skirting board

[novice]

is there a right and wrong way of putting up skirting board? my walls are not too brilliant so i think no nails is going to leave big gaps in places...would i be ok drilling/plugging and screwing to pull the boards into the wall where they need it...and if so can you get filler to cover the screw hole that is natural wood in colour and does it stand out from the rest as i dont fancy dots all along the skirting...many thanks

[dirtydeeds]

if you havent got carpet down you can temporaily brace off the floor to push the skirting onto the wall. dont use gripfill use PU glue. gripfill should be called BigGaps

yes there are coloured fillers avaliable

however from your question (you dont want dots all along the skirting) you are not going to paint but use stain of varnish

in this case drill screw and plug

[novice]

many thanks...i think i,ll go with the drilling and screwing option as its got to cover the edge of laminate floor thats already down...
one more thing...the gap that will be in places between the skirting and the wall...seen from above i mean...what do i use to fill that ? is that what decoraters caulk is for ? and if so does caulk go hard ? whats the difference between decoraters caulk and decoraters filler ? thanks again.

[Edz]

an interesting one. When you say drill, screw and plug, do I take it that you plug the walls? Has anyone invented anything clever yet that allows you to just screw straight into blockwork?

[ultimatehandyman]

Well you can almost just screw these right in but you must drill the correct size hole first- http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/F&F_M ... SCREWS.htm

They are very useful, but make the hole too shallow or too narrow and they can crack the masonry!

Make the hole too large and they won't grab.

[dirtydeeds]

novice id better go slower and explain slightly more

my assumption from what you said (i dont want dots along the skirting) was that you are installing hardwood skirtings that are to be stained or varnished

if you were painting the skirting you wouldnt care what colour the filler was, even pink car body filler wouldnt matter

so you must be fixing hardwood skirtings to be stained/varnished

i said drill screw and plug, it was a bit of shorthand.

drill countersunk holes in the skirting, fix the skirting to the wall with screws and rawl plugs (or the fixings that uhm suggested, in which casw rawl plugs arnt required)

then make wooden plugs (the plugs to which i was refering) from the offcuts of your skirting and glue them into the countersunk holes which covers the screw heads. flush them off job done

to make a job like this look good, you need to properly measure and space your plugs. plugs at odd spacings and odd heights make a good job look bad


finally decoators caulk and decorators filler

decorators caulk, the makers generally say it stays elastic for around five years.

decorators filler is a handfull of different products all quite hard and have no movement properties or very little movement

[novice]

yeah i knew that

oh ok...think thats a bit beyond my skills,anyway it matters not now as im painting them good old fashioned white gloss...so presume i can just use any filler for the screw heads.

what would you use to take up the gap at the top of the skirting,decoraters filler ?......thanks again.

[dirtydeeds]

personally i use Bonda decor fill (2 pack filler) over screw heads and decorators caulk at the wall/skirting interface BUT ONLY if its necessary because you lose the sharp crisp edge

If you use acrylic paint you will end up double filling. acrylic paint raises the grain on the wood but not the filler, so you have to fill the new minor indent



Bonda decor fill goes off quicker than any two pack i know. get it from a dulux decorator centre, brewers, johnstons

one very good painter i know uses 2 pack car body filler