How to Fit Skirting Boards

Fitting skirting boards in 6 steps

1. 1

   Measure the perimeter and buy the lengths

   Run a tape around the whole room, or draw it in the free planner, to get the total running metres of wall. Add a little for the mitre cuts and the offcuts, then buy in whole boards. The planner reads the perimeter straight off your floor plan, so you order once and right.

2. 2

   Choose the fixing

   Decide how the boards will hold: a clip rail screwed to the wall that the skirting snaps onto, montage adhesive run along the back, or pinning and screwing straight into the wall. Clips let you lift the boards later to pull cables; adhesive suits flat, solid walls; screws hold best on uneven ones.

3. 3

   Cut the corners

   Cut 45° mitres for both inside and outside corners so the profile wraps cleanly around each angle. On uneven walls an inside corner sits tighter if you cope it: cut the first board square to the wall and scribe the second to its profile so it laps neatly over the first.

4. 4

   Scribe to uneven walls

   Few walls are dead straight, so hold each board in place and scribe its back edge to follow the bumps. Plane or sand down to the line until it sits flush along the whole length, with no gaps opening between the board and the wall.

5. 5

   Fix to the wall only

   Fix every board to the wall and only the wall – never pin or screw down into the floor. The floor is laid floating and has to keep sliding under the boards; the skirting covers the expansion gap while leaving the floor free to move, so it can't buckle.

6. 6

   Fill the seams and paint

   Caulk the top edge and fill the mitre joints and any nail holes with decorator's filler, then wipe smooth. Sand lightly once dry and paint the boards if the finish calls for it – do the last coat after fitting so the touch-ups blend in.