Gap between new laminate floor and skirting

[teddysnips]

So, I've laid the engineered wood floor in the new extension. Yesterday I fitted the skirting boards and here's the thing. There's a variable gap between the floor and the bottom of the skirting boards in places, where clearly the floor is slightly uneven. The floor was laid onto a thin layer of insulating foam on top of screed. It doesn't bother me so much a SWMBO, who now suggests that I fix a quadrant beading or similar to disguise the gap. My inclination is to leave well alone, but if forced I would prefer to fill the gap with gun filler.

Anyone come across this problem before, and have a different solution?

Thanks

Edward

[stevelup]

The most elegant solution would be to scribe the bottom of the skirting boards but it is time consuming and can look a mess if you are not very careful.

Steve

[Mary Fisher]

We didn't have that problem but most people use the quadrant beading and in my opinion it looks awful - as well as taking up floor space.

Filling the gap would be my choice - if it's done very well and matched to the skirting.

Mary

[Stuart Noble]

i.e. not very elegant at all. Women hate gaps. Something deep in their psyche tells them that things might crawl out of gaps. I'd gun fill it with an acrylic rather than silicone. Easy to cut flush with a blade, and washes off with water if you make a mess. Getting a colour match for the floor might be the difficult bit. The standard "brown" is distinctly tan IIRC.

[Arthur 51]

I had the same problem with one of my floors but I detected the problem before I began laying the laminate. I solved it by 'filling in' the dip with pieces of vinyl flooring. When it was done I had used 4/5 pieces of the 2mm thick vinyl. I used a spirit level to 'measure' the depth of the fall and used increasing sizes of the vinyl to get it almost there. I didn't try to get it perfect so when I was ready to fix the skirting I saw when there were any gaps ..that to me looked 'visible', then I just lifted the boards at that spot and slid in another scrap of vinyl.

Arthur

[Stuart Noble]

No, matched to the floor....:-) The bottom edge of the skirting should appear straight

[teddysnips]

I can't do that anyway. The skirting is fixed and I'm not taking it off!

Absolutely. And it can be painted.

I was planning to paint it to match the skirtings. Any reason why I should try to match the floor?

[mogga]

They have 4 colours of laminate filler at B&Q Would that do the trick?

[Stuart Noble]

Only that the skirting is already straight, and it's the floor that needs to be made straight. If the gaps are small it probably won't matter either way. I just have a thing about straightness :-)

[teddysnips]

Well, it might do (it's a maple floor) but the question remains moot - do I colour the gap to match the floor or the skirting boards? On the one hand, the gap is part of the vertical surface (the skirting) but on the other hand, the eye will more likely detect that the bottom of skirting board is not a straight line than that there's this odd shape to the floor at that point. There are a couple of places that I know will be hidden behind furniture - maybe time for a wee experiment.

Thanks

Edward

[teddysnips]

Have just been on the B&Q website - can't find the filler you mention. Can you supply a URL?

Thanks

Edward

[mogga]

Shelf 3 Ashton DIY store... I think b&q's site wins prizes for sheer frustration

Floor Pro Wood & Laminate Floor Gap Sealant Clear 125ml

Floor Pro Wood & Laminate Floor Gap Sealant medium 125ml also light and dark versions.

This url might work...

for matching to to what - ask SWMBO what she thinks :)

[teddysnips]

Excellent idea - pass the buck time.

Thanks

Edward

[teddysnips]

Yes, a bit like my wife. I used to be a perfectionist, but it did my head in....

Edward