need tips for fitting skirting board

[edrooney]

Hi all

I am a diy newbie whose having to learn by trial and error....unfortuantely that can get a bit costly

i'm about to start fitting skirting board (taurus, i think) to newly plastered (well. about a month ago) plasterboard lined walls, brick directly behind.

I reckon i can manage the external cuts with a mitre saw...

Can someone explain how to 'scribe??' internals joints...i've looked at some diy sites but it doesn't make a lot of sense

Also, is it better to use an adhesive to fix to the wall, or if not, again a newbie question i know but, do you nail into the brick? or is there another method.

thanks

 

[Thermo]

Hello, good evening and welcome

To fix the skirting, theres two methods you could use. First is gripfill which is good strong stuff, you need to genourous, and as long as the wall is even its fine, just may need some weight against it for half an hour till it goes off. Main advantage is theres no sign of the fixings. Second method is plugs and screws, whih will pull the board onto the contours of the wall and will be secure, only problem is you are left with the fixings showing, which you need to fill, before decorating.

As for scribing the inernal joints, what you are doing is cutting the end of one of the boards to the profile of another so they fit together. Easiest way i find is to cut a mitre on the end of the board and that will give you the profile of the face of the board as you look at it. Then simply cut around the profile, so you are in effect cutting off the mitre, and do it with a coping saw. the other way is to have a small offcut of the board, and place that against the board that will be cut. Draw around it and then cut around the line with the coping saw.

Hope it all makes sense

 

[edrooney]

hiya

thanks for the welcome and swift reply

first part makes good sense...plugs n screws is probably the way i'll go.

the scribing bit...

when mitring the board to fit against the other, prior to cutting the shape of the board...should the open mitre face be towards me or facing the wall?

cheers

 

[petewood]

Mitre the end as if you are doing an internal corner, then cut off the mitre following the contours visible on the face of the board.

 

[Thermo]

to make it a bit more simple. Imagine the skirting board face is painted white. Cut a mitre on it at 45 degrees with the cut of the mitre facing towards you ie so the board is longer on the back face than the front. Now if you imagine the board had been painted white on its face you ould now see the profile of the skirting in white against the timber colour of the cut face of the mitre (does that make sense. Now cut around that

Oh and do the scribed end first before you cut the whole board to length, that way you can make a mistake or two.

 

[edrooney]

hi there

thanks for your advice

am going to give it a go tonight so you may hear the screams of fury should all not go according to plan, depends how close to the east coast you are!!

ps...really impressed with this site. friendly and fast...just how it should be

thanks again

bye for now

 

[ABN]

The method I use is T slots which slip over large headed screws fixed to the walls.

Have wooden floors and don't like to see loose wiring. This method allows easy removal to hide the wires in a channel cut into the skirting.

 

[Rolo]

Just about to do the same and fit some new skirting board, in my case though the walls have just been skimmed and not totally replastered. If its skimmed can I get away with glueing the new skirting to the wall or will I need to screw them on ?

Cheers

 

[GarethSullivan]

glueing is fine aslong as the plaster has adhered to the wall properly!!! (The plaster is only as sound as what's behind it)

 

[Mark Br]

I imagine that if the OP hasn't done the job in the last 3 years that they aren't that bothered now -

 

[GarethSullivan]

HAha..... too right!!!!

 

[ukstoner]

glueing is fine aslong as the plaster has adhered to the wall properly!!! (The plaster is only as sound as what's behind it)

hi all - im trying to fix the problem quoted above, the skirting has come away at one end, about a metre out of 5 metres. is there away of fixing it back with out removing the skirting!? idealy the solution will not show external fixings...

Cheers!

 

[chewymix]

i have fitted 169mm tall torrus throughout my house and i would never use grip fill. Main reason is that i have tried it and the skirting ALWAYS warps when drying and so with grip fill it just pulls away.

I have just used screws that i counter sink into the skirting and then fill/sand over and you cant see any of them, but then again mine are painted satin white and so are not stained.

 

[diycoxy]

why not just cut 45° on both and fit into the corner ? it looks and fits better

 

[ColJack]

because internal corners are hardly ever 90°..
also if you do that 4 times ( ie round a room ) then how do you fit them together as they are longer at the back than the gap between 2 walls and the already fitted skirting..

one other tip I can offer is to slightly back cut the scribe when you cut it with the coping saw.. that way it fits a little easier..