Staircase skirting - how to fix renovation

[IfYouTolerateThis...]

I recently had a carpenter do all new skirting. When i said i wanted the stair skirting replaced he said it was part of the stairs, but would add the new decorative skirting on top and renovate the old skirting so they blended in.
He hasn't done the renovation - just added the new skirting on top.

As you can see from the photos there's a recess at the bottom, but its flush at the top.

I can think of two options: fill the recess in with wood filler where needed and sand smooth, or rout out an even recess From top to bottom and cut out a new stair shaped skirt in mdf to put into the recess.

Anyone know which would be the better option? Or is there an option iv not thought of?

I feel like filler would not leave a perfect finish, but also routing out would be a lot of work.

Ignore the pipe - thats going.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

As you can see from the photos there's a recess at the bottom, but its flush at the top.

I can think of two options: fill the recess in with wood filler where needed and sand smooth, or rout out an even recess From top to bottom and cut out a new stair shaped skirt in mdf to put into the recess.

Anyone know which would be the better option? Or is there an option iv not thought of?

I feel like filler would not leave a perfect finish, but also routing out would be a lot of work.

Forget the filler - it won't work because it will just end up looking like a bodge, as you suspect. Also, as from what you've stated you've obviously never made a stringer-shaped cover-piece, I should point out that to do it well is a lot of work, so I feel that is a non-starter. AFAIK there is nothing you could conceivably do with a router to solve this

What your joiner should have done was either cut into the plaster progressively as the add on went down the stairs and then fixed the add-on so that it was flush with the stringer face (then made the plasterwork good) or he should have progressively planed-in the back of the add-on as it went down the stairs in order to keep it flush with the stringer. The piece at the bottom of the stairs could be dealt with in a similar manner. These two methods should not be beyond the whit of a joiner who is competent, It's what I would have done.

I'll therefore suggest the nuclear option: pull the stringer-top add-on off the wall (in all probability it will be pinned and glued with something like GripFil), remove the pins (best tool is a pair of nippers), scrape the glue off the back of the timber beading, then progressively plane the back of the piece starting at the bottom with short strokes and working backwards taking longer strokes, offering it in from time to time to check your progress. Once you've got it working it can be re-attached using small oval nails or panel pins (I'm assuming you don't have a 2nd fix nailer) and grip adhesive - only this time you install it flush. Minor discrepancies on the top edge can be hidden using a bead of decorator's caulk

Note: A guy who you call a carpenter in the south is generally called a joiner up here in the north