Skirting boards

[yoyy]

The skirting boards in our home are horrible, pine & very shallow.

Would they look decent if the screws were filled & it was painted or should I swap them? I'm doing renovations anyway.

Swap em. Skirting board is not £££ and you can get all sorts of nice profiles at the builder's merchants.

@splatfrog thank you, I was hoping for that answer!

If you're doing renovations anyway, now's the time to change them (and anything else you don't like!)

Consider using msg skirting. Wooden stuff twists, has knots and imperfections. MDF is perfect and comes primed.

MDF

I was about to answer the same question!!

Does anyone know how much skirting board is per meter, or a rough price for fitting?

I hate my 70's skirtings!!

I would definitely replace but make sure you fill and sand really well. Always caulk too. It makes such a difference between finished and unfinished. I put masking tape along the edge, only cut a small hole in the end of the nozzle and remember less is more.

happy to go with mdf

@Puddypuds i'm hoping to get someone else to do it!

I find that MDF stuff is a bit fluffy and hard to get a smooth finish with when you paying it but there could be a trick that I don't know about?

If you have a local timber merchant it can be more cost effective to order from them than from a big box diy store. They will usually have a variety of skirting sizes and profiles to choose from.

You might consider the size/scale of the rooms that you want to replace the skirting in. For instance, a larger room with higher ceilings may look better with taller/more ornate skirtings. Also, you might prefer more ornate or more modern, rounded or square profiles.

I think nice skirtings, crown mouldings, picture rails, &/or ceiling roses, etc can add a nice touch, depending on the type of room and the look you are after.

Didn't think of a timber yard, good tip.

I agree they add a nice touch.

FYI on cost I've just spent £250 on 28m of skirting and 5 architrave boards from Wickes. Timber is £££ at the moment.

I don't think changing skirting is that cheap and easy. When you rip it out, it might take some plaster off. If you live in a modern house, you are probably fine and costs and time will be moderate, but in our 300 year old house, everything is wonky, so there were lots of cutting and fiddly piecing in. A nice, high period skirting with nice moulding is about 25 to 30 pounds per meter primed, although we needed some to match the original skirting and that came to 60 pounds per running meter. Every skirting with screw holes and primer looks ugly. The beauty comes with the decorator and professional filling, caulking and sanding, so you might as well leave what you have in place. You could also add a moulding on top of your existing skirting. Many of the posh high period skirting are made up of two pieces, a plain bottom and a moulding strip on top.

@NellyBarney I'm going to need skimming & filling anyway as changing radiators & adding/moving sockets.

Do not use Skirting Boards Direct. We had a full house of skirting and architraves from there and it was the worst thing we ever did!

Do bear in mind that you'll get shrinkage in new wood & plaster as it all dries out. It's common to need to refill gaps around the edge of skirting boards 1 - 2yrs later as they adapt to the house moisture levels.

Our Mdf got wet and distorted, it’s awful.

who knew skirting was such a minefield! 😆