How to replace skirting boards

Video by Tommy's Trade Secrets. This walk-through is based on the video "Tommy's Trade Secrets - How to Fit Skirting", which covers fitting skirting around a bay window with both internal and external mitres. The section on coping internal corners rather than cutting a mitre is especially worth watching before you pick up the saw.

1. Remove the old skirting cleanly

Slip a wide bolster chisel behind the skirting and lever it forward gradually, working along the length. Resist the urge to prise hard at a single point — you will pull chunks of plaster off the wall. Move in small steps, loosening the board a little at a time before it pulls free.

Once the board is off, pull any remaining nails from the wall with pincers. If the plaster behind is damaged or the wall is uneven, this is a good time to fill and sand before you start on the new boards. It is a lot easier to do it now than after everything is fixed in place.

2. Choose your new skirting profile and length

Measure each wall individually — rooms are rarely perfectly square, so work around the room rather than assuming opposite walls are identical. Add a little extra to each length to give yourself room to cut the mitres without ending up short.

Most timber merchants and DIY sheds stock standard profiles in MDF and softwood. MDF is stable, takes paint well, and is cheaper. Softwood looks better where you want a natural painted timber finish and is easier to cope (see step 4). To be fair, for most rooms in East Kent terrace houses, MDF ogee skirting at 95 mm or 119 mm height is the standard go-to.

3. Measure and cut the external corners first

If the room has a bay window or a chimney breast, start there. External corners — where two walls meet facing outward — need a mitre cut on each board. Set your mitre saw to 45° and cut both pieces so the faces meet cleanly at the corner. Test-fit before you nail anything.

External mitres can open up slightly as the timber dries or moves, leaving a visible gap. A small fillet of flexible decorator's caulk painted over the joint once it is fixed will deal with any slight movement. Do not try to fill the gap with wood filler — it will crack.

4. Cope the internal corners rather than mitre them

This is the trade trick that separates a professional finish from a DIY one. For internal corners, cut the first board square to the wall and push it tight into the corner. Then cut the second board with a 45° mitre and use a coping saw to cut along the profile line that the mitre has revealed.

When you offer the coped end up against the first board, the profile beds together neatly regardless of whether the corner is exactly 90° or not. Internal mitres always open up in corners that are slightly off square — which, in older houses like the Victorian and Edwardian terraces around Sandwich, they almost always are.

5. Fix the boards to the wall

The traditional method is to nail the skirting to timber grounds or directly into the wall with cut clasp nails. In most modern situations, a combination of construction adhesive and nails through the board face into the wall gives a solid result. Apply a bead of grab adhesive to the back of the board, press it into position, and pin it with 50 mm or 65 mm lost-head nails.

If the wall is solid brick or block, you will need to drive the nails into pre-drilled plugged holes, or use a nail gun with masonry pins. On stud walls the fixing is straightforward — nail into the bottom plate. Punch all nailheads just below the surface and fill before painting. Mind you, on MDF it is easy to over-drive the nail and split the face, so take it gently on the last few taps.

6. Fill, prime, and paint for a clean finish

Fill all nail holes and any small gaps at the top of the board with a fine surface filler. Once dry, sand lightly with 120-grit. Run a thin bead of flexible decorator's caulk along the top edge where the skirting meets the wall — this covers any unevenness in the plaster and gives a clean painted line.

Apply a coat of primer if you are painting bare MDF (it soaks up paint otherwise), then two topcoats of satin or eggshell. Cut in carefully at the floor level as well as along the top edge. That said, do not bother caulking the bottom edge to the floor — leave a small gap to allow for floor movement and to stop moisture wicking up into the timber.

When to call a handyman

Call Richard if the old skirting is pulling large chunks of plaster off the wall when you remove it, if the walls are badly out of square and you are struggling to get the corners to sit right, or if the job involves a bay window with multiple external corners. Skirting replacement is also worth bundling with other carpentry jobs — painting, fitting a door bar, or touching up plaster — to make the visit cost-effective. Get in touch and he can take a look.