Cutting Skirtingboard

dools

Hi,

Hope someone can help. I need to put new skirting board in the 3 bedrooms this weekend, but do not have any high tech equipment to do it, just a normal saw. Can anyone suggest how I can cut the angles for the corners? All the mitre boxes we saw are way too small for skirting.

Any help much appreciated....

D

Muckmagnet

How high is the skirting dools, most mitre boxes cut up to 150mm (6 inchs ).

Lex Luthor

Its easy enough to do skirting boards, once you've been shown once.

On the outre corner, you just need to mitre the complete edge on both skirtings that are meeting eachother.

On the inner corner, put the first board directly into the corner as normal with a straight cut.
Then you need to get a piece of waste skirting and mark the contour of the ogee bit at the top across the front ogee section so it looks like you have marked the pattern of the ogee on the board you want to cut. Then using a coping saw, cut off the waste.

Sorry I can't really explain it all that well. There are bound to be pics out there somewhere showing how its done.

Actually have a look at fig 11 on this page and it gives you an idea of cutting a basic skirting board pattern

dools

Hi,

Muckmagnet, the only mitre boxes we saw (he,he) were a couple of inches high - seemed to be for dado rails,etc. Can you buy taller ones? The skirting would be average height moulded white deal skirting - nit sure what height they are.

Lex, sorry can't follow you. Am a complete novice with woodwork. Where's fig11?

Tks

Dools

Lex Luthor

sorry, forgot link

http://www.thediyworld.co.uk/fitting_skirting2.html

dools

Cheers

FrankGrimes

Mmmm, you learn something new everyday - I always wondered why people talk of scribing internal corners as opposed to mitre joints, but thanks to that site, now I know:

"Internal corners are dealt with in a different way to external ones, and internal mitres are rarely used as the inevitable shrinkage of the timber would open up the joint. "

Has anyone worked on sites where they actually scribe it, cos when I was on sites we'd just mitre it? Where you're going to be painting the skirting and can use caulk its grand cos this will absorb a reasonable amount of expansion/shrinkage...cue 'cutting corners' puns

Lex Luthor

and any imperfections in your cutting can be rectified with a bit of pine coloured wood filler....voila

Judean Reg

If you are going to mitre them, it is very easy to make your own mitre box, 3 peices of wood, a few nails/screws and a kids school protractor should see you right.

dools

On the way home I popped into a local hardware shop that stocks a mitre box for 6" skirting - sorted. Could'nt find one anywhere last week and was'nt sure if one existed. Mitre joints all the way for me....

Thanks guys

Lex Luthor

dools wrote:

On the way home I popped into a local hardware shop that stocks a mitre box for 6" skirting - sorted. Could'nt find one anywhere last week and was'nt sure if one existed. Mitre joints all the way for me....

Thanks guys

Mitre joints look $hite on the internal joints....try the proper way and you'll be glad you did in years to come

Muckmagnet

Lex Luthor wrote:

Mitre joints look $hite on the internal joints....try the proper way and you'll be glad you did in years to come

I used the mitre box and it looks grand i found it dead easy too ....... mind you i do live in a sewer and i am lazy as sh**e.........

dools

Lex,

House is going on the market next week - there's just no skirting - I assume mitre joints won't put off any potential buyers . Long story.Spent a year gutting the house and have now decided to move.

Will do it properly in my next gaff....promise...

Lex Luthor

dools wrote:

Lex,

House is going on the market next week - there's just no skirting - I assume mitre joints won't put off any potential buyers . Long story.Spent a year gutting the house and have now decided to move.

Will do it properly in my next gaff....promise...

didn't realise you were selling it...fcuk it, just mitre them. 1.4 the time and most people wont even notice...good luck

hargo

Tip if you are putting the skirting on to solid walls put nice big wooden plugs in the wall and the you can use wire nails to attach the skirting