[Ian White]

I recently laid a floating floor over an existing concrete floor - no
problems there at all. The skirting boards had been removed, so I left
the usual expansion gap all around the edges of the floor. Then new
skirtings were stuck on with Gripfill, using temporary shims so the
floor would be able to slide underneath if it needed to.

The problem is that the straight bottom edges of the skirting show where
the new boarding has followed some very shallow waves in the original
sub-floor. I very nearly got away without needing a scotia bead between
the skirting and the floor... very nearly, but not quite.

This raises two questions:

1. Where to buy small-section scotia beading in oak? The standard
20x20mm would look unnecessarily clunky. All it needs is 12-15mm
maximum, and most of that is to allow for fixing to the skirting board.

Any suggestions, please?

(I should add that we're in a very rural area where there are no
opportunities for casual browsing in the sheds and timber merchants. We
can get to the big cities, of course, but we always need a specific
target, and need to be sure that they'll have the stuff we want.)

2. How to fix it?

Obviously the beading has to be fixed to the skirting board only, so the
floor can still slide underneath. The best way I've been able to think
of would be a combination of Gripfill and lost-head panel pins (probably
pre-drilling the thin edge of the scotia to prevent splitting).


--
Ian White

[Stuart Noble]

Ian White wrote:

I recently laid a floating floor over an existing concrete floor - no
problems there at all. The skirting boards had been removed, so I left
the usual expansion gap all around the edges of the floor. Then new
skirtings were stuck on with Gripfill, using temporary shims so the
floor would be able to slide underneath if it needed to.

The problem is that the straight bottom edges of the skirting show where
the new boarding has followed some very shallow waves in the original
sub-floor. I very nearly got away without needing a scotia bead between
the skirting and the floor... very nearly, but not quite.

This raises two questions:

1. Where to buy small-section scotia beading in oak? The standard
20x20mm would look unnecessarily clunky. All it needs is 12-15mm
maximum, and most of that is to allow for fixing to the skirting board.



Any suggestions, please?

Scotia always looks clunky to me because you're introducing two more
flat surfaces, which makes it too "busy". Quadrant would probably be the
least obtrusive, and this is usually beech IME, which might be a better
match than tropical hardwoods.



(I should add that we're in a very rural area where there are no
opportunities for casual browsing in the sheds and timber merchants. We
can get to the big cities, of course, but we always need a specific
target, and need to be sure that they'll have the stuff we want.)

2. How to fix it?

Obviously the beading has to be fixed to the skirting board only, so the
floor can still slide underneath. The best way I've been able to think
of would be a combination of Gripfill and lost-head panel pins (probably
pre-drilling the thin edge of the scotia to prevent splitting).

I think I'd probably use contact adhesive. A thin bead along the back of
the moulding. Push it in place, then take it away to let both surfaces
dry. Any sort of fixing in small mouldings usually looks a mess unless
you have an airgun that fires really small pins.
Little chance of it sticking to the floor but you could put a sheet of
paper under the moulding to be sure

[Ian White]

Stuart Noble wrote:

Any suggestions, please?

Scotia always looks clunky to me because you're introducing two more
flat surfaces, which makes it too "busy". Quadrant would probably be
the least obtrusive, and this is usually beech IME, which might be a
better match than tropical hardwoods.

Thanks, Stuart. You're absolutely right - in a small size, quadrant will
look better. We can paint it to blend with the skirting, so there won't
be a problem about matching wood finishes.

And thanks again:
I think I'd probably use contact adhesive. A thin bead along the back
of the moulding. Push it in place, then take it away to let both
surfaces dry.
Little chance of it sticking to the floor but you could put a sheet of
paper under the moulding to be sure

Should work fine. I can make a little gadget to knock the quadrant up
against the skirting so it sticks at exactly the right height, with a
guaranteed small gap underneath.

Job's as good as done. Most important, I can see what to get from the
timber merchants on the next trip to the big city.


--
Ian White