carpet and skirting board - am a beginner, help!!!

[MrsTee]

hi everyone

in a mad fit of rage yesterday, i ripped out all the old manky carpets in preparation to get some new ones fitted in the next week or so (a man is coming to measure up tomorrow).

as the skirting boards looked really horrible i also took these off, with the idea to fit some new skirting board once the new carpet is in. however i have read up and it seems the better option is to skirt first, carpet second.

my question is; how easy is it to fit skirting board if you've never done it before? my husband will be doing all the hard graft, but neither of us are particularly DIY people (yet!!)

thanks for any advice.

 

[EddieM]

Easy, what specifically do you want to know. Yes skirting first carpet later, then the fitter will scuff all your well prepared paintwork when fitting the carpet.

 

[Diyisfun]

Fitting skirt, requires cutting mitres & then fixing to maybe poor walls.
So its not as easy as said, although it is a diy job & should be done before the carpet is down.
Dont forget you need to paint it also before the carpet is laid.

 

[MrsTee]

thanks for the reply.
what's the best way to fix skirting board to the wall? how long does it take (for someone who's never done it before)? how long should we leave it for paint on skirting board to properly dry before getting carpets fitted?

 

[MrsTee]

also presumably you should paint skirting before fixing it?

 

[EddieM]

Fixing to the wall. Depends on condition of the wall, if good, something like gripfill or Stick like Sh*t is good. If bad well, a few options. 1) make good 2) wood packers and screws (stainless best).

Mitres, only mitre external angles, scribe internals (search the site, been done to death on this topic)

Paint, leave to dry as long as you can, otherwise there's a danger the carpet fitter will scuff it badly.

 

[MrsTee]

i think the walls are fairly good, the house is only about 30 years old.

thanks ever so much for your help.

 

[Diyisfun]

Once its fitted, fill if necessary, rub down, prime, paint etc.