skirting boards

[mayoh]

doing home reno replacing skirting boards. Does anyone have any tips to get a good finish. I was going to use my Triton and cut at 45deg, but wall angles vary. I am sure there are some good tips out there. Help??

[Shane Watson]

do a search on this board as this subject was covered a little while back and explained well how to achieve professional results. Cutting 45 degree's ain't the answer. You need to cope the joints.

[mayoh]

searched on skirting and looked through the articles but couldn't find anything. If you got any other info on what I should search on that would be appreciated.

[BigPop]

Mayoh,
I guess you are wanting to know how to do the internal corners???
I've only known it as 'scribing' but it may be called something else.
Have done a heap of them when I built my own place plus the couple of reno's I've done but trying to describe how to do it on here is a bit hard.
Someone may have a simpler way of explaining it for you than what I can.

[soundman]

how to scribe skirting ect

ahem.

first cut yourself a short length (about 2") of the mould in question.

to scribe an end view the length of material as it will be fixed hold up the 2" bit to see how the two will mate in the corner.

then take th short length and scribe the profile of the on the back of the molud to be fitted with a sharp pencil.

then cut the mould with a fret saw to the line.

result.
in the corner one mould should run square al the way into the corner.
the mating piece should but neatly to the profile of the first piece.

at 90 deg it reasonably easy at other angles it gets fiddly you need to jig the angle when marking.

takes practise. don't be afraid to trim for a good fit with a sharp chisel or file.

makes sence to me?

[BigPop]

Soundman,
An easier way I found to get the profile right is to cut the moulding on a 45 from front to back with the longest part at the rear (if that's clear) then using a fret or coping saw about 1 to 2 mm down from the top cut longways along the top 'pointed section' till you come to the front face. Then cut down following the profile. Put it into the joint and the small protruding piece on top of the other moulding and then it makes it look like a 45 deg cut for both mouldings.

Mayoh
I told you it was not easy for me to describe

[soundman]

Seems good to me. if you are in a position to cut an accurate 45.

[Shane Watson]

I tend to use Bigpete's method as well...using a coping saw hence coping the joint it honestly sounds harder than it is.

[mayoh]

Thanks Big Pete.

If I understand correctly, I will end up with a 45 mitre for the top 1 - 2 mm and a butt joint for the rest. Very tricky. I will give it a go on the weekend.

[BigPop]

Mayoh,
Yep you got it right - the top 'little piece' still has the 45 cut in it and then the rest is virtually a butt joint.
As Shane has mentioned -

it honestly sounds harder than it is.

Just do a few test pieces and you should get it - as I mentioned it's asctually harder to explain than to do and once you get the hang of it its as simple as anything

[Marc]

From one that has put in a few kilometers of colonial skirting board, I couldn’t possibly do the butting method since the profile would make it extremely fiddly, but my question is, why do it in the first place? What’s wrong with 45 º ?

In my experience, the difficulty in getting a snug fit when cutting at 45 º, besides crooked walls, is the fact that the wall corners are not clean cut, and the sharp end of the skirting boards don’t go all the way so it is impossible to press one timber against the other because the tip hits the wall first.
Solution is simple, either dig the corner of the wall out or cut at 45 º but take the edge off with a hand plane. The missing edge is hidden against the wall.

If the wall is out of square by a little, I adjust the angle of the cut with a sharp hand plane, if the angle is out by a lot, I adjust the cut on the saw, after doing a few you get to know your saw and start getting all the joints nice and close.

If you are doing big rooms, you will probably need to join boards along a straight run. Look for the stud before you cut so to join right on the stud cut at 45 / 45 and nail both boards with thin long nails. Sand with a block and Bob is your Uncle, and he will never notice the joint. ha ha

[Marc]

The reason the joint is scribed is because when fixing the second scribe piece it slides along the other rather than pulling away at 90 degrees as it is fixed tightly to the wall.

Mm not sure what you mean with that snippet of literature, but I can see some advantages of doing it the way you do, and also disadvantages.

Australia is not the navel of the world, and things are done differently in different places. That does not make it wrong, just different.

The purpose of a BB like this should be to exchange experiences not to impose our own opinion. To scribe a complicated profile would take you or anyone else much longer than the additional care needed to make a miter joint.

That does not make your method wrong of course, since I know well that that is the way most people do it. I only said what is wrong with 45º, not you should all do 45º or otherwise you are all wrong.

As for your various assumptions and suggestions, they can only provide from

The author of this post is a rude idiot who should never be believed or taken seriously.

so how can I be offended by such display?

The idea that things can only be done the way one thinks and that the rest of the world is wrong, is a very small view.

Fortunately there are others on this board who are more generous and humble in expressing their opinions, and are always eager to suggest and forward appropriate ideas without succumbing to such wild rants.

[craigb]

Oh I don't know. Personally, I'm quite fond of Doorstop's wild rants.

[ndru]

I'm with the "desert head" on this one.

In a 19th Century cottage we previously owned I installed some skirting board in two rooms. Needless to say, the walls were NOT square or plumb and undulated so much they made me sea sick just looking at them.

Being one of my very first DIY jobs, I thought I could mitre the inside corner the same way I mitred the outside corner. After cutting the mitre I found it a real struggle to get the two ends to join cleanly, and when I did it pushed other corner or length joins out. I thought the problem lay in adjusting the mitres - DUH!!!

After hours of colourful language at the mitre box, and one wasted length of board, I consulted the neighbour's son (a trim fitting apprentice) who said "scribe and butt joint". He showed me how and it isn't too tricky if you have a decent coping saw.

You may spend more time on cutting a clean scribe than cutting a mitre, but you only need to scribe one end and it fits together much easier and quicker.

[Marc]

It is with narrow-souled people as with narrow- necked bottles: the less they have in them, the more noise they make in pouring it out.
Alexander Pope

PS

As for the "second language" mention in your feeble attempt to belittle me, let me clarify that it is in fact my fourth language out of five.
Not all is what it looks like, and remember that moderation is a virtue only in those who are thought to have an alternative.