Skirting Board

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I've just about finished fitting new ceramic tile floors in my house and have decided that the skirting boards that I removed need renewing rather than simply sticking back in place. The one I removed were pine or similar, and stained a teak(ish) colour. I need to end up with the same colour to match to doors & frames, so will need dye/stain and several attempts on scrap bits to get a good colour match.

Real question is though, where to get the skirting boards themselves? Iwhere can I find a good supplier of wooden skirting? I have considered routing my own, but that seems too much like hard work and a little costly buying some new router bits to get the profile I want

Thanks
Chris

 

[kityuser]

have you tried travis perkins??

our one (aylesford, kent) has a huge selection of moulded pine

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers, just looked at them and we have a local branch in Reading too. We also have an Arnold Laver TimberWorld, so I'll look at them

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Chris

I think you'll find they're available at all of the "sheds". One word of caution - it's worth treating them with a knotting solution because sometimes the resin can leach out after fitting.

Yours

Gill

 

[Anonymous]

Good point Gill - I had forgotten about that

 

[Anonymous]

Weasel,

I always buy stuff like this from, as I think GillD is saying, places like Wickes and B+Q Warehouse(warehouse=the big one!)

Its cheap enough(well Wickes anyway) you pick and choose and most importantly you can buy loads and take back what you don't want for a refund. Try doing that at Travis Perkins!

The only thing I wonder ,is given these stores penchant for buying in materials as cheap as possible, I don't know what the quality is like compared to the others. ie knots etc

And, I've just thought of something else! Buying from the sheds, its all in the warm, whereas at Merchants its in the damp and cold all ready to move around like a bunch of bananas once it goes into your lovely centrally heated house!!

 

[kityuser]

sounds like b&q warehouse is the best bet then

 

[Anonymous]

_

 

[Anonymous]

Be careful if you are buying deep section skirting from the sheds, as the timber is not well seasoned and will cup like mad when you take it into a centrally heated house. I've recently used a lot of B&Q redwood skirting and had to use plenty of fixings + planing to the back face, to overcome this problem. Even then the mitres still move.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the advice & tips

I've bought my skirting from Arnold Laver in random lengths 3-6metres. Its currently in the garage. Its about 20mmx145mm softwood of some sort.

My garage holds my central heating boiler, so this should acclimatise the wood quite well & I intend to use plenty of fixing (nails plus glue). As for the mitres, outside ones should be fine, but I'll scribe the inside joins rather than use mitres to avoid an unsightly gap if the joins open.

thanks again
Chris

 

[Anonymous]

If you keep the skirting in the garage to "aclimatize" it. I'm guessing you're doing this so that when it goes in the house it won't move so much

Just because the boilers in the garage doe'snt mean its going to help because its dryness that you want not warmth. You would need much more heat than a boiler can give out to eradicate dampness in a place such as a garage!!

Regards

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Matstro,

Thanks for the advice; I'm keeping the skirting in the garage due to moisture considerations rather than warmth, & the garage is definitely dry without hardly a trace of damp. Its integral to the property & fully lined & insulated etc. I used to work in it before I bought my own shed.

Thanks again
Chris

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go with Lavers every time. They can be especially competitive if you have an account with them.

Doughnut

 

[Anonymous]

I've found Lavers to be very good, but I'm a hobbyist, not trade, so not worth the hassle of setting up an account with them