need to bridge gap between bottom of wall and new skirting

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woodworm2009

Hello

I have recently had to rip out old skirting boards from downstairs living room of old victorian terraced house. whatever was behind the skirting boards has crumbled away and there is just the brick work.

The skirting board was very high and i cannot replace it with same size (too expensive!) So need to replace it with smaller size.

What do i do about filling the gap between existing bottom of plastered wall and where the new skirting will be?

I had thought i could use plasterboard fixed onto the brickwork and then plaster skim down the wall over the plasterboard and put skirting over that...
seemed like a really clever plan but i have read loads of topics in the forums and am now worried about the DPC, bridging and rising damp issues etc etc.

I'm really stuck and desperately need to move on with this job - its my mums house and it only started out as treating the floorboards and has now turned into this skirting board stumper. Please help.
 
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Skirting boards (high ones) don't have to be that expensive. We have an Edwardian terrace (very early , it's nearly Victorian) and managed to buy our new skirting boards which are about 6 inches or so high? for £2 a metre which I didn't think was excessive. If it's only one room, it'll be around the same size as our place (more or less) I would imagine and it didn't cost more than £30 for the entire place.

Waaay cheaper than in your standard B&Q etc. which worked out at £32 for 4 metres or something. Shocking! :eek:

We found ours at a local builder's merchant place. If you want, PM me and I'll get the details (to see if there's one in your area...can't remember what it's called this early of a morning)
 
Hi

Sorry cant work out how to PM you.

Can you let me know by sending me a message ...

the house i'm working on is in hertfordshire.

Thanks
 
Hiya. Can't seem to PM either :oops: It was £2.24 a metre and (took me a while to remember the name and if they have a website) it was from Keyline

http://www.keyline.co.uk/

Hope that helps! They also deliver ;)
 
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Hi, sorry to jump in, do you have to be a trade customer to buy products from keyline, i checked out their website as we have paid about £12 for each bit of 2400mm skirting from else where but couldn't work out if they would sell to the public.
 
Try your local woodyard, something like 7" Torus is common in older houses & AFAIK thats something like 70p a foot +vat.

I just did 2 rooms with it for £60.

There is AFAIK a higher one too, how high did yours go up to?

If you have the really high stuff & are replacing it with lower then perhaps you need to use plaster to fill the gap.

Dont forget to ensure you have plenty of wooden block hammered in the gaps & use nails not screws (less obvious).
 
Hi. I really didn't want to make the skirting board higher than it was (250mm) and actually wanted to lower it. I am really trying to find out what i can use inbetween the bottom of the plastered wall and where the skirting will start... i had thought about putting plasterboard and skimming but was unsure about the 'bridging the DPC'.
 
is the skirting recessed into the wall then?
it usually sits on top of the plaster as far as I know..

so you want to fill the wall out flush again?
 
hi.
The plastered wall comes down then stops two courses of bricks (240mm) above where the floorboards start. The bottom of the plastered wall has also been damaged and so the height goes up and down a bit - if i wanted to make an even line the gap between floor and plastered wall would grow to about 260mm or maybe a bit more.
Where the bottom of the plastered wall ends there is a recess back to the bricks of about 18mm but this varies along the wall as it is an old house and has had various plaster repairs in the past.

I had thought that if i cut a strip of plasterboard and attach it to the wall and then skim plaster down from the wall onto the plasterboard that would in effect drop the bottom of the wall lower and i could then put a shorter skirting board on - using wooden wdges behind and at bottom etc. But my only worry with this solution is not really inderstanding about bridging the damp proof course.
 
If you could put a picture on here of your particular job, it would help a lot. ...
Normally, there is no problem removing a high skirting, and replacing it with a smaller one. It would just be a matter of prepping the bottom of the wall,, and plaster patching down, enough to suit the height of the new skirting. The plaster would stop an inch or so from floor level,,,, and then the new smaller skirting would be fixed,,,,,, by the way,, what type of floor do you have,,,, is it a solid floor, or wooden?

Roughcaster.
 
sorry got no means to put picture at moment.

Its a wooden floorboard floor - not tongue and groove just old fashioned plane floorboards.

I didnt think i could put such a thick amount of plaster on the wall as it wouldn't go off etc hence thinking of using the plasterboard but it still doesn't answer my question about the DPC.
 
You would have no problem patching the bottom of your wall, using bonding undercoat plaster. Bring it out in two coats. First coat,, 10mm thick, let that steady up/more or less set,, then bring it out flush with the second coat. 18mm no problem.....Keep the bottom level of the plaster patching, an inch up up from the floorboards.
I can't see you having to worry about bridging the DPC internally,, "at skirting board level",,, is that possible? i've never came across that :confused: Anybody else?? I don't know!!!

Roughcaster.
 
thanks for advice. i have already bought a 'general all purpose bag of plaster' from b & q will that do or should i take it back and try and swap it for the bonding stuff?
 
Try some PVA Uni-bond as well as the plaster? Uni-bond first then plaster when it's tacky/dry? (Just a thought...like I said, I'm no expert!)
 

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