Gap between floor boards and skirting

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I am laying down new T&G floor boards. This will have underlay and carpet put upon it.
Q. how much gap should I leave between these floor boards and the new skirting boards?
Also, does the horizontal level of skirting matter? I am conscious that the floor may be uneven.
 
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There should be no gap between the skirting boards and the floorboards. It just leads to draughts and dirty carpets.

You want the skirting to be level. Small gaps between the skirting and the floorboards can be filled and won't matter but if there are big gaps then you might want to scribe the skirting to the floor.
 
To reduce draughts, and dust staining, pack the space under the floorboards, against the wall, with mineral wool insulation. Loft roll is fine. I always use the brown material treated with Ecose because it does not shed irritant dust and fibres.

If it's a ground floor, or the the void is draughty due to e.g. gaps round joists, or bay windows, you can easily treat the whole subfloor before you lay your floorboards.

Any noticeable gaps in the walls, or the ceiling e.g. around pipes, fill with mortar or pink expanding foam first.

Hoover it clean because dirt may blow up.
 
Thanks guys.
Can I check that once I have selected my starting point for skirting (lowest point), I need to ensure that the skirting is touching the floor boards? Secondly, that I should now put a spirit level on this skirting run to ensure that it is straight? Presumably that where the gaps and filling you mention would be relevant? i.e. I should not just follow the level of the floor.
 
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Yes, skirting should touch the floorboards and you should put a spirit level on it to ensure that it is level.

The floors should be level, but if the floorboards have cupped over time there will be high spots and low spots. i'd put a piece of skirting roughly in position and see what it sits on. If it sits on some high points which make big gaps, either take the high points off the floor boards or scribe and cut the skirting to match the floor. Make sure you consider the all the walls in the room when you are looking for the high/low points and don't just think about one wall at a time or the joints in the skirting where two walls meet will be out.

if the floor is significantly out, you may choose to allow the skirting to follow the level of the floor to avoid having a tapered skirting along the length, but make sure that there is sufficient distance between the top of the skirting and the next horizontal feature (eg dado rail) or it may look odd.
 

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