Skirting Profiles

[Benchwayze]

12 mm battening on the wall, 12 mm thick MDF for the body of the skirting, would give you 24 mm projection, which is about right for the thickness of normal skirting.
I suppose you could use 12 mm Moisture resistant MDF for the battening too. (I would prefer timber for attaching to walls. TBH)

Phil.. I found that needing special or additional tools for a new project was one way of gradually collecting my tools over the years.

HTH

 

[carlb40]

TBH if you are using mdf for skirting etc, hire a nailgun. It will get very boring/tiresome predrilling mdf for lost head nails.

 

[DrPhill]

Phil.. I found that needing special or additional tools for a new project was one way of gradually collecting my tools over the years.

And on this project they can come out of the joint account........

TBH if you are using mdf for skirting etc, hire a nailgun. It will get very boring/tiresome predrilling mdf for lost head nails.

I did not know that I would need to drill for lost head nails - I thought they were just banged in - shows what I know . I had imagined drilling holes in wall and screwing through the board (yep, even I know that needs predrilling) into rawplugs.

Though if the rawplugs are wood then I could nail through..... ah I see now this is where lost-head nails come in - smaller hole than a screw. Never done anything like that before.

Nail gun sounds scary - will it nail normal pine skirtings to the wall or only pine? What are the down sides? A 'missed' shot could make a mess and take some cleaning up if it mangles the wood.

 

[Benchwayze]

Phil.. I found that needing special or additional tools for a new project was one way of gradually collecting my tools over the years.

And on this project they can come out of the joint account........

TBH if you are using mdf for skirting etc, hire a nailgun. It will get very boring/tiresome predrilling mdf for lost head nails.

I did not know that I would need to drill for lost head nails - I thought they were just banged in - shows what I know . I had imagined drilling holes in wall and screwing through the board (yep, even I know that needs predrilling) into rawplugs.

Though if the rawplugs are wood then I could nail through..... ah I see now this is where lost-head nails come in - smaller hole than a screw. Never done anything like that before.

Nail gun sounds scary - will it nail normal pine skirtings to the wall or only pine? What are the down sides? A 'missed' shot could make a mess and take some cleaning up if it mangles the wood.

Phil,

You can get nail-guns with laser-sights! :---)

:lol:

 

[carlb40]

Phil.. I found that needing special or additional tools for a new project was one way of gradually collecting my tools over the years.

And on this project they can come out of the joint account........

TBH if you are using mdf for skirting etc, hire a nailgun. It will get very boring/tiresome predrilling mdf for lost head nails.

I did not know that I would need to drill for lost head nails - I thought they were just banged in - shows what I know . I had imagined drilling holes in wall and screwing through the board (yep, even I know that needs predrilling) into rawplugs.

Though if the rawplugs are wood then I could nail through..... ah I see now this is where lost-head nails come in - smaller hole than a screw. Never done anything like that before.

Nail gun sounds scary - will it nail normal pine skirtings to the wall or only pine? What are the down sides? A 'missed' shot could make a mess and take some cleaning up if it mangles the wood.

I was thinking if you went with the mdf batten/ skirting route and decide to use lost head nails. Predrilling will stop the mdf splitting If using softwood instead of mdf then yes just bang them in. (hammer) LOL

If you are using wooden plugs in the perps of the brickwork as long as your marking out is good, you should be ok.

 

[carlb40]

Phil.. I found that needing special or additional tools for a new project was one way of gradually collecting my tools over the years.

And on this project they can come out of the joint account........

TBH if you are using mdf for skirting etc, hire a nailgun. It will get very boring/tiresome predrilling mdf for lost head nails.

I did not know that I would need to drill for lost head nails - I thought they were just banged in - shows what I know . I had imagined drilling holes in wall and screwing through the board (yep, even I know that needs predrilling) into rawplugs.

Though if the rawplugs are wood then I could nail through..... ah I see now this is where lost-head nails come in - smaller hole than a screw. Never done anything like that before.

Nail gun sounds scary - will it nail normal pine skirtings to the wall or only pine? What are the down sides? A 'missed' shot could make a mess and take some cleaning up if it mangles the wood.

Phil,

You can get nail-guns with laser-sights! :---)

:lol:

Those are soooo 2012 LOL

I use the new type with built in stud finder, never miss now as it bleeps where ever i put it on the skirting. :lol:

 

[blackrodd]

Loads of equally good advice there.
Personally, I am a big fan of Gripfill, (green tube) sticking helps make the job simples, no noise or drilling or filling or pelleting.
Once the skirting is cut and fitting, Wipe off any dust from the walls, Nice big blobs, on the skirting, a bit less than half a boiled egg, (longways) every 2ft, place in position, on the wall and twist/move the board about, on the wall, helps adhesion and stops "skin"forming.
I go around clockwise, and therefore cut the scribe into the fitted skirting on the left, makes the straight cut easier with a panel saw,before the moulding part. (if yer right handed)!
under cut slightly, so the outer moulded face protrudes more for a better fit on the face.
HTH Regards Rodders

 

[DrPhill]

Yeah, I am tempted by the gripfill solution. I may be old-fashioned but I still think of these as being part of the 'no more proper jobs' range.

But for skirting and architraves they look just too tempting. I can even paint up the boards first - at least the mat coats - and save the risk of painting the beautifully polished and waxed block flooring. Well it is not beautiful and polished yet, but that is the plan. Also I have decided that pine is the way to go rather than mdf. We were chuffed-to-nuts to find woodblock flooring and some quarry tiling in the house. Maybe in a few decades some renovators would prefer to find pine rather than MDF. Or am I going soft in the head? (of course that means I need to do the joining well). Perhaps, as when I was painting the window frame I was wondering about the guy that first painted it when my grand-dad was a nipper.


I am not sure I would trust gripfill for the picture rail - that might be tempting fate? I have not used the stuff a lot so I do not know what its MTTF is. Any opinions?


On another thread I was looking for an oak plank to fill the gap where the wall was. I got one by an odd route..... the chap in Jewsons recommended a 'carpenter' on the same trading estate, so I phoned him. He was polite, but not too enthusiastic but said that they were cutting up some oak so he would see what he could do. When I went to collect it I was somewhat embarrassed to find that the place specialised in bespoke hardwood windows and doors . My gash plank was machined to the exact size and had a shine on it - the cutters must have been sharp. Kind of them to help me out, though.

I managed to get a gawp at some of their work and I was droolin'. Forget replacing that bay window with plastic, we are going to save for a bespoke oak fixture. Might take a year to save for that but it would go well with the oak floor. They might even let me watch some of the fabrication. Since a plastic solution would need to be bespoke there may not be much difference in cost any way.


Took a risk on the router bit - and it fits the collet perfectly. I have found that Jewsons will deliver to the end of my road - they just wont come down the slope. So I can get the 4.8m lengths of board and maybe avoid joins as long as I do a bit of carrying.