Skirting board preperation

Discussion in 'Builders' Talk' started by alteredpanic, Aug 13, 2015.

  1. alteredpanic

    alteredpanic Member

    Hello all, my first post, so be gentle.

    A bit about me, my old man used to be a builder, and a really good one too so I would normally ask his advice if he was still around, but I have instead inherited his use of using his hands to fix things but I lack some of the knowledge to go with it and as they say, a bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing. Give me a car and spanners and I will rip it apart and rebuild it with my eyes closed, but building work is a bit different although I am willing to learn.

    We have just bought a new house, the skirting boards and architrave all need replacing. The skirting boards are different in each and every room and its driving my OCD a bit mad. The house is still currently unoccupied and is going to stay that way for 2 months whilst I fix up the ceilings, floorboards etc.

    The skirting boards are, in some rooms, literally just falling off, with large gaps behind them which means that they have nothing to hold onto. My question is therefore this - what is the best way to prepare the walls for new skirting board. It is brick work, rather than block, behind and with the skirting boards removed, you can see the brickwork. The plaster obviously stops just under the top of the skirting boards leaving a nice 25-30mm gap. Is it best to render this gap or to plaster it back up again? If so, what would be the best mix ratio and methods. Hope my explanation made sense.

    Like I said, I am not a builder, but I am good with my hands and I want to learn. This is for my own personal development, my full time job prevents me from making any money on the side anyway, so this is just to improve my own home.

    Thanks everyone in advance.
     
  2. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    Leave the gap, the plasterer wont go down to the floor as A it's covered by the skirting and B he would pick up muck from the floor which he would spread over the walls.
    Easiest method is to use a gap filling adhesive or foam and stick the skirtings on but pin the archs to the door liner.
     
  3. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    I've had same issue some years ago in my house and replaced all skirting's, door frames and architrave

    Bonding plaster is great for this job - easy to use, cheap, 30mm depth in one hit no problem, long working time (check dates on bags), easy to use

    Remove skirts
    Remove loose material behind skirts
    Brush down to remove dust
    Damp down wall with water and old paint brush
    Mix up bonding
    Slap it on !
    Level off

    You can either bond out entire sections of missing plaster or just do sections say every 400mm, ready to give a level fixing to the skirts
    Use a long straight edge vertically down the wall and get the bonding plaster nice and level, although doesn't need to be perfectly smooth
    You get plenty of working time with it and as long as the wall is dust free and a little damp, it has great suction, even at 30mm +
     
    alteredpanic likes this.
  4. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    Or not do that and save yourself a lot of time and expense.
     
  5. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    Expense ?? What........................... ?

    £6 a sack..........................

    How cheap you want it ;)

    Don't forget as a diyer, it's free labour anyway
     
  6. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    It's time you could spend doing something else more enjoyable :)
     
  7. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    I'd use bonding as Dave suggests but depends on height of new skirting. You can always scrape bonding back when dry and work in some filler like Siniat etc if new skirts are not as tall
     
  8. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    Saying that, I've used a few blocks of wood as packers and expanding foam this week to fix on new skirts in an older house. Had to do a lot of over boarding of lath and plaster too!
     
  9. alteredpanic

    alteredpanic Member

    Thanks for the replies,

    The current skirting upstairs is 3" in height, and the skirting downstairs is 5" in height. I will be replacing this all with 5" tall, 18mm thick hdf torus all through the house.

    So for my clarity, bonding plaster to take up the gaps every 400ish mm or fill it right down to the floorboards. I am not too bothered about the time element, would rather prefer for it to be correctly. Is there anything wrong with taking the plaster closer to the floor?
     
  10. Need a bigger hammer

    Need a bigger hammer Active Member

    Highly unlikely being as what you do will be covered up by the skirtings anyway... As long as you are comfortable with what you have done then why worry? Life is too short. I have done similar in my house and it all looks great. :)
     
    alteredpanic likes this.
  11. alteredpanic

    alteredpanic Member

    My anxiety doesnt allow me to not worry unfortunately, its been many years since I could relax.

    Thanks again for the reply, I will be giving this a go next weekend when I am next off work, Il let you know how it all goes.
     
  12. Altered panic, if your new skirtings are going to be 5" high (good choice - nice skirtings make a huge difference to a room) but there is only a ~1" gap betwixt the plaster and the flooring, do you really need to fill that gap with anything? The 5" skirting should have more than enough to bond on to without being pulled in at the bottom.

    What sometimes can happen when you place the skirting against the plaster is that you find the plaster is sloping inwards towards the bottom so the skirting doesn't sit 'vertical', especially when you start to screw or nail it in place. In this case the simplest option is to decide on where you will be nailing/screwing the lengths to the wall and then fit wood packers there, of the right thickness to match the plaster surface at the top of the 5" skirting.

    If you place a spirit level against the wall, you should be able to project down and measure the packing thickness you need. Get your piece of timber or whatever, which will be a little less than that gap, and then dab it in place with a dot of adhesive, tap down until it's at the right 'depth' and jobbie jobbed.
     
    Daryl C84 likes this.
  13. 'Torus'? - do you prefer this to 'ogee'?
     
  14. alteredpanic

    alteredpanic Member

    Sorry, I didnt explain myself properly - the gap I mean of 25-30mm is where the plaster stops and this is the depth to the brickwork behind so I was asking how to fill that gap to pull it back even with the current plaster line and how low to drop it towards the floorboards. The gap between the bottom of the plaster and the floorboards is just over 3 inches downstairs. The skirting boards there at present have adhesive on the back of them but I think that due to the depth of the brickwork in relation to the plastered wall which they were supposed to hold onto, but cant reach, they have never stuck properly. At least removing them is going to be easy.

    Great idea about packing it out with wood, I have plenty of that lying around.

    As for the design of the skirting boards, its the bosses choice and as I am sure we all know, disobeying the boss of the house is a recipe for no warm meals and lots of pain in the long run. :)
     
  15. That''s some depth of plaster :)

    Is the plaster sound enough?

    Good.

    Okay, a 3" gap to the floor is obviously biggish, but your skirting will easily cover that. Use scraps of timber batten is you already have them or else buy a few of lengths of treated (tannalised) 2x1 roofing battens. Make sure they are straight. (Def use treated if it's on an outside wall, especially downstairs. It's cheap anyways. But also make sure they are dry - not sopping when you buy them.)

    As before, work out where your fixings will be going (or are you going to simply glue them in place? No reason why not), but this time fit longer lengths of spacer batten, and have them closer together. I dunno - 500mm lengths and 500mm gaps in between them.

    Prepare yersel' - take random levels from the plaster surface to the floor to check there aren't any weird wobbles in the wall, and also that there is adequate gap for the battens to fit along with the adhesive.

    Get a batten length, apply a slob of adhesive along t'back, press gently into place, set the level on the plaster wall and tap the batten inwards until the level says 'stop'.

    Jobbie jobbed.
     
    alteredpanic likes this.
  16. alteredpanic

    alteredpanic Member

    Thanks for that, great advice. The plaster isnt crumbling and seems sound enough. Any preference to the best type of adhesive to use?
     
  17. BLUDY HELL!!!!

    I added tons more to this gawd-damned thread and the b* told me I'd taken too long - AFTER I'd written the bar steward.

    Ok...sigh.

    If you are going to be screwing the skirtings to the wall, then make these battens lengths DEAD flush with the plaster (ie - dead 'level'). If, on t'other hand, you plan to fit the skirtings using adhesive, then you can tap the battens inwards an extra gnat's crochet - a mm or so.

    For fixing the battens, I guess use p'board adhesive - the "dot & dab" stuff. Mix it up, slap it on thickly, tap the batten into place (but bear in mind the advice given above - make sure bricks are dust-free and wiped clean with a damp brush or cloth.)

    Allow to fully set (it sets chemically) and dry.

    Then prepare your skirtings - get them all cut to length, mitred/scribed.

    I'd personally use adhesive rather than screws as screws will need drilling and plugging of the walls, and and screw heads filled in afterwards.

    Solvent-free adhesive like the "no more nails" types should do nicely.

    A good bead along the battens and a wiggly bean on the plaster finish, along with a full top bead a quarter-inch down from the top edge of the skirting - to fill along the top edge.

    Position, tap gently into place and brace using battens - either from across the opposite wall or by temp screwing blocks to your floor and bracing from the there. Only brace where the skirting might want to bow out.

    Make sure it's sitting level (it should be after all the preparation...) and pressed snugly along the top edges. Use a damp cloth to wipe away excess extruded adhesive and leave a nicely filled join.

    If the skirting board is bowing upwards, then you'll need to press it down against the floor (place a block on top and push with yer foot...) whilst tapping in a 2" panel pin through and into the batten underneath.

    Jobbie jobbed...
     
  18. And make sure the plaster has paint or primer on it - don't apply solvent-free to a bare plaster finish.
     
  19. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    So old fashioned today.:p:p

    Solvent or non solvent gripfill user here.
     
  20. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    We had a similar discussion a few weeks back AP, where someone suggested using expanding foam to stick skirtings on. I have used it on door frames before but had never really thought about using it for skirtings etc. Anyway, the last week or so, I've experimented with using it and now I'm a complete convert. Will never bother with grip fill again.

    All personal choice of course and all advice given so far is good. If you do fancy giving it a go, then just lightly dampen wall with a plant sprayer, then using a foam gun, put a small bead of foam on skirt, then press to wall. You'll need something to keep skirting tight as it goes off. I used some bits of wood with a hole in the middle to create a triangle between floor and skirt and put a long screw into floor. Good temporary clamping pressure. 20/30 mins later remove and skirting will be solid as a rock.

    Better bond strength, fast drying and quite a bit cheaper as a can of gun foam will last for ages.
     

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