Can I fit skirting with just nails?

[peki34]

Hi,

Can I fit skirting to plasterboard with just nails (using a nail gun)? If nails are not enough then I will use adhesive, but I'd rather go with just nails if they will hold.

Thanks

 

[foxhole]

Provided there is suitable timber behind board.

 

[mattylad]

Nails is how they were fitted in ye olde days.
A bit of wiid would be hammered into a gap in the wall so there is something to nail into.

If you do this, mark on the floorboard where the wood is including the height from the board so that you can get the nails in the right place.

 

[jurassic sparkk]

Just use adhesive.

 

[Odds]

Use 'No Nails' adhesive to fix skirting to p.board. Get it in cartridge format rather than a tube, as it's a gyp to squeeze out the last drop.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I use screws, much easier to locate, with a metal detector, and take out, should the skirting need to come off in the future. It comes off, and goes back, with minimum damage.

 

[peki34]

Provided there is suitable timber behind board.

Thanks. There is no timber behind. It's just plasterboard (either dot and dab, or on steel frame). So, based on your answer, I take it I shouldn't just nail into plasterboard. Is it that the nails will pull out over time?

 

[peki34]

Nails is how they were fitted in ye olde days.
A bit of wiid would be hammered into a gap in the wall so there is something to nail into.

If you do this, mark on the floorboard where the wood is including the height from the board so that you can get the nails in the right place.

Thanks. That means I'd have to cut holes in the plasterboard to slot the wood in, and then patch the holes up?

 

[foxhole]

Thanks. There is no timber behind. It's just plasterboard (either dot and dab, or on steel frame). So, based on your answer, I take it I shouldn't just nail into plasterboard. Is it that the nails will pull out over time?

Nails don’t hold in plasterboard, use foam fixing adhesive.

 

[mattylad]

^^^^^

 

[justigator]

Just fitted new skirting over new wooden flooring in a small room, 2.8m x 2.2m. I used just two screws for each of three lengths and one screw for the fourth and shortest length, which has a door, filling in and overpainting the screw holes. This was screwing into 50mm wide battens that I'd previously fixed to the walls all round at mid-skirting height. Together with the necessary caulk at the scribed corners (I'm crap at scribing but even worse at mitre-ing), it's all fixed firmly but will let me take up the floor in future without too much drama should I need to. Adhesive is even easier at installation time but would make a mess and pull off a load of plaster if the skirting needs to come off at any time.

 

[Tetrarch]

Are you an American?

You don't need nails to hold skirting on - as others have said a good adhesive will be more than adequate.

Regards

Tet.