Attaching skirting boards to wall, gap at bottom of plaster

[smp50]

Hello. My skirting boards are 90mm high and will be going on a wall of brick>plasterboard adhesive>plasterboard>skim

The plasterboard was installed such that it butted up close to the ceiling, and so in this case left a gap of up to 60mm at the bottom, between it and the floor.

The result is that only about the top 30mm of the skirting boards will be in contact with the walls, and the lower part would not:

Is the correct approach here to drill right across the gap, into the brickwork, plug it and screw the board in?

Like so:

Along with some adhesive between the part of the board that does contact the skim surface, perhaps?

Thanks,

 

[kbdiy]

You would need to support the lower edge by packing it out otherwise the first object that hits the lower edge will undoubtedly twist the skirting away from the wall.

 

[smp50]

You would need to support the lower edge by packing it out otherwise the first object that hits the lower edge will undoubtedly twist the skirting away from the wall.

Yea, that's what I thought. That 20mm gap is highly variable, it will be hard to pack wood between the brick and the back of the skirting to the precise same depth as the skim/plasterboard.

 

[OwainDIYer]

you put the batten at the bottom of the plasterboard, and screw through the middle of the skirting and into the batten. [1]

If you really need to pack the base of the skirting as well then use screws into wall plugs, drive the screw in to the required depth, behind the skirting not through the skirting. [2] This screw will be easy to adjust and will push against the skirting keeping it away from the wall.

View media item 66245

 

[smp50]

you put the batten at the bottom of the plasterboard, and screw through the middle of the skirting and into the batten.

If you really need to pack the base of the skirting as well then use screws into wall plugs, drive the screw in to the required depth, behind the skirting not through the skirting. This screw will be easy to adjust and will push against the skirting keeping it away from the wall.

Great idea - I think that will work more easily that packing wood into the space. The gap isn't neat and straight like in the diagram, but varies in height and depth all around the room, so using protruding screws to brace the bottom of the skirting is a good plan.

 

[dann09]

Is there any dampness at the base of the wall?

If no damp, then i agree with the above.

If damp is present, you could use off-cuts of 15mm copper pipe to create spacers, and drill & plug the wall, & screw thro the spacers.

 

[smp50]

Is there any dampness at the base of the wall?

If no damp, then i agree with the above.

If damp is present, you could use off-cuts of 15mm copper pipe to create spacers, and drill & plug the wall, & screw thro the spacers.

Another good idea, thanks. There's no damp that I'm aware of or can see. I'll see what scraps of wood and pipe I have lying around and use what works best for each section of skirting.

 

[smp50]

For anyone who comes to this thread looking for a solution to their own similar problem, this is what I did in the end:

View media item 68072 View media item 68073
The blocks of wood were spaced 30-60cm or so, depending on what the wall was like along each section. Each was custom cut and worked to be just the right size to come out to the line of the wall surface, which was highly variable around the room. I drilled through the wood and into the brick, and screwed the blocks to the brick. Then I laid the skirting, face up, next to the wall and marked on it the position of each block, before setting the skirting against the wall and nailing it to the blocks, as well as a few nails into the plaster where appropriate. It seems to have worked well and it's help on pretty securely now.

 

[jabuzzard]

It would have been much quicker to mix up some hardwall or browning and just fill the gap in. Would also reduce the draughts.

 

[sweavo]

It would have been much quicker to mix up some hardwall or browning and just fill the gap in. Would also reduce the draughts.

... and create a damp bridge from the floor up the wall.

I was advised by my surveyor to *increase* this gap in my '50s house with concrete slab floors, to reduce any wicking effect from the floor up the plaster.

 

[rob_j20]

... and create a damp bridge from the floor up the wall.

I was advised by my surveyor to *increase* this gap in my '50s house with concrete slab floors, to reduce any wicking effect from the floor up the plaster.

I thought that was only an issue if it was a concrete floor? Looks like suspended floor boards to me. I have filled all mine with hardwall only left a couple of mm between the plaster and floor boards to allow for any movement.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Or just use expanding foam. It's damp proof.

 

[rob_j20]

Or just use expanding foam. It's damp proof.

In my case I was glueing the skirting with pink grip so needed something with more strength.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

The foam also glues the skirting.

 

[jabuzzard]

... and create a damp bridge from the floor up the wall.

I was advised by my surveyor to *increase* this gap in my '50s house with concrete slab floors, to reduce any wicking effect from the floor up the plaster.

If you have wicking of moisture from your FLOORBOARDS up the wall then you have much much bigger problems than fixing your skirting to the wall that need addressing first, before your floor rots and you fall through. If only you had read the original post

So back to a house with a suspended timber ground floor or an upstairs floor where you are looking to get a good attachment of the skirting to the wall while eliminating any possibility of it getting "kicked in". I will add the proviso that the house has a damp course which anything built in the last 100 years should do, and that the damp course is below the level of the joists supporting the floorboards which again should apply to anything built in the last 100 years. Then I maintain that a very cheap and perfectly safe for the structure of the building solution to achieve this is to mix some hardwall up daub it all out. Not only does it stop your floorboards getting "kicked in" which is a major cause of cracking along the top of the skirting, but it also virtually eliminates the draughts around the edge of the flooring and under the skirting too.

The reason for the gap on suspended timber floors is mainly historical. Traditionally you had a strip of wood all around the room that served the dual purpose of giving a level for the plasters to work off and more importantly somewhere to nail the skirting board too. Heck if you are in an older house there will be little gaps in the brick/block work where bits of wood where hammered in to provide somewhere to nail the strips too. Remember this was in an age before power hammer drills where you can just drill a hole in wall wherever you please and instant grab adhesives.

The main reason left is so that the plasterers have something to work off when getting the base coat level and a gap to the floor so they less likely to pickup dirt when skimming the walls. However if you are at the point of fixing skirting then the walls have been skimmed and that is now all now a mute point so you can just truck on and daub it all out with something nice and cheap like hardwall. I guess if it was a room that might get wet like a bathroom you could do it in cement with a waterproofer added if you really wanted.