Placing new skirting board where there isnt much 'wall' in places.

[Doran]

We are prepping our hallway to lay some Engineered Wood flooring and have pulled out the old skirting boards and have revealed that some parts of the wall are slightly missing and up to 2inches deep

We are wondering what suggestions you might have for padding out the walls so the new skirting board fits a bit more flush.
Small bits of wood to fill it? or foam in places where we would attach the new skirting boards?

Any basic suggestions would be really be appreciated (and preferably in simple wording as I'm relatively low level DIYer)

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[johnny2007]

Oh dear!
It's not a 2 minutes job unfortunately.
Get some multifinish and with a straight float run it on the bare bricks before laying the wood floor.
That should give you a good surface to stick the skirting on once dry.
I would let it dry a couple of days before laying the floor which could suck some water from the plaster.

 

[Doran]

hi Johnny, thanks for that..
So essentially fill the gaps with plaster, so the wall is flush?
That should be dooable for my level. just take a few days with drying I guess, but ATM, time is luckily plenty!
Some of the plaster has already come off with the skirting board so i'd need to fill that anyway.

Can multifinish plaster be 'laid' at depth up to an inch or so? or would this be best to do in stages/layering?

 

[johnny2007]

Straight on.
Just make sure is mixed properly to a thick cream consistency.
Throw it in and follow the existing wall with the float so to have a reasonably straight finish.
Before you do anything, hammer off any loose plaster and scrape off the possible leftover of caulk sealing the old skirting.
Then hoover thoroughly and spray some water on the bare bricks.
Then multifinish.
Plenty of online videos about mixing and working with plaster.

 

[foxhole]

Just fix skirting with foam adhesive , you don’t want plaster in contact with the floor .

 

[Doran]

Just fix skirting with foam adhesive , you don’t want plaster in contact with the floor .

Thanks also for your perspective.

Just to check, you mean, no need for plastering, just use the expanding foam like this and as the foam expands it will bridge the gap, even if it is up to an inch?
(that would seem a much easier option too)

 

[foxhole]

Yes much easier . Squirt some in all the cavity’s, leave 10 mins then apply to rear of skirting and offer up while all is still tacky. Bucket of water or any heavy item will keep it in place until set .

 

[johnny2007]

Yes much easier . Squirt some in all the cavity’s, leave 10 mins then apply to rear of skirting and offer up while all is still tacky. Bucket of water or any heavy item will keep it in place until set .

Near impossible to get right quantity in there.
If you really want to use foam to bridge that gap, spray it, leave it to expand and set, then cut the excess with a long kitchen knife flush with the wall.
Then you can use solvent free adhesive to stick the skirting.
I recommend saudal fixall.

 

[foxhole]

Near impossible to get right quantity in there.
If you really want to use foam to bridge that gap, spray it, leave it to expand and set, then cut the excess with a long kitchen knife flush with the wall.
Then you can use solvent free adhesive to stick the skirting.
I recommend saudal fixall.

Couldn’t be easier , installed all my skirting with bigger gaps than that without any problem.

 

[johnny2007]

Couldn’t be easier , installed all my skirting with bigger gaps than that without any problem.

I know, it's easy for a professional.
I mastered the technique of expanding foam after many messy jobs.
So it depends on the op skills with foam.

 

[JP_]

I'm with Foxhole, if that was me, I'd just fill with foam and hold in place til set. When I did it, the top of the skirting was on the wall to had something to push against. Might be trickier if the skirting is same height as the gap? Maybe some bits of wood stuck in place 1m apart maybe, to fix onto - then could foam it in (extra insulation) and screw into the wood to hold it in place while the foam sets (and stops expansion pushing skirting away from wall).

 

[foxhole]

I know, it's easy for a professional.
I mastered the technique of expanding foam after many messy jobs.
So it depends on the op skills with foam.

More down to common sense and logic, I’m no professional.

 

[JP_]

If you don't want to work with wet foam, you could foam the gap, then cut back, then stick to that.

 

[conny]

The reason for not using cement/plaster to fill the holes is because, on a ground floor level,they may draw moisture up from the ground/lower brickwork. Upstairs floors would be ok.
(Just a little bit of knowledge for the future).