Someone please help - I'm at my wits end.

Bryony1891

Hi, we've been doing a big project in our house since the end of April. We've knocked a wall down between two bedrooms (master and box room) and made them into two quite spacious doubles. We've done it all ourselves, except getting a plasterer in. We're getting down to the wire now and given that neither of us are builders I'm getting really stressed. I want to ask people about skirting boards. Our plasterer has come in and plastered to around 3 1/2 inches above the floor. Our skirtings are 3 inches tall. What are we going to do about this 1/2 in gap? I'm tearing my hair out. My dad's coming over soon to see if there's anything that we can do as a couple but tbh I'm thinking we're going to have to get someone out to rectify the whole situation. Find attached pictures of some of what we're dealing with, it's almost like the skirting is sitting inside the gap of the wall/bricks. 


Hope you guys can help.

Thank you

stuart45

If it was mine I cut a bit of the bottom of the plaster away as it's a bit rough anyway and take the new stuff down lower. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Did you tell the plasterer that the skirting was 3 inches?

Easiest answer is probably buy the skirting again and get 5 or 6 inches tall. 

Is it MDF skirting? If so they are pretty cheap. 

FreeBear

Skirting board should have been removed and plasterboarded down to within ~12mm of the floorboards. The plasterer would then gone to within ~25mm or so of the floorboards and then the skirting boards would cover the rough edges.

Fixing the skirting board directly to the brickwork is just plain wrong.

RelievedSheff

Just get some taller skirting. Problem solved.

ComicGeek

RelievedSheff said:

Just get some taller skirting. Problem solved.

Not really, the OP would still have to pack out below where the plaster finishes, they need to fix the skirting back to something.

TELLIT01

In our house it appears that the base plaster coat was applied, then the skirting fitted and finally a skim coat applied.  It does give a very neat finish, but this is on a house built in 1939.

king132

From floorboard up you can add 15mm underlay and say 12mm carpet so 27mm or so.
You could possibly try using some kind of expanding foam glue to stick the skirting to the wall leaving a 27mm gap from the floorboard for your underlay and carpet but i still think you'll have gaps showing above the skirting

Jeepers_Creepers

The plasterer seems to have simply re-skimmed the existing wall surface. For him to have plastered further down than the existing surface would have required him to apply a thick bonding layer to that section behind the skirting first, before then skimming it all - a job he probably felt wasn't needed. But, really, he should have talked this over with you first, and asked what you wanted.

Even with underlay and carpet/laminate, I don't see that existing skirting covering all of that rough top edge. What's going down on that floor? If it is laminate and if it's a thickish type - say 12+mm - then you might be ok, and this might leave just a few little bits that'll need a smear of filler to tidy it up afterwards - not a problem. But I'd say do yourself a favour and swap that skirting for 160mm high 'ogee' or similar. That will genuinely add a bit of class to the room - don't underestimate the huge difference it'll make for what is relatively little extra cost - and it'll also hide all the bits that'll need filling. 

Fitting the skirting is helped by first adding spacers every 600mm or so along that bottom recessed bit so's they sit flush with the wall surface. This will allow the skirting boards to be pushed tight against the wall without the bottom being pushed in further than you want - which is what'll happen at the moment. Spacers can be anything - wood, strips of ply/hardboard/stuff/whatevs - and these can be stuck in place in that gap using a good adhesive such as Stixall; add a blob, position it in place, and then use either a straight-edge coming down the wall or else a try-square placed on the floor to gently push it into place until it's 'flush' with the wall/right-angles to the floor. Allow to set. Your skirting boards will now have something to press against when it's pushed into place - peasy.

To fit the skirting, use something easy like expanding foam adhesive (such as https://www.screwfix.com/p/soudal-adhesive-foam-hand-held-750ml/9633h ) which should fill any gaps, or else drill and screw through into what looks like a timber baseplate? The former is easier.

When using foam adhesive, you need to be able to hold the skirting board firmly in place and completely upright whilst the adhesive sets. Two ways to do this; one is to brace against the skirting using bricks/blocks/anything heavy and the other is to screw through the boards into whatever is behind it - stop screwing when it's level. Remove the screws when the boards are fixed, and fill the holes. 

Don't despair at this stage - the worst is over :-) 

Rosa_Damascena

I had similar in a relatively small area and was advised to use Polyfilla Air. That didn't even touch the sides so knowing that the area in question would be concealed I covered it the gap with light cardboard cut to size and painted over it.

I agree its annoying, but it shouldn't be a cause for concern as it is rectifiable. The question is how much money, time and effort you wish to put into it.

grumbler

TELLIT01 said:

In our house it appears that the base plaster coat was applied, then the skirting fitted and finally a skim coat applied.

And a typical result will be Cracks in walls and skirting boards - unless you are lucky.