fixing skirting and architrave

[PatMoo]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of replacing the old skirting boards and architrave in my living room and I'm planning to oil or wax the wood as opposed to painting it. In the past I've used skirting nails and/or screws and plugs to fix skirting boards - a dab of filler and they're fine for painting.

What are my options if I want to keep the grain of the wood visible? In my experience, wood-coloured fillers look pants and never match the colour of the wood after waxing or staining. Should I glue the skirting? Or use dowels? If dowels, how to I go about that?

Thanks all, any help much appreciated...

 

[ladylola]

To be fair gluing does seem the best bet for a totally blemish free look. I've used pellets but these do really take some doing to make them invisible, ideally they need to be cut on site from the same pieces that you are fitting. It's also possible to use pins carefully if you have grounds or timbers fixed before hand. Look for twists and turns in the grain and put your pin in at that point and fill with glue and sawdust i.e. sand over when wet and the pin holes will disappear.

 

[foxhole]

Glue would be the way to go , you can brace any difficult sections using a short timber screwed to floor boards.I use a mix of no-nail type glue and a hot glue gun which speeds up fitting and holds the skirting tight while the glue goes off.

 

[vv2806]

We fixed the skirting boards with a hot glue gun 6 years ago. No problems whatsoever.

 

[PatMoo]

Looks like it's a hot glue gun then! Thanks all, much appreciated.

 

[Monkeh]

Use a solvent based grab adhesive, not a hot glue gun.

 

[foxhole]

If you use a hot glue gun you will need a quality gun and need to spend at least £100 on one that will be up to the job, hobbyist guns just can't produce the glue rate you need.Would advise use in conjunction with grab adhesive as it can be difficult to align and fit , it has a very short life once on the timber , so if you get it wrong and only use hot glue you will have to rip it off the wall if misaligned.

 

[tedpowell]

a grab adhesive is the correct route it allows time to adjust the skirting position and possibly brace it against the wall until the adhesive has set.be carefull not to distort the top edge out of true.
if screws or nails are used on a knotty pine then simply fill the hole with an absorbent filler, even wall plaster will suffice, and stain over to a larger area in a black stain to give the impression of yet another knot