# Forum Home Renovation Tiling  What to do with tiling and skirting boards?

## Yvette S

Hello All, 
Maybe a stupid question I'm about to ask but I'm used to looking stupid when I ask something. 
When you are tiling floor areas, do you tile first and then put skirtings on top or do you put skirting first and tile up to? :confused:  
I have been trying to find a similar thread but am about to get yelled at for slacking off as we have a busy weekend with the reno's being the long weekend.. 
Any help appreciated...Cheers

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## ThePope

skirting in first then tile up to it.
going the other way you won't get a nice tight fit with the skirting on top of the tiles.

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## Tools

A matter of personal preference really,but I agree with the pope that skirting first gives a better finish. 
Tools

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## Yvette S

Thanks for the replies. I thought it might be but He who knows best  :Rolleyes:   thought otherwise so a bit of clarification was in order. :Biggrin:

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## mic-d

If you ask a hundred people how to do something you will get a hundred different answers!  Really you can get it to look good either way.  Personally I like to tile first so I don't have to be to precious and precise with the cut tiles around the edge.  Then I put the skirt on and if I've been very good  :Wink:  the tiles will be all level and there will be no gaps.  If I've had a bit of lippage though, the little gaps can be easily and invisibly remedied with a bead of no-more-gaps.  Probably the only time that I would say you "should" do it this way is if you're using 42mm bullnose or a similar small skirt, since you might be burying up to 12mm or so and it doesn't look so good. 
Cheers
Michael

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## journeyman Mick

I prefer tiles first, then skirting. Well laid tiles should be within a few mm height wise. The problem I see with skirting first then tiles is that over the years any moisture form mopping, spillage etc is going to work its way down to the bottom of the skirting and sit there, slowly decaying it. But then, I live in a pretty damp and mouldy place so it may not be that much of a consideration for you.  
Mick

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## ThePope

Looks like you'd better toss a coin Yvette  :Smilie:  
do you do your jambs and archs after tiling aswell Mick.

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## julianx

I prefer to tile first for the same reasons as Mick and Mic-d. 
I used to painstakingly scribe the skirting to the tiles, then I discovered a simpler way. 
First plane a 35 degree bevel off the back of the bottom edge of the skirting, then put the skirting in place and tap it down with a block of wood and a hammer, the narrow front edge will conform to the irregularities of the tiles.

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## journeyman Mick

> Looks like you'd better toss a coin Yvette  
> do you do your jambs and archs after tiling aswell Mick.

  I prefer to, of course you don't always get your preferences  :Rolleyes:  .  I've had to replace a lot of jambs that have rotted at the base from having wet feet. I hate having to fix problems that could have been avoided with some foresight. 
Mick

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## Shedhand

Wherever I see skirting first with tiles up to it where the grout meets the skirting shrinkage of the skirting and the grout as it dries leaves an ugly gap.
I prefer Skirting over tiles. I like the sugggestion of the 35 degree bevel and hammer tap to profile.

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## Skew ChiDAMN!!

I like to bevel _all_ skirting I install. 
There's the times I've ripped it up and discovered the owners sanded their own floors with Bunnies gear...  without bothering to remove the skirting first.  Lovely floor, buggered edges.  Same sort of thing as mislaid tiles and they won't up the budget to cover my resanding.  That sorta extra is definitely *not* covered by this li'l black duck's quotes!   :Rolleyes:   
It also saves mucking around with clearances when the owner tells you they've had expansion problems ( the floors creak every night!) and you're doing the job in the sweltering heat of high summer... wait one winter and an expansion gap automagically appears.   :Wink:

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## lnt9000

Most definitely tile first, I've done it both ways and learnt the hard way, If you lay those tiles evenly it's a piece of cake, I think the scales are starting to lean to this method, the other way you will bury part of your skirt which is subject to moisture as well as looking unsightly you also get grout all over them and spend a consideral amount of time to clean up, by tiling first you can prefinish (paint/stain) your skirts and bang them in after. :Rolleyes:

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## Yvette S

Thanks guys, you really cleared that one up for me.  :Smilie:   WWIII may yet erupt in our household. i quite frankly am over this whole reno thing. I haven't had a kitchen for two weeks and it is another two before I get the new one in. Can't get a tradie to turn up on time (mind you my plumber is great and got in here earlier than thought) and they charge enough to set up their own small empires. I'm giving up my job and going to learn a trade  :Biggrin:  . Seriously though everyone, all replies are appreciated and I am quite sure I would have gone insane long before this if not for these forums.

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