If you’re a competent DIYer with the right tools, fitting staircase skirting can be a relatively straightforward task. Below you will find a quick guide on how to fit skirting to ensure that you have all the right methods to complete the task.
If this is your first time you need to consider all of the variables when you are finding out how to fit skirting. Dependent on which flooring you are fitting, you may need to fit the skirting before, if you’re carpeting for example. Skirting plays two roles in the home by covering up unattractive junctions between the wall and the floor and also providing protection against common kicks and scuffs.
At first, you may need to practice how to fit skirting, as some steps can be tricky to master. However, after you have practiced you can decide what is the right type of fixing for your wall. When you have done this, you can move onto mitring the corners. The easiest way to fit skirting at all corners is to use a mitre block so that you can create 45-degree angle when joining the two pieces of skirting used at the corners. After creating the 45-degree angle you can fix the skirting to the wall and spread glue on the cut ends. Finally, you can add extra strength to the corner by hammering in two lost-head nails at each side.
It’s likely that a single piece of skirting won’t cover the whole length of a wall and therefore you may have to join two pieces of skirting together. In order to do this you will need to use the mitre block again to create a 45-degree angle on both pieces but with the mitres pointing opposite ways. This can be the most involved part of the whole process when learning how to fit skirting. The two pieces should fit together after doing this but double check before fixing them to the wall. Glue the cut ends of the boards together and fix them to the wall next to the corner with lost-head nails. It’s important not to make many joins on the wall, as it will look much neater. You can find extra full-length skirting boards, which may suit the size of your wall better than two shorter pieces.
To finish off you will need decorators caulk to fill in the gaps between the skirting and leave it to dry. If you find that you would like to paint the skirting you will need to fill all of the screw and nail heads with decorators caulk and then sand them down. However, if you plan to varnish the boards you will need to find acrylic filler that is the same colour of the wood.
So now you know how to fit skirting!
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