Can cheap skirting look like oak?

You can grain it to look like whatever you want. Not difficult at all, despite allegations to contrary.

However I've never thought of laminate flooring as being remotely childproof or catproof.

John

David Robinson ( snipped-for-privacy@postmaster.co.uk) wibbled on Monday 07 February 2011 22:28:

I'm using real oak skirting - mostly because I never want to paint the bloody stuff - I hate painting endless miles of wood that gets chipped in a year and looks crap until the next repaint.

I didn't feel the price was too bad considering some people pay twice as much for a set of curtains which will be dead in 1/20 of the time that the skirting is.

But - to address your point - in my old flat I did exactly as you were suggesting - used pine.

I went over it with a microporous stain/finish of some sort - wasn't pure Colron - it was more like a Ronseal coating product (not varnish) - I did mine to a darkish finish, brown and it looked perfectly good with all the advantages that one could overcoat it later without a tedious rubbing down, and the finish soaked in leaving a very mild sheen and did not tend to chip off.

Can't remember exactly what product (I used Ronseal exterior in the bathroom which was a bit more shiney but tended not to chip off either) - but if you look in B&Q for something of that type for interior use, it will be very similar to mine.

Try to select non resionous pine sections - some of the stuff B&Q sell bleeds goo from everywhere. Wickes IME are a reasonable source for generic white wood that is mostly straight and dry.

HTH

Tim

David Robinson ( snipped-for-privacy@postmaster.co.uk) wibbled on Monday 07 February 2011 22:28:

Oh - and I would not use stain + wax - tends to look orange and horrible.

you are buying at the wrong place.

Yes, exactly.

True - but my worry is that, as I'm putting it on top of the laminate (to save beading) it might end up having the same lifetime as the laminate!

that sounds like outdoor stuf?

I think that's just what I'm after. Not raw (but stained) wood, not obviously varnished (not even satin) - just, well, gently waxed look with nothing to chip.

I'll have another look - they have a lot to choose from.

Local builder's merchants is really good - it's mostly decent stuff and they'll let you pick. Strange how they can be really cheap for some basic things, while other things are far cheaper if ordered off the net.

Oh dear. I have some offcuts to test on, but buying a tin or two of things to test, then another if they're not right, soon wastes some money.

Cheers, David.

David Robinson ( snipped-for-privacy@postmaster.co.uk) wibbled on Tuesday 08 February 2011 08:24:

Screw and plug - that's what I did (stainless/brass screws requuired for oak). It's not hard - bit longer than gluing it on but you can pop the plus out and unscrew it.

Don't think it was - there are microporous non external finishes.

Cheers

Tim

Living in a house where pretty much the entire downstairs is laminate, I'd say it's fantastically childproof.

Excellent surface for scalextric and lego as well :-)

Darren

I have an engineered real oak floor in one room, and simply stained whitewood skirting to match it. Sealed with matt water based varnish. Looks good to me - although purists might notice the grain is different.

Use an upstand of laminate as a skirting (possibly backed with some MDF strips to add depth), and then put a real oak lipping on the top?

I did some crappy pine tables for some of the houseplants with Minwax red oak stain and Minwax clear laquer on top, and they match the red oak stair rail pretty well - the colour's slightly darker, but not enough that it bothers me.

After that experience, I'm considering going the same way for the skirting too, mainly because I want something slightly taller and thicker than the typical skirting sold. cheers

Jules