Fitting Skirting Boards

We at Funky wood get asked how to fit skirting boards all the time but people seem to seem worried when I actually tell them (don’t be!). In this explanation I will add pictures to allow it to become a little easier and use several lay man terms when i possibly can because I know many of us are not joiners out at this time there.

Before fitting any skirting board you need to first order your skirting board  weather it be Oak skirting boards, Walnut skirting boards, Ash or Pine with enough wastage. I have written another article about it (walnut skirting) yet let’s just say you need 10-15% waste (hardwoods) meaning you need that much more then you certainly need, this will cover people for those bits right at the end and save you piecing up mismatched components of wood with grains, knots etc which are certainly not very nice to check out especially in a smaller room. When you have got this it’s time for it to do timber selection you may have bought oak skirting and also you noticed it has plenty of colour differential in the lengths, it would be good to keep similar shades together in various rooms or keep it together in one room where it changes only once or twice.

OK! we are nearly on the point of start fitting the skirting board, the only thing left to try and do is look at your timber and select what lengths could get where once this done its time get rolling.

I was taught by an existing guy who was quite strict so i will tell you what exactly he taught me. The first thing you have to do is stand in the key doorway or the only doorway in many rooms, looking across at the wall in front of you. This is your kick off point as this is where the majority of people enter a room it will need to have all the scribes hidden as people come into the room. Start with your first piece within the back wall or your wall opposite as this causes it to be harder to see the particular scribed joints.

If you don’t determine what a scribe is I allow you to know…. you are cutting a profile using a end of a sheet of timber to match a profile of timber you want to push it too. If you use a coping saw you are able to cut the profile out easily when you must do some curved work. A tip that may also help, if you mitre the bit of skirting board use any jigsaw to cut on the mitre cut. The mitred cut offers you a true curve presents itself skirting board. It’s a cheat really and you need to careful but it’s sometimes better to cut to a line then n’t have one at all.

So, just to recap, the first skirting board length you’ve put in is simply a straight length with simply no cuts. It has to fit tight between walls. If you find it hard to measure the capacity of the wall (sometimes with the tape measure doesn’t fit in at the end) measure from one of the wall and bring the particular tape measure across as well as mark the wall 100-200mm off of the end (remember that will distance) then calculate back. Add the two together therefore you get the distance for the mm. This should give a true reading of the duration of skirting board you need to start with.

So you have placed your first length of skirting board, do not fix it in position just yet, keep it loose. Things always happen and best to keep your alternatives open till you get cut everything. The idea is to start on the other hand of the room and work towards you back to the front door.

Once the first part of skirting board is in position, work around the room till you’ve reached the door. As long as anyone haven’t fixed anything in you can check that it all exercises fine then fit the actual  skirtingboards in properly.

I use a number of different fixing methods. I will list below-

Use Gripfill, Pinkgrip etc. If you use this method it needs fixing in place with a nail gun. If it’s a complicated piece or you don’t have a nail gun you should nail a smaller wooden pads on a lawn then use small of wood to shield the face of the actual skirting board (jewellry). Use another piece regarding wood and nail this for the pad and hammer as a result of the face of your soldier to push the  skirting board up against the wall and nail in place.

Another method is in order to drill and plug. Only use a excellent plug cutter and ancestry plugs. There is a company of plugs in whitening strips of 4 on ebay (they are the cheapest and the best) Begin using these one’s which I’d personally highly recommend you need a 12mm pilot cutter. Glue the plugs in and leave instantly. The next day use a sharp chisel and take off layers of the put around 1/5 mm at a time. It is important to be certain you have the grain going the identical way as the skirting panel (horizontal).

This should get anybody started with fitting  skirting boards effectively.