treat both sides of skirting?

Dan-Dan

Seems a silly question , but i am about to prime and undercoat 16 meters of skirting board , would anyone else do BOTH sides or can i get away with doing just to side that will be visible?

Cheers

dampdaveski

you should treat both sides of your skirting board, particularly if you are putting it in an older property with concrete floors, why I hear you ask?
Timber is hygroscopic and this means it has the ability to absorb moisture from the air (why wooden doors sometimes catch against the frame in winter)
If you only paint one side and leave the other side bare then you are increasing the chance of it absorbing moisture and warping, when timber gets above 20% moisture content it has the chance of being nibbled on by wood boring beetles or being affected by wood rots.

So in short YES prime it and undercoat it (don't bother with gloss as that would be silly )
Good luck with it
DD

wallbash

Have always treated both sides, apart from the gloss.

leveller2911

Skirting,architraves etc should be at least primed on the back face to help stop the skirting from "cupping" (bowing) across the grain and as Damp Daveski says it helps to stop any moisture from the walls/floors. Its a hell of a job to cut external mitres on wide skirting thats cupped.


Personally I don't see the need to undercoat the back as the job of the primer is to seal the timber.

Dannytyler

there are no silly questions if you don't know the answer

prime/undercoat both sides then gloss the face side

EssexExile

The trouble is you've now got three different answers, I wonder which one is right.

PheoUK

They're all the same essentially. Seal it somehow. Nb I find lots of products are now primer and undercoat in 1 - I would even go so far as to say I don't really see the point of undercoat.

But all personally preference - just make sure it's hot something on to seal it.

Or buy primed or fully finished MDF Skirting - worked for me!

Dan-Dan

thanks all , used a no nonsense undercoat/primer on both sides

Dan-Dan

back to this if i could....looking at the room were doing , its being plastered , there is no way on earth its going to be anything but a nightmare , glossing the skirting when installed due to dust , fluff etc , i am thinking of glossing before install , then have the wood filler and sandpaper at hand for joins , nail entry points etc

Bad plan or?

RS2000.

Dan-Dan wrote: »

back to this if i could....looking at the room were doing , its being plastered , there is no way on earth its going to be anything but a nightmare , glossing the skirting when installed due to dust , fluff etc , i am thinking of glossing before install , then have the wood filler and sandpaper at hand for joins , nail entry points etc

Bad plan or?

I'd plaster, clean then fit the woodwork and paint it.

Dan-Dan

hmmm , i do agree but even after cleaning and hoovering etc , i can see it being a bit of a nightmare , gloss is such an art really to do it right first time i can see it getting messy trying to keep it clean as i go