I need to remove the skirtings in my new house. They've been fitted
professionally with screws that are sunken and then with a wooden plug
to cover the screwhead.

Is there a trick to removing the wood plug so as to get at the screw?
The only alternative seems to be to crowbar them off and replace them.

Thanks.

On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 15:14:31 -0700 (PDT), Kalico wrote:

I need to remove the skirtings in my new house. They've been fitted
professionally with screws that are sunken and then with a wooden plug
to cover the screwhead.

Is there a trick to removing the wood plug so as to get at the screw?
The only alternative seems to be to crowbar them off and replace them.

Thanks.

only time I've done it is using a neodynium magnet to locate screw and
drill out wood plug - normal drill them one with point ground off to get to
the screw - works with polyfilla filled holes too but its harder to clear
the head usually :-)
--
(º€¢.¸(¨*€¢.¸ ¸.€¢*¨)¸.€¢Âº)
.€¢Â°€¢. Nik .€¢Â°€¢.
(¸.€¢Âº(¸.€¢Â¨* *¨€¢.¸)º€¢.¸)

Kalico wrote:

I need to remove the skirtings in my new house. They've been fitted
professionally with screws that are sunken and then with a wooden plug
to cover the screwhead.

Is there a trick to removing the wood plug so as to get at the screw?
The only alternative seems to be to crowbar them off and replace them.

Thanks.

Depending how well the plugs are glued in, and to the detriment of the plug,
put a self tapping woodscrew (ie goldscrew, spax, etc) in dead center and
drive home. The scre hits the embedded screw, stops descending, then
corkscrews the plug out in 2-3 bits but without damaging the hole.

Obtain new plugs.

I know this works because I fitted my skirting like this and had to remove a
bit once. Then I did allow for this and only used a hint of glue on the
plugs.

--
Tim Watts

On Oct 30, 10:50*pm, Tim Watts wrote:

Depending how well the plugs are glued in, and to the detriment of the plug,
put a self tapping woodscrew (ie goldscrew, spax, etc) in dead center and
drive home. The scre hits the embedded screw, stops descending, then
corkscrews the plug out in 2-3 bits but without damaging the hole.


What he said. The crafty (in both senses) old-school technique is to
use shellac instead of glue, for ease of removal.

Kalico wrote:
I need to remove the skirtings in my new house. They've been fitted
professionally with screws that are sunken and then with a wooden plug
to cover the screwhead.

Is there a trick to removing the wood plug so as to get at the screw?
The only alternative seems to be to crowbar them off and replace them.


Assuming that you're going to refix the existing skirting:

I use an old flat-bladed screwdriver for this [1] [2]. Drive the
screwdriver into the centre of the plug a short distance with the flat of
the blade going with the grain and then gently lever the screwdriver back,
and this should bring out a section of the plug making it easier to remove
the rest by gently nibbling away at it. [3] [4]

[1] Use a blade that fits inside the diameter of the plug, leaving a
clearance gap between the edge of the plug and skirting board.

[2] If the screwdriver trick doesn't work (fairly often) then use an
equivalent sized sharp wood chisel.

[3] Don't lever the screwdriver/chisel beyond the edge of the plug as
doing so will damage the wood beyond the plug.

[4] If things ate a little difficult, drill a hole through the centre of
the plug (about half the diameter and taking care not to damage the head of
the screw) and then lever/nibble the remainder out. I wouldn't advise
trying to drill the whole plug out as it will be difficult to control the
drill at floor level.

If you're not going to refix the skirting, then using a suitably sized sharp
wood chisel, simply cut a square hole around the plug until the head of the
screw is revealed. NB: trying to lever a screwed-on skirting can sometimes
do a fair bit of damage to the wall surface.

Cash

In article
,
Kalico wrote:
I need to remove the skirtings in my new house. They've been fitted
professionally with screws that are sunken and then with a wooden plug
to cover the screwhead.

Is there a trick to removing the wood plug so as to get at the screw?
The only alternative seems to be to crowbar them off and replace them.

I assume they're expensive hardwood in a natural finish if fixed in this
way?

These plugs are normally glued in place with wood glue so won't come out.
So will need to be drilled out in some way. If the fixing screws are brass
or even mild steel a suitable cutter in a router would do it easily - but
if that hits a hardened screw head goodbye to the cutter. Twist drills are
cheap enough not to matter so much, and can be sharpened.

--
*If you ate pasta and anti-pasta, would you still be hungry?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 30/10/2011 22:50, Tim Watts wrote:
Kalico wrote:

I need to remove the skirtings in my new house. They've been fitted
professionally with screws that are sunken and then with a wooden plug
to cover the screwhead.

Is there a trick to removing the wood plug so as to get at the screw?
The only alternative seems to be to crowbar them off and replace them.

Thanks.

Depending how well the plugs are glued in, and to the detriment of the plug,
put a self tapping woodscrew (ie goldscrew, spax, etc) in dead center and
drive home. The scre hits the embedded screw, stops descending, then
corkscrews the plug out in 2-3 bits but without damaging the hole.

Obtain new plugs.

I know this works because I fitted my skirting like this and had to remove a
bit once. Then I did allow for this and only used a hint of glue on the
plugs.

Good tip that, thanks.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Wow! Thanks to everyone for such great advice.

I tried what you suggested already, drilling a small hole and then
screwing in a self-tapper, but sadly it just broke away the wood plug
rather than driving it out neatly.

One section that I had to get off is already smashed to pieces and
yes, it did make a mess of the wall, but I had to get behind it to
sort out the ridiculous electrics that personify this house I've
bought.

I'll persevere, with care, but cursing every few minutes.

Cheers to you all for the help.