Glueing skirting boards to wall

[G&M]

Which is the best glue in a tube for this - solvent based ("no more nails" sort of thing) or non-solvent based (cheaper in Screwfix catalogue P111)

Thanks

[Rick Dipper]

I use "grabs like nails" from B&Q. I make sure the gap is not too big, or dusty and hold the board to the wall if the wall is not quite straight. Once the glue is dry I use decorators filler to fill in the gaps.

Rick

[Michael Mcneil]

Most are OK. They all air dry too quickly - that is, form a skin. Run a bead on the wall and a bead on the wood then fix with black screws every meter or so. They can be removed if they are not driven in deep enough.

I counterbore my wood first so I can leave them in. They are just there to grip the plasterboard while the glue sets.

[Grunff]

Solvent based. Water based no-nails is actually really good stuff, and I use it lots for glueing sheet materials, but if you use it on thin wood like skirting the wood tends to cup a little (because of the water content).

[Christian McArdle]

Personally, I use screws. I prefer to screw things together, as it makes them removable. Nails and glue will mean that you need to destroy the skirting to remove it.

Christian.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Given the way all 'real' wood moves in my house, I'd not trust any glue for this job either. Be ok if the skirting was MDF etc, though.

I doubt if you'd destroy the wood trying to remove it. The plaster, probably.

[Christian McArdle]

I've certainly never got real nailed skirting off without severe damage. I've never tried with glued stuff. The only stuff I glued was 1 day before moving out of my last house, so I didn't really care.

Christian.

[rrh]

I agree - if you leave the screw heads visible or have a perfect record of where they are! But if you want a perfect finish you cover them up and then screwed-on skirting can be much more difficult and destructive to remove later than glued or nailed skirting, as long as you make enough but not too many fixing points.

[Rob Graham]

Oh come on - how many people look at skirtings. I would go with screws any time, nails are a pain and it only needs one to go wrong and you really have a mess; and I'm old fashioned enough not to really like things that are glued.

Rob

[G&M]

Well I hope somebody does. I'm putting in oak ones to match the beams and they ain't cheap.

[Al Reynolds]

I used solvent-free gripfill (from BM). No probs yet, Al

[Nick Brooks]

Never again will I use oak skirtings because the walls in my house are not straight and oak is really difficult to bend

Nick Brooks

[Steve Firth]

I find the best thing to use is "Nail and Seal" by EvoStick. It's solvent free, but it isn't a nasty acrylic based glue/sealer like most of the solvent stuff. It grabs and holds very well and unlike the solvent glues it doesn't skin-over in use.

It will also set well in contact with damp and has more tolerance of dust than other glues. The glue itself is MS-polymer which is used in the boatbuilding industry. It's much, much better than silicone as a sealant BTW and has the advantage that it can be removed before it cures by wiping with a rag dampened with "International" polurethane yacht varnish thinner. Cellulose thinners should also work.

[Jerry Built]

Solvent based ("no more nails" sort of thing) is best.

J.B.

[G&M]

Yep. Same here. Butthey do look much better once done, don't they !