are at an angle of 45deg to the straight, ie 135deg to each other! Think of a rectangular room with the corner chopped off. This makes it a little trickier which ever way we go.
 
You will need to mitre them.Bisect the angle then use a sliding bevel to set the angle on a mitre saw. Glue the joints with mitre mate or similar to make fitting easier
 
You will need to mitre them.Bisect the angle then use a sliding bevel to set the angle on a mitre saw. Glue the joints with mitre mate or similar to make fitting easier

This was the original plan but then

Butt and scribe internal corners, never mitre internally!

and it is internal, just a wide internal!
 

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