I have over 30 metres of skirting to replace as part of the
installation of a new engineered wood floor. I appreciate that the
usual methods of installing skirting include using adhesives, nails or
screws. The advantage of screws is that it is relatively easy to
remove the skirting in the future with the minimum of collateral
damage, however I wonder if there is a more simple method of fixing
than cutting countersinks and plugs and then drilling the (block) wall
so that it will still be readily demountable.

A couple of the flooring companies do clip on skirting but
unfortunately the available skirting is not as tall as we want it.

A bit of googling revealed this http://ykkamerica.com/auto/snad.htm
adhesive backed pop stud system which could possibly be recessed into
the back of the new HDF skirting quite quickly, aligned with wall and
stuck to it.

Any other ideas?
--
rbel

On Wednesday, July 16, 2014 9:26:30 PM UTC+1, rbel wrote:
Any other ideas?

magnetic catches (2 for £1 in poundland I think)

Owain

??What's the skirting worth?
Worst case you destroy it all removing it if/when you need to?

Jim K

In article ,
rbel wrote:
I have over 30 metres of skirting to replace as part of the
installation of a new engineered wood floor. I appreciate that the
usual methods of installing skirting include using adhesives, nails or
screws. The advantage of screws is that it is relatively easy to
remove the skirting in the future with the minimum of collateral
damage, however I wonder if there is a more simple method of fixing
than cutting countersinks and plugs and then drilling the (block) wall
so that it will still be readily demountable.

Are these to be natural finish or painted?

I screwed on my skirting many years ago and simply filled over the holes
and painted. When I removed it to fit a wood floor last year I had little
difficulty finding the screws and removing them.

--
*Stable Relationships Are For Horses.

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

On 16/07/2014 21:26, rbel wrote:
I have over 30 metres of skirting to replace as part of the
installation of a new engineered wood floor. I appreciate that the
usual methods of installing skirting include using adhesives, nails or
screws. The advantage of screws is that it is relatively easy to
remove the skirting in the future with the minimum of collateral
damage, however I wonder if there is a more simple method of fixing
than cutting countersinks and plugs and then drilling the (block) wall
so that it will still be readily demountable.

A couple of the flooring companies do clip on skirting but
unfortunately the available skirting is not as tall as we want it.

A bit of googling revealed this http://ykkamerica.com/auto/snad.htm
adhesive backed pop stud system which could possibly be recessed into
the back of the new HDF skirting quite quickly, aligned with wall and
stuck to it.

Any other ideas?

No particular insights on fixings: My guess would be that the standard
approaches are used because they are adequate in most circumstances.
Having fitted some skirting a couple of years ago, however, which was
custom made due to the depth, some of it has now cupped away from the
wall to a certain extent. This is probably because I mounted it before
painting and it has absorbed moisture through the back, so I would
defintely recommend painting or sealing it on all sides before fitting
to avoid this.
I doubt HDF or MDF would be susceptible to cupping, but you probably
wouldn't want it to absorb moisture and slowly degrade.

The traditional way of fixing skirting particularly deep skirting like the 7" torus I had at the last house is to use wooden wedges in the vertical gaps between bricks. It's fairly quick the only time consuming bit is chiselling out the mortar between the bricks for which a special chisel is needed whose name escapes at the moment, however this can be sped up by the use of a masonry bit in a drill and a bit of waggling in the mortar joint. The secret is in making the wedges, which are not actually wedge- shaped but are produced by taking a length of timber wider than the mortar joint and chopping of diagonally opposite corners with an axe to create a twisted shape when looked at end on. The wedge is then hammered into the gap and any excess sawn off. This has the advantage of being able to trim the wedge flush with the plaster and helps keep the skirting vertical especially where the plaster is stopped short of the floor. The skirting is simply nailed on, I used 2.5" lost head nails punched below the surface. Never had a skirting come loose but still easy to remove when required.

Richard

On 16/07/2014 21:26, rbel wrote:
I have over 30 metres of skirting to replace as part of the
installation of a new engineered wood floor. I appreciate that the
usual methods of installing skirting include using adhesives, nails or
screws. The advantage of screws is that it is relatively easy to
remove the skirting in the future with the minimum of collateral
damage, however I wonder if there is a more simple method of fixing
than cutting countersinks and plugs and then drilling the (block) wall
so that it will still be readily demountable.

A couple of the flooring companies do clip on skirting but
unfortunately the available skirting is not as tall as we want it.

A bit of googling revealed this http://ykkamerica.com/auto/snad.htm
adhesive backed pop stud system which could possibly be recessed into
the back of the new HDF skirting quite quickly, aligned with wall and
stuck to it.

Any other ideas?


Is it really worth the bother, taking into account the probable
frequency with which you will want to remove the skirting?

I have always used cut floorboard nails to fix the skirting, driving
them just below the surface and filling. In the very rare event that it
might need to come off, they pull out with little effort and virtually
no damage.

--
Colin Bignell

In article ,
Tricky Dicky wrote:
The traditional way of fixing skirting particularly deep skirting like
the 7" torus I had at the last house is to use wooden wedges in the
vertical gaps between bricks.

That's because they didn't have SDS drills and screws in those days...

--
*Half the people in the world are below average.

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

On 16/07/14 22:00, wrote:
On Wednesday, July 16, 2014 9:26:30 PM UTC+1, rbel wrote:
Any other ideas?

magnetic catches (2 for £1 in poundland I think)

Owain


These might be better - the discs with a screw hole in:

http://www.first4magnets.com/neodymium-magnets-t137#c34

Lot stronger too - so 10mm discs should be enough

No particular insights on fixings: My guess would be that the standard
approaches are used because they are adequate in most circumstances.
Having fitted some skirting a couple of years ago, however, which was
custom made due to the depth, some of it has now cupped away from the
wall to a certain extent. This is probably because I mounted it before
painting and it has absorbed moisture through the back, so I would
defintely recommend painting or sealing it on all sides before fitting
to avoid this.
I doubt HDF or MDF would be susceptible to cupping, but you probably
wouldn't want it to absorb moisture and slowly degrade.

Fitting wooden skirting is asking for trouble unless it has a moisture
content of 10% (the norm is almost double that). Gripfil and painted
mdf would be my choice, and it should sit where it wants to rather than
follow the contours of the wall. How often are you likely to remove
skirting?

I agree Dave but not every modern method is better than traditional methods.. In my case the house had 7" deep skirting but the plaster did not extend down to the floor behind the skirting. SDS drilling could only be done at the very top even through the torus moulding, this often resulted in the skirting being out of vertical and a very hollow feeling towards the bottom edge. I found using wedges meant I could keep the the skirting vertical by being able to trim them flush with plaster. The alternative was going round patching in the plaster or using packing pieces pratting around with their thickness to suit the varying thickness of plaster compared to a few deft strokes with an axe.

Richard

On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 21:26:30 +0100, rbel wrote:

I have over 30 metres of skirting to replace as part of the
installation of a new engineered wood floor. I appreciate that the
usual methods of installing skirting include using adhesives, nails or
screws. The advantage of screws is that it is relatively easy to
remove the skirting in the future with the minimum of collateral
damage, however I wonder if there is a more simple method of fixing
than cutting countersinks and plugs and then drilling the (block) wall
so that it will still be readily demountable.

A couple of the flooring companies do clip on skirting but
unfortunately the available skirting is not as tall as we want it.

A bit of googling revealed this http://ykkamerica.com/auto/snad.htm
adhesive backed pop stud system which could possibly be recessed into
the back of the new HDF skirting quite quickly, aligned with wall and
stuck to it.

Any other ideas?


Many thanks to all for the suggestions to date. I will try to cover
the various questions and comments.

The new skirting is to be HDF, supplied primed and rebated at the back
(to take speaker cables). The cost is likely to be around £150 for
30+ metres. Two reasons for it to be readily demountable are being
able to change/move speaker cables and to be able to get at the new
engineered flooring if needed. The walls are block with what appears
to be a cement render and a very thin layer of plaster skim which
tends to crack and fall off when doing anything with the existing
skirting which is fixed with nails.

I like the idea of using small magnets - I have a pillar drill so
could easily cut recesses in the back of the new skirting for each
magnet and glue metal discs to the wall. Would the magnets have any
impact on the speaker cable?
--
rbel

Would the magnets have any
impact on the speaker cable?

Oh yes. Eg the poor electrons will start spiralling as they pass
through the field which in turn will cause them to radiate. That's why
electrostatic speakers are so much better than speakers with magnets in
them )

But Russ Andrews will proably sell you cables which he'll tell you will
minimize the effect - eg

http://www.russandrews.com/product.a...TU--Robinreply to address is (meant to be) valid

"rbel" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 21:26:30 +0100, rbel wrote:

I have over 30 metres of skirting to replace as part of the
installation of a new engineered wood floor. I appreciate that the
usual methods of installing skirting include using adhesives, nails or
screws. The advantage of screws is that it is relatively easy to
remove the skirting in the future with the minimum of collateral
damage, however I wonder if there is a more simple method of fixing
than cutting countersinks and plugs and then drilling the (block) wall
so that it will still be readily demountable.

A couple of the flooring companies do clip on skirting but
unfortunately the available skirting is not as tall as we want it.

A bit of googling revealed this http://ykkamerica.com/auto/snad.htm
adhesive backed pop stud system which could possibly be recessed into
the back of the new HDF skirting quite quickly, aligned with wall and
stuck to it.

Any other ideas?


Many thanks to all for the suggestions to date. I will try to cover
the various questions and comments.

The new skirting is to be HDF, supplied primed and rebated at the back
(to take speaker cables). The cost is likely to be around £150 for
30+ metres. Two reasons for it to be readily demountable are being
able to change/move speaker cables and to be able to get at the new
engineered flooring if needed. The walls are block with what appears
to be a cement render and a very thin layer of plaster skim which
tends to crack and fall off when doing anything with the existing
skirting which is fixed with nails.

I like the idea of using small magnets - I have a pillar drill so
could easily cut recesses in the back of the new skirting for each
magnet and glue metal discs to the wall. Would the magnets have any
impact on the speaker cable?

Nope.

On Wednesday, July 16, 2014 11:54:48 PM UTC+1, Tricky Dicky wrote:
The traditional way of fixing skirting particularly deep skirting like the 7" torus I had at the last house is to use wooden wedges in the vertical gaps between bricks. It's fairly quick the only time consuming bit is chiselling out the mortar between the bricks for which a special chisel is needed whose name escapes at the moment, however this can be sped up by the use of a masonry bit in a drill and a bit of waggling in the mortar joint. The secret is in making the wedges, which are not actually wedge- shaped but are produced by taking a length of timber wider than the mortar joint and chopping of diagonally opposite corners with an axe to create a twisted shape when looked at end on. The wedge is then hammered into the gap and any excess sawn off. This has the advantage of being able to trim the wedge flush with the plaster and helps keep the skirting vertical especially where the plaster is stopped short of the floor. The skirting is simply nailed on, I used 2.5" lost head nails punched below the surface. Never had a skirting come loose but still easy to remove when required.



Richard

Would you like that to go on the wiki?


NT

"Tricky Dicky" wrote in message
...
The traditional way of fixing skirting particularly deep skirting like the
7" torus I had at the last house is to use wooden wedges in the vertical
gaps between bricks. It's fairly quick the only time consuming bit is
chiselling out the mortar between the bricks for which a special chisel is
needed whose name escapes at the moment, however this can be sped up by the
use of a masonry bit in a drill and a bit of waggling in the mortar joint.
The secret is in making the wedges, which are not actually wedge- shaped but
are produced by taking a length of timber wider than the mortar joint and
chopping of diagonally opposite corners with an axe to create a twisted
shape when looked at end on. The wedge is then hammered into the gap and any
excess sawn off. This has the advantage of being able to trim the wedge
flush with the plaster and helps keep the skirting vertical especially where
the plaster is stopped short of the floor. The skirting is simply nailed on,
I used 2.5" lost head nails punched below the surface. Never had a skirting
come loose but still easy to remove when required.

It's a plugging chisel you are thinking of:
http://snipurl.com/293xoav

This is a good way of doing it in a dry house, especially upstairs, but on
the ground floor of a victorian house, the wedges tend to rot away fairly
quickly

On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 15:54:48 -0700 (PDT), Tricky Dicky
wrote:

The traditional way of fixing skirting particularly deep skirting like the 7" torus I had at the last house is to use wooden wedges in the vertical gaps between bricks. It's fairly quick the only time consuming bit is chiselling out the mortar between the bricks for which a special chisel is needed whose name escapes at the moment, however this can be sped up by the use of a masonry bit in a drill and a bit of waggling in the mortar joint. The secret is in making the wedges, which are not actually wedge- shaped but are produced by taking a length of timber wider than the mortar joint and chopping of diagonally opposite corners with an axe to create a twisted shape when looked at end on. The wedge is then hammered into the gap and any excess sawn off. This has the advantage of being able to trim the wedge flush with the plaster and helps keep the skirting vertical especially where the plaster is stopped short of the floor. The skirting is simply nailed on, I used 2.5" lost head nails
punched below the surface. Never had a skirting come loose but still easy to remove when required.

Richard

I really like sound of this traditional method. When I've tried
anything like this though. I have difficulty in aligning the vertical
brick joint and the wooden plug with the nail hole in the skirting.
What's the best way to do this? Measuring each plug position from one
end, then transferring these points to the skirting?
--

Regards,

Mike Halmarack

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 15:54:48 -0700 (PDT), Tricky Dicky
wrote:

The traditional way of fixing skirting particularly deep skirting like the
7" torus I had at the last house is to use wooden wedges in the vertical
gaps between bricks. It's fairly quick the only time consuming bit is
chiselling out the mortar between the bricks for which a special chisel is
needed whose name escapes at the moment, however this can be sped up by
the use of a masonry bit in a drill and a bit of waggling in the mortar
joint. The secret is in making the wedges, which are not actually wedge-
shaped but are produced by taking a length of timber wider than the mortar
joint and chopping of diagonally opposite corners with an axe to create a
twisted shape when looked at end on. The wedge is then hammered into the
gap and any excess sawn off. This has the advantage of being able to trim
the wedge flush with the plaster and helps keep the skirting vertical
especially where the plaster is stopped short of the floor. The skirting
is simply nailed on, I used 2.5" lost head nails
punched below the surface. Never had a skirting come loose but still easy
to remove when required.

Richard

I really like sound of this traditional method. When I've tried
anything like this though. I have difficulty in aligning the vertical
brick joint and the wooden plug with the nail hole in the skirting.
What's the best way to do this? Measuring each plug position from one
end, then transferring these points to the skirting?


No.
Put a pencil line on the wall above the plug, put the skirting board in
place, then nail on.

I'm puzzled by your 'nail hole in the skirting' remark

On Thu, 17 Jul 2014 16:16:48 +0100, "Phil L"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 16 Jul 2014 15:54:48 -0700 (PDT), Tricky Dicky
wrote:

The traditional way of fixing skirting particularly deep skirting like the
7" torus I had at the last house is to use wooden wedges in the vertical
gaps between bricks. It's fairly quick the only time consuming bit is
chiselling out the mortar between the bricks for which a special chisel is
needed whose name escapes at the moment, however this can be sped up by
the use of a masonry bit in a drill and a bit of waggling in the mortar
joint. The secret is in making the wedges, which are not actually wedge-
shaped but are produced by taking a length of timber wider than the mortar
joint and chopping of diagonally opposite corners with an axe to create a
twisted shape when looked at end on. The wedge is then hammered into the
gap and any excess sawn off. This has the advantage of being able to trim
the wedge flush with the plaster and helps keep the skirting vertical
especially where the plaster is stopped short of the floor. The skirting
is simply nailed on, I used 2.5" lost head nails
punched below the surface. Never had a skirting come loose but still easy
to remove when required.

Richard

I really like sound of this traditional method. When I've tried
anything like this though. I have difficulty in aligning the vertical
brick joint and the wooden plug with the nail hole in the skirting.
What's the best way to do this? Measuring each plug position from one
end, then transferring these points to the skirting?


No.
Put a pencil line on the wall above the plug, put the skirting board in
place, then nail on.

I'm puzzled by your 'nail hole in the skirting' remark

Sorry about that, I certainly didn't mean to be puzzling. The nail
hole in the skirting would be the hole the nail made as it was
hammered in and it would need to align with the wooden plug in the
vertical joint. Sometimes I've put the skirting on before plastering,
as a straight faced/edged guide and some of the rough brickwork can be
quite difficult to mark precisely with a pencil.
--

Regards,

Mike Halmarack

wrote in message
...

Sorry about that, I certainly didn't mean to be puzzling. The nail
hole in the skirting would be the hole the nail made as it was
hammered in and it would need to align with the wooden plug in the
vertical joint. Sometimes I've put the skirting on before plastering,
as a straight faced/edged guide and some of the rough brickwork can be
quite difficult to mark precisely with a pencil.

You make nail holes first?

Nails are meant to be driven through the skirting and into the wedge, making
a hole first would weaken the arrangement.

If you mean re-attaching the skirting, the nail holes would already be in
line with the wedges, but I'd still ignore them and nail above and below
them

On Thu, 17 Jul 2014 16:46:53 +0100, "Phil L"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .

Sorry about that, I certainly didn't mean to be puzzling. The nail
hole in the skirting would be the hole the nail made as it was
hammered in and it would need to align with the wooden plug in the
vertical joint. Sometimes I've put the skirting on before plastering,
as a straight faced/edged guide and some of the rough brickwork can be
quite difficult to mark precisely with a pencil.

You make nail holes first?

Not usually but I have sometimes made a pilot hole first to check
alignment.

Nails are meant to be driven through the skirting and into the wedge, making
a hole first would weaken the arrangement.

If you mean re-attaching the skirting, the nail holes would already be in
line with the wedges, but I'd still ignore them and nail above and below
them

Thanks for the useful tips.
--

Regards,

Mike Halmarack

In article ,
Tricky Dicky wrote:
I agree Dave but not every modern method is better than traditional
methods. In my case the house had 7" deep skirting but the plaster did
not extend down to the floor behind the skirting. SDS drilling could
only be done at the very top even through the torus moulding, this often
resulted in the skirting being out of vertical and a very hollow feeling
towards the bottom edge. I found using wedges meant I could keep the the
skirting vertical by being able to trim them flush with plaster. The
alternative was going round patching in the plaster or using packing
pieces pratting around with their thickness to suit the varying
thickness of plaster compared to a few deft strokes with an axe.

The skirting here is more like 18" high - made up of three bits. But I
still found it easier to screw battens to the bricks and pack level then
screw to those than use the 'traditional' way. When I first removed the
skirting it was to allow floor etc repairs as part of woodwork treatment -
and most of those wedges simply pulled out.

--
*I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can't put it down.*

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

On Thursday, 17 July 2014 07:21:01 UTC+1, Tim Watts wrote:

http://www.first4magnets.com/neodymium-magnets-t137#c34

I'd like one of these for my screwdriver bit:
http://www.first4magnets.com/circula...1kg-pull-p2558

I wonder if it would slip on it. IIRC they are a 6 mm hexagon.

Weatherlawyer wrote:

I'd like one of these for my screwdriver bit:
http://first4magnets.com/c-c34/p-p2558

I wonder if it would slip on it. IIRC they are a 6 mm hexagon.

6.3mm i.e. 1/4"