Replace skirting board or paint?

[dundermifflinpapersalesman1]

Recently just bought a house with my DH. All the wood in the house is dark wood. Would ideally like all doors and skirting to be white. Think it looks cleaner and brighter. However not sure if it would be worth buying new or sanding down and painting. Been told all the doors are solid oak though not sure how true this is! Will it just be a ball ache to paint them all or is it worth it?

I'd only replace the skirting boards I was completely sure that the plaster wouldn't come off too, so I'd sand and repaint - not a nice job though. I'm not a fan of white doors; would you consider stripping the paint off your oak doors?

If you remove there is the risk of damage to the plaster, and new skirting will need painting anyway.
Solid oak doors would be worth stripping.

Any possibility of hiring a painter & decorator to do it?

I’ve recently stripped (heat gun) 60 years worth / several layers of paint off our skirtings to repaint. 3 coats of dulux “once”!
I painted over the doors we were keeping but had to paint the new doors that had to be replaced due to damage. It took days and was exhausting so if you can afford to pay someone I would.

Repaint.

The Frenchic trim/ Al fresco range is pretty tough, dries quickly, and you don't need to strip what is underneath ( light sand and then sugar soap will do).

It's not very expensive, so perhaps an economical way of changing the look.

( ps, I'm not a rep!)

Zinsser do some brilliant paints for tricky things like this. You wouldn't need to sand them first, just a coat of their undercoat then you topcoat, I am sure.

Why do we paint woodwork white in this country? It's so ugly.

Take a look at their BIN primer, I am sure that's the one we have used plenty all round the house. Or looks like they do something called Coverstain.

Another vote for Zinsser paints. It’s probably BIN that you need but they are bound to have something that suits. It’ll be pricy but so so worth it.

Definitely zissner BIN it's been a lifesaver, one coat of it, two if really dark and then simply top coat, no sanding unless random rough spots you want to smooth out

Thanks guys! Considering the state of the plaster on the upstairs bedrooms I'm going to say that it wouldn't withstand the skirting being pullled off and replaced so painting it is. We do have a sander to sand it so I'll check out the paint and get busy. 🙈

@legoriakelne thanks for the advice

This is a chat forum. If you want pure professional advice, pay for it.

You asked if your proposal was worth it. I wasn't sure that it was.

No need for you to start being passive aggressive because you don't like my opinion.

But @legoriakelne you didn’t actually respond to @dundermifflinpapersalesman1 question if she should replace or paint, you simply made a rude comment about the colour she proposed to paint it saying it is ugly. She didn’t need your opinion on that.

@legoriakelne - you didn’t give any advice 😂

@dundermifflinpapersalesman1 - I’d definitely paint rather than remove the boards.

Do you have a colour scheme in mind? Nothing to say you have to do them white.

I’d highly recommend Little Green Paint Company. Their prices can look expensive, but it is well worth it with regards to coverage and durability.

I’m in the process of decorating a room and am using their ASP (all surface primer), followed by Tom’s Oil Eggshell on skirting/frames etc. Tom’s oil is more for outside use, but it’s so tough it withstands knocks with the hoover etc! The paint goes a long way, I definitely over-ordered the first room I did a few years ago.

I’m in an old cottage, been here a number of years, and always been a fan of wood over paint. However, I’m halfway through changing all doors and frames to white, and then complementary colours on walls throughout all the rooms. The difference is amazing, I’m annoyed with myself that I waited so long. Everything is starting to feel more airy and “together”.

I think it also depends on if you like the skirting? We are replacing all of ours room by room because it's the typical 1970s very shallow, slightly curved at the top skirting and I really dislike it and it dates the room. It would be much cheaper to repaint and risk to the skirting etc, but it will be a lot of work to repaint only to realise your room doesn't fit your image of it because the style of skirting is wrong.
Skirting is super easy to replace, and if your plaster is in poor condition and blown anyway, it might be worth taking the bull by the horns and replacing the skirting and having a replaster - you'll get a much nicer end product.

Oak doors I'd 100% keep. If you can afford to have them rejuvenated I'd do that but I personally wouldn't paint them. If you're desperate to have them white I'd try and get them done professionally, it's such a labour intensive job to get right.

@legoriakelne I know what this site is for. Hence why I was asking people opinions on what to do with the skirting. Your response wasn't helpful in the slightest. So what if you think white woodwork is ugly. That wasn't my question at all.

@Keladrythesaviour I do like the skirting i think

@Keladrythesaviour sorry I posted too soon. I've never really looked at skirting in that way really but I'll have a look see if I like any others.

Thank you @Backtobacktheyfacedeachother and @Furries

@Dugi3 @MMAMPWGHAP

I had never heard of Zissner paints until you mentioned it -have you used it on walls? If so, how did you find it?
TIA

Zinsser have a lot of specialised paints that trade people use in certain situations. I’ve got the Permawhite Anti mould paint on bathroom walls. Was put on by the bathroom fitter and he was impressed with it.
I also used one of theirs on my mum’s old kitchen and it was very easy to use.

Great, thanks.