I have just taken delivery of a load of Oak Archetrave and skirting boards for my newly plastered hallway.
I made sure that I got 7 inch skirting as we have that annoying 2 inch gap where the wall cannot be plastered coz of the injected DPC.
All my life I have fitted pine/softwood and now I have to work with Oak.
I have bought myself a bench grinder for the chisels .. a scroll saw for the profiles and already have a dewalt cross cut saw nice and sharp.
I have a few problems ..
a) the walls are not entirely flat ... will my Oak pull away or should I be brave and fix hard into the wall?
b) what fixings to use?
c) Should I pre drill nail holes for archetrave?
d) What sort of nails for the archetrave?
e) Do I plug and sink the screws for the skirting using plug cutter plugs?
f) where on the timber should I fix .....5 inches up on the skirting where its stil square wood or lower? How many fixing per foot etc?
g) How do I fix the archetrave ? Normally I would try and hide nails in the thin part of the contoured edge but will it split as its Oak?
I would appreciate any guidance here - this timber cost me a packet and I can't afford to ruin it :-)
cheers all,
jON