Trimming skirting

[Chris Bacon]

Where do you get it from? Also, you said 8" or 12" looks better than 2" for "a few extra pennies? What's the price of 8" skirting compared to 2" (although I have not seen any 2")??

[MarkF]

Slightly tangential question but - what is the point of skirting board anyway? I'm sure that several european countries I've visited don't use it at all. It's only purpose really seems to be to collect dust on the top edge. Is it just a question of what's expected?

Mark

[Set Square]

In essence, it's just a trim strip which covers up what might otherwise be an unsightly joint between the plaster and the flooring.

[Matt]

Seeing as a huge percentage of housing stock built from the 60's though to the early 90's will have mains sockets positioned with their bottoms around 7 - 8" above floor level then smaller height skirtings such as 4" or 5 " would be essential unless you start hacking out chunks of wall. Tall skirting in a modern house looks simply dreadful

- you may as well start fitting del boy chandeliers and Georgian windows.

[Matt]

To absorb impacts from toy cars.

[Nick H]

It will always look better if you take the skirting off first, even i you do a real tidy job with quadrant it never looks as good. Its th old right way wrong way choice, you know the right way is to take th skirts off but will you allow yourself to weaken and do it the quic way. Think long term here, it may take you an extra day to do the jo but you might be looking at it every day for the next 10 years, what another day in the grand scheme of things. You can fit the same size skirting again as they will be higher by th thickness of the laminate so usually cover any damge. Get yourself a nice thin pry bar about 10" long,

take a bit of care getting the old stuff off, its not a difficul jaob to do right

-- Nick H

[Christian McArdle]

It absorbs impacts, from wayward feet, children and shifting furniture.

Christian.

[Stuart Noble]

And hoovers, and shoes. Not having skirting looks odd because, like most traditional detail, it is based on practical issues.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Not a viable answer as there where no toy cars in the early 1800's and before. :-)

It's just a decrorative finish to an otherwise unpleasing appearence without it.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Nick H]

Please dont fit anything near a 12" skirting, its far to big for a average modern house. Even 8" is pushing it unless your rooms ar "handsomely proportioned". Ive second fixed a lot of houses and fo even a fairly large place a 6" ogee/torus is ample. If you match i with a 2 1/2" architrave it looks great. A good combination is 6" oge skirts with 2 1/2 " torus architrave. One advantage of reversible skirting is that the "back" face which i against the wall is in effect chamfered at the bottom and will fit nic and close to the wall

-- Nick H

[Christian McArdle]

I hate Torus.

Christian.

[Andy Hall]

You could be more bullish about it.

[Nick H]

Its not until I read your post that i realised that should have been 6" TORUS skirts with 2 1/2 " OGEE architrave, sorry about that but the piont is more the sizing

-- Nick H