Skirting above missing plaster

[seds73]

I'm about to install new skirting boards in a first floor bedroom that has recently been replastered (from bare brick or blockwork). The plasterer didn't go down very close to the floorboards and there is a gap up to 10 cm high in places where the bricks are visible behind. This gap is say 1.5 cm deep (the combined depth of the backing plaster and skim coat). Does this matter, and what is the best way to bridge that gap when installing skirting in front of it? Obviously I want the back of the skirting to be flush with the top of the plaster, not the underlying bricks. Do I just drill extra long screws into the bricks and allow part of the screw shafts to hang though the 1.5 cm air gap between the bricks and skirting?

 

[Gerrydelasel]

No it doesn't matter. Just glue to the wall as normal. With only a 10cm gap you should have plenty of wall to glue to unless you're using unusually short skirting. Or you can use expanding foam to glue it, and fill the gap in the process (use an applicator gun). It's uncommon to screw skirting these days.

 

[seds73]

Don't particularly want to glue to the plastered wall. For one thing I am planning to use short, minimalist skirting which wouldn't have much overlap with the plaster. Secondly I like the idea of being able to remove/replace/modify the skirting later, without causing too much damage to the underlying finish. I didn't think of using expanding foam, though.

If I did use screws but no foam, are there any problems with leaving a hidden gap?

 

[Keithmac]

You could go round and level it all off with Bonding Coat plaster?, I had to do this when removing skirting before tiling.

It's easy to mix and dries quickly.

 

[Tigercubrider]

You could gripfill small wooden blocks to come out to plaster level, then screw to the blocks
Seems a lot of hassle though

 

[cwhaley]

You could gripfill small wooden blocks to come out to plaster level, then screw to the blocks
Seems a lot of hassle though

That's almost the way I did it in my back bedroom and is (in my opinion) much better than simply sticking glues and silicones over the timber.

I adopted the use of twisted wooden plugs, which go in between the bricks in place of the mortar. The skirting is then simply screwed into this and pulled tight to the wall nice and secure. If the skirting did start to pull in too much at the bottom, I just used a small timber block to keep it from doing so.

 

[seds73]

Think I'll do it that way too. When I removed the old skirting boards it was nailed into wooden wedges inserted between certain bricks. Some of these wedges almost fell out (I'll fill the holes with mortar) while some were still quite secure. I'll drill plugs into the mortar joints then insert long screws through some spacers (made with any suitable wood off cuts) and then through the skirting.

 

[cwhaley]

Think I'll do it that way too. When I removed the old skirting boards it was nailed into wooden wedges inserted between certain bricks. Some of these wedges almost fell out (I'll fill the holes with mortar) while some were still quite secure. I'll drill plugs into the mortar joints then insert long screws through some spacers (made with any suitable wood off cuts) and then through the skirting.

You can also replace the original plugs. I got an 8' length of 3/8" timber and once I'd put the twist on, they were simply hammered into the gap in place of the ones which had fallen out. I know it's old school, but it was very satisfying to screw straight into that with no fear of them coming away from the wall.