Skirting for curved bay

[curium]

I have a 1930s semi-detached property with a curved bay window in the living room.


I calculated the amount of skirting required for the room and ordered it online. 18mm thick MDF 150mm tall.


Had a carpenter round today to quote for fitting it and he was very honest and said he'd had no luck previously with fitting MDF skirting in curved bays. He trench cuts the back but it always snaps when trying to bend it to fit the curve. He said it would need pine skirting that was steamed and bent but he doesn't have access to a steamer.


Refreshing honesty from a tradesman but I still need to get skirting installed in this room.


Has anybody managed to fit MDF skirting in a curved bay window? Is pine steamed to fit the only solution?


Thanks.

EDIT: Found this wonderful post on the forum complete with photos. Looks laborious. Perhaps the issue is that the carpenter doesn't think he could provide a competitive quote for the work involved. Seems like I'll have to DIY it and see how I get on.

 

[cross thread]

My bay windows ( same era) the skirting in the bays are plaster , rest of room wood .

 

[Notch7]

The best way is to form the curve with bendy ply and machine the moulding on afterwards

Or if you can tolerate having the bay skirting just square edge, just form it in 150mm strips with bendy ply and glue and pin each layer.

Bendy Flexible Plywood Cross Grain 8 x 1220 x 2440mm

This Bendy Flexible Plywood Cross Grain board is an extremely versatile and high quality product that can be used for covering surfaces that have difficult curves and shapes and which can't be covered with standard plywood.

www.alsford.co.uk

 

[^woody^]

Softwood skirting can be kerfed and then soaked. It does not need to be steamed.

This should be achievable with MDF though as the radius is not that great. Even if a section does split, if its taped beforehand it will hold together and then can be filled and sanded once secure.

 

[foxhole]

In this weather( damp, humid) a plank of MDF laid between two supports with a weight in the centre will curve overnight.

 

[mrrusty]

I didn't do it, but in our last house the curved bay had been fitted by a joiner who had kerf cut the front of the skirting (6" torus) so the kerfs closed up as the skirt was fitted. It was a beautiful job. I don't know if he had calculated how many kerfs he needed, but they had all closed up perfectly. I had to look very closely to see that it was kerfed at all. Dark stained softwood.

 

[ree]

OP,
As post #6 above - you kerf the front face of the skirting. Never the back.
The kerfs are slightly wider spaced until the centre third of the piece - then you tighten them up closer together.
If possible, use a sliding mitre saw but using a hand saw works.
Apply pure PVA into the kerfs - it will mostly squeeze out as you fix (best screwing on) the skirting.
Different fixing methods are used depending on whether the wall is bare brick or solid plaster.
If its remedial work then care must be taken to pick up the original skirtings footprint or any fitted flooring eg carpet might come up short.
Use an extraa long skirting piece to pick up the mitres at either end.

 

[johnny2007]

Wet the mdf and put it under tension (many ways to do this using gravity).
It will be ready in 24 hours.