Painting skirting boards - any tips ?

MORPH3US

Do you need to sand skirting boards and windowsills down before painting them, or can you just slap the new paint on top?!?

M

rik_t

MORPH3US wrote:

Do you need to sand skirting boards and windowsills down before painting them, or can you just slap the new paint on top?!?

M

To get the best finish you need to sand the old paint away. Otherwise you just end up with loads of layers of paint which begins to look untidy. Not so bad with skirting, but very much recomment it with window sills.

myrnahaz

Be careful with long pile carpets as the pile can 'bounce' back against the skirting when you remove the plastic/card/foil thingy - then the paint gets on the carpet anyway - very annoying.

mparter

MDUK wrote:

i tried this, and pulled it off when dry, it took paint off the skirt where the masking paint and skirt touched, far from a neat finish.

I thought i would try it while still wet next time.....although i may just move house to avoid the 'next time' less hassle all round

Yeah, it works fine whilst wet, your hands get covered in paint but better on your hands than the carpet!

If you leave it to dry it will skin over and then you'll peel all the paint off, as you've experienced!

SplanK

sorry to bump an old thread - however im going to be doing this in the next couple of days.... could you not use masking tape and then just use a stanley knifee to "cut" the paint join between the masking tape and the skirting once dry?!

I can just see paper/cardboard been a bit of a pain to remove once the paint has dried - chances are it will just rip and not remove properly...?

latecomer

I've used and would recommend the plastic strips. You do have to be careful to clean off any paint each time you remove them but I thought they were well worth the small additional cost and effort to give a good finish.

27col

I have used the plastic strips. Possibly the answer is to buy more than you think you need and leave them down until the paint is tacky or almost dry. They are not very expensive. I also found that it was advantageous to use either a sheet on the floor or at least sheets of newspaper in addition to the plastic strip. It is wonderful the way paint drops can find any unprotected spot on the carpet.

angelavdavis

I also use the masking tape on the carpet technique - push down the pile as you go so you apply the tape and remove when the paint is still tacky but not yet dry.

To remove, push down on the tape first before lifting to break any seal that might have developed between the skirting and the tape (I use a disposable plastic glove to do this and scrunch up the paint covered tape and throw the lot - gloves and all - in the bin :T :T )

I grab a couple of pages of newspaper and position this in front of the area I am painting in case of drips, it then gets moved when I shift along! Then this is also binned as soon as the job is done.

Personally, I have found the plastic strips to be a nightmare and too faffy for me! I find dust sheets a mare too as I always end up getting paint on my shoes and walk it somewhere or other!!!

mattwallisuk

Paint then get new carpets

andrew-b

I don't know where we got them but i always use some pieces of plastic that have like a mini-gutter type of profile to them and push them down between carpet and skirting then just paint along and pull out the bit of plastic when it's done.

BTW are you Matt W from [edit: for matt's privacy!]? If so then you probably remember me as Andy on your forums - not been in for a while!

Andy