Skirting

Skirting is the last thing anyone thinks about and the first thing that gives a job away. New doors above forty year old skirting, clogged with six coats of paint and cut around a floor that has since been replaced, will always look like new doors in an old room. This collection holds 16 skirting profiles from Deanta and LPD, from £70.00, in white primed, oak, walnut and light grey.

The profiles

Eight shapes cover the range, and the choice is mostly about the age of the house.

Half Splayed is the plainest, a simple angled top face. It is the modern default and the least visually intrusive.

Chamfered is similar but with a defined flat bevel, slightly crisper than half splayed.

Shaker is square edged with a stepped detail, which suits Shaker doors and painted panelling and bridges traditional and contemporary rooms.

Single Groove has one recessed line running the length, a quiet detail that reads as considered rather than decorative.

Ferrol carries a softly rounded profile with more shadow than the plain shapes.

Ulysses and Victoriana are the ornate options, and Victoriana in particular belongs in a Victorian or Edwardian house where the original skirting was tall and moulded.

Traditional, sometimes described as moulded, is the general period profile in the oak range.

Heights and how to choose one

Several profiles are supplied in two sizes, 18 x 95mm and 18 x 146mm. The taller board is not simply grander, it is proportional. A Victorian terrace with 2.7 metre ceilings carries 146mm comfortably and looks mean with 95mm. A 1980s house with 2.35 metre ceilings looks top heavy with the taller board. If you are matching an existing run elsewhere in the house, measure what is already there and match the height before worrying about the profile.

Depth matters too. At 18mm these boards sit slightly proud of the door lining in most installations, which is exactly what you want, because the architrave should stand forward of the skirting rather than the other way round.

Finishes

White primed is the largest group and the cheapest. It needs filling, sanding and two topcoats after fitting, in the same paint as your doors and architrave if you want the room to read as one piece of joinery. Oak is available both unfinished, for site staining or oiling, and pre finished. Walnut and light grey fully finished options are also stocked for matching darker and cooler schemes.

Match the skirting finish to the door finish rather than to the floor. Timber skirting under a timber door works. Timber skirting under a white door usually does not.

Packs and quantities

Some profiles are sold as packs of four lengths and others by the individual size, so check the format on the product before ordering. Measure the full perimeter of each room, deduct the door openings, then add 10 to 15 per cent. Mitres and scribes consume more material than people expect, and internal corners on an out of square room waste more again. It is far cheaper to buy one extra length than to order a second delivery for a metre of board.

Matching skirting and architrave

This is the detail that separates a finished room from an assembled one. The same profile names appear in both ranges, so a Shaker skirting pairs with a Shaker architrave, Victoriana with Victoriana, and so on. Mixing profiles is not a disaster but it is noticeable at the point where the two meet at the foot of the door lining. See door architraves and the guide to door architraves.

Order of work

Flooring first, then skirting, then paint. Skirting fitted before the floor either sits on the old level or has to be undercut, and both look wrong. If you are replacing the floor, doors and skirting together, the finished floor level decides the door height, so sort the floor first. See flooring and the door size guide.

Where wall panelling is part of the scheme, decide early whether the panelling stops on top of the skirting or runs to the floor with the skirting returned against it. See wall panelling.

Common questions

Should skirting match the doors or the floor?

The doors, and the architrave. Skirting is joinery, not flooring.

Can I fit new skirting over old?

No. Take the old off, make the wall good, then fix the new board.

What height suits a modern house?

95mm to 120mm reads correctly with a 2.4 metre ceiling. Go to 146mm where the ceilings are noticeably higher.

Is skirting fixed with nails or adhesive?

Grab adhesive with pins to hold it while the adhesive cures is the usual method on a masonry wall. See installation information.

What else does the room need?

Architrave for each opening, and a lining or frame if the doorway is new. See internal frames, internal doors and plan your doors.