grubby skirting boards

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow]

our skirting boards are very grubby and 18 years old now. I do hoover them occasionally - what can i do to really smarted them up.

Should I give them a thorough scrub and then repaint them? I was really thinking about replacing them though for lovely shiney new ones but don't know how expensive that would be.

Any advice appreciated.

Do you mean they haven't been painted for 18 years????

I usually paint the ones in high traffic areas every two or three years, less in bedrooms etc.

Painting skirting boards is a nice job, just put masking tape on the floor and on the wall so you don't have to paint really slowly. Don't remove the masking tape till 24 hours after the last coat of paint.

mumble - that's probably excessive

yes, give them a good scrub and paint them.
best tip- if you can't pull the carpet back, then get a sheet of cardboard, and poke it between the skirting and the carpet, and then paint down to the line it makes.

yes, you have to use a new section of card each time!
get a wide piece ( a cardboard box) then chop it down as you go along.

Or the broad masking tape. That way when you peel it off your carpet you also take away all the crumbs and crap that your hoover misses

Er yes re-paint! Same as mumble, we probably paint ours every couple of years, normally when we re-decorate.

Its a bit addictive when you see what a difference it makes! I've just finished skirting boards, now doing door frames, then it'll be the doors, then time to start allover again

I don't want to paint them.

Not now that i've found this fabulous website

And they do matching architraves > !!!!!!!!!

yeah, that would be more expensive and more fiddly than painting.

see what they look like with a good scrub.

Up to you, but be prepared for the plaster to come off with them, and allow for the cost of a plasterer.

I think i'm gonna go for the new. I'll get a professional in to do it.

The thing is, I just got a divorce and I just want to completely and utterly change one room in the house so that everything is my choice and that nothing in it is from my old life.

But that's a thread for the relationships board!!!!

Fair enough! Which ones you looking at?

cif gets them really clean, a good scrub with plenty of cif and a scouring pad should sort it failing that you might need to paint them.

either these which will make life really difficult for a decorator, what with the wallpaper having to be cut to shape around the waves or these simple but nice.

The ones i've got now are nasty cheap plain white skirting boards about 18mm high.

Sorry am not mad keen on either - definitely more of a traditionalist! But you're right, the first ones would be a nightmare to paint/wallpaper up to.

oooh, i love the waves ones (and you could always paint rather than wallpaper, that solves that problem!)

or take them off, wall paper them put skirting back on after papered :-)

Can I ask a question of those that gradually go around painting their skirtings etc- how??
I really want to do mine & the other bits of woodwork in the hallway which previous owners Hoover must have bashed to bits. Want to decorate the whole hallway soonish but it will be our last job in the house- would it be ok to just smarten up the skirtings? They drive me nuts! Thanks

Do you mean they're all dented lizard? You need to buy a pack of sandpaper, from somewhere like b&q, sand them down with the grade 60 stuff first, dont' worry about getting all paint off, you'r just roughing it up a bit, and of course getting any lumpy bits off.

If there are gouged out bits you need to fill them with wood filler, then sand down that bit when its dry.

Then paint the boards using either satin wood paint or gloss, let it dry (I normally wait a week), then just sand them down lightly with the 80 stuff, paint, let dry, sand with 120 stuff, then paint again. Oh and after each sand you give them a quick wipe down too, to get rid of all dusty bits.

Sounds a palavar, but each sand and paint only takes an hour or two at most.

Thanks pootles that's really helpful. There aren't really any bits that are gouged out but about 10p size bits of paint missing on the corners. I think it would be an ideal job I could tinker away with to get done gradually but worry about glossing with DD (8 months) in the house. Can u get non- toxic smelling stuff?

Yes thanks for that. I think i'll end up sanding and repainting.

Just out of interest, why paint it and then sand over it again then paint it again?

Its to get them really smooth. You do them first with the rough stuff to get rid of lumps & bumps, slowly getting to a finer grade which gives a nice smooth finish. If I'm feeling lazy just skip the middle on, just do 60 then 120.

Lizard I'm using satinwood stuff at the moment, it's not smelly at all, just like emulsion, not shiny either which I prefer. It's also a lot quicker drying, and brushes are easier to clean - just use water, not nasty white spirit.

Thanks again pootles- I'll get some satin wood down at b&q. Yes I prefer the non shiny look too so we've used eggshell before but it's still a bit whiffy!