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I have had contradicting info on whether to attach skirting boards before or after laying laminate flooring. The guy who is laying the flooring suggested putting skirting on afterwards, however i feel this may make his job easier. The benefit of laying skirting first is it reduces the risk of getting paint on the floor. We will be fixing the skirting to the wall using adhesive. The negative points I can see with laying the skirting after flooring goes down is that you cannot remove the flooring without ripping the skirting off, and if you need to touch up the paint work on the skirting (assuming you paint them away from room before fixing) you risk getting paint on the floor. What would you guys suggest?

Hi and welcome to UHM,

You are right with your concerns but it is better if the skirting goes on last as you need an expansion gap around the perimeter of the room. You can then cover the expansion gap with the skirting.

If you put the skirting on first then you need to use beading to cover the gap, which does not look as good.

If you are replacing the flooring then you can cut a couple of long cuts down the centre of the room with a circular saw and it will slide out from under the skirting.

Hi and thanks for the welcome and prompt response.
I take your point about removing the flooring if you want to replace it but what if you need to replace only one or two boards, say due to damage. Also would you paint the skirting boards fixed on the wall or before you fix but after you cut?
Thanks again

You can paint the skirting when they are on and keep it from the laminate by sliding a piece of paper under the skirting board, to protect the laminate where you are painting, or you can use masking tape.

Replacing just one or two boards is not going to be easy because once they are clicked together it is difficult to seperate some makes of laminate without damaging more boards.

If you are that concerned about it you can fit the skirting first, paint it then fit the laminate and then put beading around. It's all down to personal choice really.

Beading looks ok if it is done correctly.

There are quite a few pictures here-

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/lamin ... /index.htm

Thanks again for your advice and useful pictures. Being new to all this DIY lark it is so hard to know what to do for best as well as achieving the best look. Great tip with the paper for painting.
Thanks. Have book marked your forum.... I've no doubt I'll be needing you again. Thank you.
Claire

You are welcome

It didn't take long for more help needed!!!

If fixing the skirting after the flooring using adhesive what is the best, easiest and most efficient way of applying pressure to the board whilst it sets. The room is about 6m by 4.5m so I can't really jam a brace inbetween the walls, plus I don't wonna spoil new expensive laminate!

Why do us women think we can take on these jobs!

hi boog.
firstly if you bead the floor are you saying that as long as the floor is down you will never redecorate? you will still have to cut in along the bead when you do repaint.
its a no brainer if you are willing to pay for the skirts as like UHM says just slide paper under.
if you are sticking the skirts on i would try and use either mdf skirts if you are painting them as they stay flat and straight. much easier to fit. if you want real wood thenget it from a timber yard not from bnq. if a customer ever gets bnq stuff i always have to screw it as it is well twisted and cupped.
when sticking with glue just put a couple of nails in at a cross angle to each other. you dont need to go into the wall just the plaster making sure you dont nail them home. this will normally hold it long enough for it to set. then just pull them out and fill the holes. make sure you caulk along the top edge with flexible decorators filler.

you can use anything heavy thats to hand

piles off books your chairs a workmate big tin off paint even the dining room table with the legs padded out to greater than the overhang of the table top

and as mentioned above mdf is better as its pre primed and will bend to contours better

You can't use glue as your only fixing for skirting!!!! You need a mechanical fixing like a nail or a screw!

Two nails at angles is called skew nailing and is how i fix my skirting (plus a blob of pink grip every 6").

Or if I screw them, I drill a 7mm hole through the skirt and into the wall every metre. Put a plastic plug as far as I can push it with my hammer, then wind in a screw a few mm and hammer the screw and plug in deeper. When the screw has about 10mm left, I wind it in with a screwdriver/battery drill. Plus the ppink grip.

I cut all my skirt to fit, including mitres and scribes. Then paint them before fixing. Leave them a few days for the paint to harden and then nail them on using a powered nailer (you can hire one for the day if need be).

Once they're on, filler, sand and paint! Job done!

Like UHM said. If youre laminate gets dented or chipped, its either repair with a special two part epoxy cement. Or rip the lot up and replace!!!! You can't just take out one piece and replace it. Remember, laminate has only a life span of about 3-7 years depending on traffic and use. Only a bit more than carpet!

Finally. Skirt or not to skirt????

Heres a laminate floor with the 10mm gap filled with a cork strip. The skirt goes over this giving a cleaner finish.



This is the skirt that I glossed before i fixed it on. I painted the joins and nail holes after. Which disappeared surprisingly well?

Here are a few pics of a job I did using the dead cheap B&Q beech laminate. I used a bleached oak effect bead around the edge, covering up the 10mm gap. This is because the client did'nt want the skirtings taken off as this would mean redecoraing!

They both look good, but I prefer it with the skirting on top of the laminate!