Skirting Quandry

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:51 pm

I am looking to put down some laminate flooring and am in a quandry....

1) Fit it and then use quadrant bead to cover the expansion gap
2) Remove the skirting, fit flooring and then fit new skirting

Doing Sitting Room, Hall and Dining Room - area is about 30Sq M in Total and I would think to make it look at all right will have to repeat whatever I do in all three areas.

Skirting is ~160mm plain board - what sort of damage am I likely to get removing old skirting (1930s construction) and any tips on eliminating damage? New skirting prob will be same height.

Is doing beading instead of removing and refitting a bit of a cop out?
I also wondered about using a profiled 'plank' type solution - maybe 140mm high x 12mm deep or so to fit over over skirting to act as an expansion gap cover and as a 'fancy skirting' type effect? Anyone got any thoughts on that?

Not sure which way to go and want to break the back of the first room by the weekend

skiking · Post by **skiking** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:01 pm

Quadrants look sh*t to imo....even if I've used it myself

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:12 pm

Yup. Did two rooms that I don't care that much about (walk-in wardrobe and spare room) with beading and it looks okish. Did bathroom with new Skirting fitted after flooring down and looks a lot cleaner.
Guess I am answering my own question

I am concerned about wall damage, though. I have not got a clue about plastering and have this vision of big chunks falling off (This is the house where I pulled a little bit of beading over cladding off and ended up having to plasterboard half the wall as a consequence!)

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:27 pm

When we did it we took off the ugly, shorter height plain skirting and replaced it with taller stuff after the floor was done because everything seemed to be attached with massive nails and removing them was a pain.

Wood Magnet · Post by **Wood Magnet** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:22 am

Re :- covering the skirting, it can look good if you do it properly "H", i have seen good and bad, but i would think you have the skills to carry it off mate.

peter c · Post by **peter c** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:11 am

Hoovie Don't go down the quadrant route looks bl**dy awful. In my last house I used my biscuit cutter suitably set to cut off the bottoms of the skirting boards that way I could fit the laminate under the skirting with the minimum damage. On the last wall I had to remove the skiting board and trim it down.

One tip when sticking skiting boards back spray the wall with contact adhesive then press the skirting board that has been grip filled hard against the wall. Provided the spray adhesive is still wet it sticks treat.

Peter C

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:03 pm

Well ... the skirting is all off now!

got a bit of patching up to do, but I used my PMF180E to cut down between the wall and skirting to break up any connection between the two with the years of paint, caulk, any glue, etc. That for the most part allowed the skirting to come away without bringing the top skim plaster away with it.
Like most skirting of the time, it was fitted with those big flat nails hammered into big wooden plugs inside walls - some nails pulled plaster away with skirting, some came away clean with just the wooden plugs.

All in all - removing skirting WAS the way to go, I reckon

PS - Thanks for the vote of confidence anyway WM,

Oddbod · Post by **Oddbod** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:38 pm

They'll be "cut" nails, amazing how bloody well they grip.

You made the right decision imho, might be more aggro now, but the finished job will look much better

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:36 pm

i didn't even try and shift any cut nails (cheers, oddbod

) left in the wall - just got the angle grinder on them and sliced the bits sticking out off

It is already looking better without the old plank skirting. Bought some 169mm Ogee profile in MDF and that is looking very smart with the new flooring (just offered it up - not done yet

)

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:46 pm

Hoovie,

When I removed our skirting I ended up hacksawing the nails off as near to the wall as possible then hammered in any bits that stuck out, whilst trying not to bash the plasterboard. I found one screw holding the skirting in, so I reckon they lost the hammer that day!

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:54 pm

Hacksaw? Hacksaw!!

That is what powertools were invented for

Grinders are great for that kind of thing and are a lot easier to get into awkward areas then a hacksaw (IMO anyway

)
If you are still doing stuff around the house (think you are

) worth having a look - very versatile bit of kit

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:58 pm

How much is a grinder?

Gadget · Post by **Gadget** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:04 pm

Bludall wrote:How much is a grinder?

You can get a cheapo grinder for around £20, and they are fine for DIYer's

Hoovie · Post by **Hoovie** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:06 pm

I have a Bosch Green (DIY) 4 1/2" one I bought 10 years ago. on SFX, the Bosch Blue (Pro) ones are now £40. SFX also have an own-brand one for £17.50.

I have used mine for cutting cut nails from skirting (did the same thing on old house), cutting away concrete, cutting away steel mesh on a wall when cutting in back boxes, slicing chromed steel pipe that a hacksaw just wouldn't touch, etc. - just makes some jobs so much easier (I'm a lazy bugger

)

Bludall · Post by **Bludall** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:13 pm

I've cut two old sleepers in half using a handsaw when I made our alpine garden, so in my case patience is my middle name! I wasn't hiring a power tool to do the job and the nearest one to borrow was 2 hours away.