Replacing skirting and architraves throughout a house
Discussion
I have a mid-90’s house and I’m trying to freshen it up a little bit, one thing I think that will help is replacing the skirting boards and door architraves (and probably a bansiter to match).
Not only do they look their age but they do a fantastic job at collecting dust, so a smooth streamline and modern design would have a few benefits.
My question is, is removing them going to create an atrocious mess and should I expect to plaster the walls before having new joinery installed?
Not only do they look their age but they do a fantastic job at collecting dust, so a smooth streamline and modern design would have a few benefits.
My question is, is removing them going to create an atrocious mess and should I expect to plaster the walls before having new joinery installed?
It doesn’t make a lot of mess. Get a crow bar but use a piece of wood to spread the load across the wall. If you’re replacing the skirting with slightly larger you should be able to hide any damage you do getting the old ones off. Hopefully they will be no nailsed on, but they might be nailed or screwed. It doesn’t really matter but they’ll be a bit more difficult to get off.
Get a mitre saw and a coping saw. Do an internal mitre on the corners that can’t be seen, scribe the ones that can. Look on YouTube for a demo on how to scribe, it’s not difficult.
If the external mitres don’t meet in a sharp corner, file some of the backs off which will help. You’re unlikely to have straight walls and 90 degree corners, so even if you cut perfect sometimes it just won’t come together.
If you can’t get them to pull together, place the pieces on the wall and drill a pilot hole through. Remove the board, drill out your pilot hole and put a plug in. Countersink the hole in the skirting and screw them up, and fill over the screw head. You also might need to do that if the wall is really not straight
Get a mitre saw and a coping saw. Do an internal mitre on the corners that can’t be seen, scribe the ones that can. Look on YouTube for a demo on how to scribe, it’s not difficult.
If the external mitres don’t meet in a sharp corner, file some of the backs off which will help. You’re unlikely to have straight walls and 90 degree corners, so even if you cut perfect sometimes it just won’t come together.
If you can’t get them to pull together, place the pieces on the wall and drill a pilot hole through. Remove the board, drill out your pilot hole and put a plug in. Countersink the hole in the skirting and screw them up, and fill over the screw head. You also might need to do that if the wall is really not straight
SkinnyPete said:
I can't see any nails so I'm guessing they are just bonded on? What about the door architraves? They seem properly solid.
You wont see any nails/fixings as the decorator would have filled/sanded over them before painting,the stanley knife along the top edge of skirting and back side of architrave is usefull as it will cut through the decorators caulk which would have been run along the top of the skirting/back side of archs.SkinnyPete said:
I have a mid-90’s house and I’m trying to freshen it up a little bit, one thing I think that will help is replacing the skirting boards and door architraves (and probably a bansiter to match).
Not only do they look their age but they do a fantastic job at collecting dust, so a smooth streamline and modern design would have a few benefits.
My question is, is removing them going to create an atrocious mess and should I expect to plaster the walls before having new joinery installed?
The current mouldings are probably fixed with cut nails into the plaster and blockwork. They can pull out a big chunk on removal. However if your new mouldings are deeper/wider then they'll probably cover the damage. If not, ready-mixed lightweight plaster will fill them in.Not only do they look their age but they do a fantastic job at collecting dust, so a smooth streamline and modern design would have a few benefits.
My question is, is removing them going to create an atrocious mess and should I expect to plaster the walls before having new joinery installed?
I've done most of mine and used no-more-nails type adhesive. However you will have to cut alot of mitres and do a lot of painting - if you buy primed MDF it will save a lot of time.
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