Gap at top of new skirting boards

sham1976

We got new skirting boards in a couple of rooms recently and have noticed that there are some pretty noticeable gaps at the top of them between the back of the skirting board and the wall! What is the best way of filling these? Is it easy?
Thanks in advance for any help!

michaelanthony

There's filler stuff you get. It's like silicone and you just squeeze it out along the gap. It will give a better finish if the skirting is white.

blahblah06

hi sham i did these jus yesterday. get some white chalk and its sorted

The Hill Billy

A couple of rough & ready solutions...

If the gap isn't too big (ie, just a couple of mill) you could use decorator's caulk which you can get at any DIY store.

If the gap is bigger (say 10mm) you could try filling the gap with bonding or basecoat plaster. Level off the filler in line with the top of the skirting boards & paint the same colour as the wall.

You could also try countersinking a couple of screws along the skirtingboards into the wall where the gaps are largest to pull them flush to the walls. Then apply wood filler over the screw heads to conceal them.

yop

Yip there is a pine colored filler than you get specifically for this job, I got it in Albany. It is same tube as a silicon tube so you will need a silicon gun also.

Gandhi

Sounds obvious, but make sure you get the painter's caulk so it's paintable.

sham1976

Thanks folks - am going to tackle the job at the weekend - will let you know how I get on!

O-Ninio

Get a piece of floorboard or similar something around the 6 inch by 1 inch mark and about two feet long, put this against the skirting and put your weight on it so that it compresses in doing this the skirting will be pushed closer to the wall once you have your weight on it and the skirting is as close to the wall as you can get it drive in a fixing.
Ideally when fitting skirting the underneath should be slightly chamfered towards the back this gives a better fit to the wall secondly it should be scribed to the floor to account for any uneven points in the floor this will give a quality finish.
Once you get it closer to the wall the filling methods above are appropriate.

What are you fixing the skirting to block/ studs / grounds?

rooferPete

Hi,

Was the wall cleaned before the new skirting was fitted ? there is a chance that the filler from the old skirting is behind the new skirting at a lower level especially if you had timber floors or a higher skirting fitted.

Might be worth using a thin blade (knife) and run it along the wall behind the skirting to see if it drops low at a few points, if it does that would suggest the old filler / paint wasn't cleaned off.

.

TempestSabre

michaelanthony wrote:

There's filler stuff you get. It's like silicone and you just squeeze it out along the gap. It will give a better finish if the skirting is white.

I hate that stuff. Its goes black very fast. I think static electricity attracts dirt to it. You also can't paint over it. or at least you shouldn't.

FrankGrimes

TempestSabre wrote:

I hate that stuff. Its goes black very fast. I think static electricity attracts dirt to it. You also can't paint over it. or at least you shouldn't.

That stuff is called 'caulk' though its also called flexible filler. Its messy to work with but if you're careful not to put too much on and then sponge it off its the best way of getting a professional finish. And, of course, it can be painted, and indeed is meant to be painted, which means you'll have no problems with it going black.

For me the proper use of caulk is one of the easiest ways to tell the difference between a quality job and a poor job.

TempestSabre

I didn't think silicon and caulk were the same thing?

O-Ninio

I didn't think silicon and caulk were the same thing?

There not they are totally different and for different applications they are merely applied in the same way from the mastic gun.

Gandhi

Isn't Silicone Caulk paintable, and Polyurethane Caulk more durable but not paintable? That was always my understanding. Usually whatever I grabbed from the shop shelf worked fine, though, so I never over-analysed.

FrankGrimes

the one I was referring to is called arcylic caulk I think.

TempestSabre

I thought you were talking about actual silicon. Thats what they used in my house, as I realised later. I have to scrape it off to apply proper caulking, when I repaint. Paint over silicon flakes off in my experience.

Gandhi

I had it arseways above. Latex caulk is paintable, and silicone caulk is not.

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=BuyGuide/CaulkBG.html