Skirting Advice

[phil p]

Hi,

I wonder if someone could point me in the right direction, as this skirting is starting to be expensive with the waste ....err, mistakes!

I was on a while back on how to put some skirting around a few pillars, however I'm just getting round to it now and can't seem to grasp things, and I'm still only on the first mitre, which is an external.

The wall is neither plumb and the floor is slightly out so when I'm butting the external mitre it does look O.K. however there's a 5mm gap on the floor.

There's also a gap on the top edge, which isn't too bad and could sort with some caulking.

Does this mean I would have to scribe the bottom to the floor, which I'm hoping not to, or could I fiddle with the angle of the mitre cuts?

I have all the tools, bevel, trend mitre gauge (not the type that halves the angles though) and a decent mitre saw and just lacking the know how and little tricks I'm sure you guys know.

Any advice or tips please?

Thanks lads

Phil

 

[carlb40]

Scribing to the floor would be the best option. Plus it will look more professional when done. If you just place the skirting on the floor and adjust the mitre to suit, which would then become a compound mitre. When you have gone around the column the first piece will need to come off to match the mitre of the last piece. Better to keep the mitres to 45 degrees or there abouts if the columns are square. Then just cut/ plane the bottoms to keep the tops level.

 

[bugbear]

BugBear

 

[Harry 48]

Now that's Skirting :wink:

 

[phil p]

Thanks Carlb40, ...........and of course Bugbear, if only she could fit skirting, arrrhhhh, having said that hers couldn't be any worse than mine!

Think I understand what you say Carl regarding the floor scribing, however where the sides meet the skirting on the next wall they could be lower if I scribe the 3 sides of the pillar?

Would I need to draw a line showing the height of the skirting around the pillar so all the heights are the same? (hope I'm explaining this right?

Hmm, even starting to think that this may not be right?

All in all and can't sort it, would it look naff to run a small bead of silicone on the bottom as the floor is tiled?

Phil

 

[SteveF]

could you run some masking tape around the pillar
mark a line on this level

measure down to find lowest point on floor , this would be my "starting" point
you could then measure down on same face of pillar to get cut angle to floor

could i suggest you rip some ply or anything cheap to play with
remember that you will then need to cut your 45% from the top face of skirting as a reference if using a mitre saw...if that makes sense

Steve

 

[carlb40]

Can you pop a diagram of the room on here or photo's of the room in question to help further. Depending on the room you may or may not get away with scribing only certain sections.

With a long level i would find the lowest point, mark up from there the height of the skirting. Run a level line around the room from that mark, that way you have some idea how much to remove.

 

[Graham Orm]

BugBear

Re skirting BB, if you asked her I think she miter.

 

[Graham Orm]

Hi,

I wonder if someone could point me in the right direction, as this skirting is starting to be expensive with the waste ....err, mistakes!

I was on a while back on how to put some skirting around a few pillars, however I'm just getting round to it now and can't seem to grasp things, and I'm still only on the first mitre, which is an external.

The wall is neither plumb and the floor is slightly out so when I'm butting the external mitre it does look O.K. however there's a 5mm gap on the floor.

There's also a gap on the top edge, which isn't too bad and could sort with some caulking.

Does this mean I would have to scribe the bottom to the floor, which I'm hoping not to, or could I fiddle with the angle of the mitre cuts?

I have all the tools, bevel, trend mitre gauge (not the type that halves the angles though) and a decent mitre saw and just lacking the know how and little tricks I'm sure you guys know.

Any advice or tips please?

Thanks lads

Phil

Photos would help greatly Phil.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

scribing would be perfection and is without question the professional method. Compromise + caulk if its not in a hugely eye catching place is a time friendly route too. Only the conscience of the individual Church goer can decide which is appropriate

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If I were attempting perfection, I would level around the column, then then scribe the pieces of wood (over length) to the floor. Start on the least noticeable corner and work around to the last corner. A sandable plaster type filler may be better than caulk, as a perfect flat surface flush with the top of the woodwork is less noticeable than a caulk line which will shrink. I've done skirtings with 3/4" gaps that unless someone was fault finding would not be noticed.
Besides which, the old adage comes to the fore :- 99% of people won't notice, and of the 1% that do, 99% don't matter.

Hi phil p
From phil.p

 

[kostello]

If you are putting down carpet you have 10mm before any gap at the bottom is seen

 

[phil p]

Just to say thanks for the advice lads.

Cracked on today and took a bit more time with the measuring and tweaking of the joints and I think I'm getting there.

The gaps along the bottom arn't as bad as first though as part of it is the actual contour of the tile so it looks a bit more uniformed and doesn't look too bad, and to be honest if I went to scribe it I would probobly make a right ar*e of it.

Thanks again for all you help though.

Phil