# Forum Home Renovation Doors, Windows, Architraves & Skirts  size of gaps for skirting boards?

## minisue

Hey there, we're currently renovating our house, and we're planning on replacing the current skirting.  
We are planning on replacing the carpet as well. What order does this need to be done? Carpet first then skirting or vice versa. Also what kind of a gap do we need to leave between the floor and the skirting? Our walls are also plasterboard, should the boards be nailed in or glued, which is the better option?

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## Jim Carroll

There should be no gap.

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## Big Shed

I don't agree, but that is what makes life interesting. 
I did the following: 
Put skirting boards on wall, leave approx 6mm gap (I used the masonite spacers that came in the brick packs). Skirting boards nailed on with second fix nail gun (50mm nails), but could be hand nailed. 
When painting is finished carpet is put down. 
Reason for 6mm gap? 
We used 90mm colonial skirting boards (pre-primed MDF) and we didn't want to lose too much from the smooth edge and carpet. 
Just my 2c.

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## Christopha

If you want to do it like a tradesman does, as Jim says, *no gap!* If you were silly enough to leave a gap then you would be leaving a space which all sorts of rubbish and possibly vermin could enter.

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## pawnhead

> If you want to do it like a tradesman does, as Jim says, *no gap!* If you were silly enough to leave a gap then you would be leaving a space which all sorts of rubbish and possibly vermin could enter.

  Most houses are on a slab, or on a platform floor where the frames are stood up afterwards, hence there's no gap even if you don't install any skirting at all. If there's floorboards going in between the walls, then obviously your not going to waste the extra money on timber boards then cover them with carpet. Project homes quite often use the same profile for skirtings as for architraves, and it looks crappy in my view when the skirting is swallowed up by carpet making it noticeably narrower than the architrave. 
I'm a tradesman carpenter, and I can assure you that it's quite common to leave a 10mm gap under a skirting where carpet is being fitted.

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## echnidna

> If you want to do it like a tradesman does, as Jim says, *no gap!* If you were silly enough to leave a gap then you would be leaving a space which all sorts of rubbish and possibly vermin could enter.

   :2thumbsup:

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## Japes

All depends on the house i guess. If we left gaps we would have had cold air billowing in! Depends on how it was built. Our carpet will cover the lower bit of the skirt but it is different to the archis so it doesnt matter either way.

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## bricks

The only gap i've seen is too get the skirt level when the floor isnt.

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## Trav

Just replaced our skirting boards. My suggestions is for definitely no gap. The draft of cold air coming in is quite amazing, even if there doesn't appear to be anywhere for the air to come from. Only once the baords are in and you have used gap seal to close all the gaps can you cut off the drafts.  
One of the energy efficiency people told me that you can save 10-15 per cent of energy costs by eliminating drafts - obviously not all caused by skirting boards, but certainly some would be. 
Trav

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## Big Shed

> If you want to do it like a tradesman does, as Jim says, *no gap!* If you were silly enough to leave a gap then you would be leaving a space which all sorts of rubbish and possibly vermin could enter.

  I'm confused here! Where is all this rubbish and vermin coming in? Your frames are not in contact with the slab? So we are relying on the skirting boards for a construction seal? 
If we leave a gap under the skirting boards of say 6mm, or as someone else suggested 10mm, we have a space of 6mm high and with a depth of the thickness of the skirting board. Behind that we have gyprock attached to a timber frame, which hopefully sits on the slab.

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## pawnhead

> I'm confused here! Where is all this rubbish and vermin coming in?

  You won't get an answer to that from the naysayers.  
If it's floorboards placed between the framework, with a 10mm gap against the walls for expansion, then of course you should scribe the skirting tight against the floor. But as I said before, if you put solid floorboards down then chances are that you're not going to be covering them with carpet. 
In any other of the more common cases where there's a slab, or a structaflor platform floor placed before the frame goes down, then the only difference is that if you lift the skirting, you're not wasting the part that's not seen. It really does look a bit dodgy in these cheap project homes where a 2" skirting is swallowed up by carpet, when the architraves are seen at their full 2" width. 
I wonder what they'd do if an owner wanted no skirting at all?  
Impossible! We have to cover that _imaginary_ gap!  :Tongue:

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## Spoon Man

> Hey there, we're currently renovating our house, and we're planning on replacing the current skirting.  
> We are planning on replacing the carpet as well. What order does this need to be done? Carpet first then skirting or vice versa. Also what kind of a gap do we need to leave between the floor and the skirting? Our walls are also plasterboard, should the boards be nailed in or glued, which is the better option?

  First question is this a slab or timber sub floor construction? If it is timber sub-floor, is it sheet flooring or floor boards? 
The reason I ask is this:
Gap or no gap doesn't matter - but if you allow for gap and decide in later years that you prefer floorboards (if aplicable) than carpet then you will have a gap between floorboards and skirting. Something to think about 
Second, in relation to your actual question, put the skirting on first, then the carpet. Painting the skirting first is good to avoid getting paint on the carpet, but, you can lay the carpet then put wide masking tape between the junction of the carpet and skirting - although this isn't as good as pre-painting.   
You should definately nail the skirting - I am assuming that you are fixing to a stud frame? It is possible to buy pre glue tipped nails that have the best of both worlds.  
Another thought, I would advise on using solid timber skirting rather than MDF.  MDF can warp over time due to many reasons. I work as an Architect and this is what I would specify.

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## Spoon Man

Just to clarify, my reason for saying gap doesn't matter is beacuse the building is existing.  New buildings should allow 5mm gap between floor and skirting for settlement/movement of structure.

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## Ashore

Why have a gap when its so easy to ovoid 
Cut skirting to length 
Put on top of floor in position 
Use a carpenters pencil flat on the floor and draw a line along the bottom of the skirting that matches the floor exactly
Plane the bottom of the skirting board to the marked line 
Skirting now matches the floor exactly with no gap 
15 minutes and a pro job
Why not :Doh:

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## pawnhead

> 15 minutes and a pro job
> Why not

  Well I wasn't going to keep pushing my point, but since you asked, because it's 15 minutes too much when you're on a contract, and nobody cares what it looks like under the carpet anyway. Try and lift the carpet in any project home and see if they've scribed the skirts. 
I guarantee you that they won't fall down because it's not done.  :Wink:

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## thesupervisor

im with you pawnhead
its always been 10mm 
if you sat it flush to the floor you may aswell use 12mm quad :No:

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## Christopha

> I'm a tradesman carpenter, and I can assure you that it's quite common to leave a 10mm gap under a skirting where carpet is being fitted.

  *I* am also a tradesman carpenter and not only would I never leave a gap but no other tradesman I know would leave a gap either.... I guess we shall have to differ!

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## pawnhead

Fair enough. I've never had any complaints so I'll just keep going to a little bit of extra trouble lifting the skirts to give the client as much visible timber as possible. I _have_ been requested this by builders in the past where they're using the same narrow profile archs, just to make them look the same. It does look weird with a skirt that's narrower than an arch, but that's just my preference I suppose. 
If anyone can give me a good reason not to then I'll stop doing it.  :Wink:

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## Spoon Man

> Fair enough. I've never had any complaints so I'll just keep going to a little bit of extra trouble lifting the skirts to give the client as much visible timber as possible. I _have_ been requested this by builders in the past where they're using the same narrow profile archs, just to make them look the same. It does look weird with a skirt that's narrower than an arch, but that's just my preference I suppose. 
> If anyone can give me a good reason not to then I'll stop doing it.

   As I said earlier, it's good practice to raise the skirting for new houses to allow for settlement. I agree with the matching of skirting to architraves too, but for this situation, I don't see a need as the house has settled and by adding new skirting, a higher skirting could be used...skirtings don't have to match the surrounding architrabe width....and in many older period style homes, they don't and still look great.

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## pawnhead

I've never seen a skirt that's narrower than an arch (unless it's been buried in carpet  :Biggrin: ), but it's quite common to have it wider. In older houses, or big budget jobs, the skirts could be up to 12" or more with a 4" arch. I wouldn't bother lifting a 12" skirting though.  
It's quite common in low budget project homes to have skirts and archs that are only 67mm or even as narrow as 42mm. That doesn't leave much seen when the carpet is on and the difference in width is obvious at the intersection of a door architrave and skirting. If the 67mm is a colonial profile, then half the flat section gets swallowed up and the difference is very noticeable. I reckon that looks weird when you're used to the skirt being wider.

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## Spoon Man

> I reckon that looks weird when you're used to the skirt being wider.

  Agreed 101% :2thumbsup:

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## Ashore

> Well I wasn't going to keep pushing my point, but since you asked, because it's 15 minutes too much when you're on a contract, and nobody cares what it looks like under the carpet anyway. Try and lift the carpet in any project home and see if they've scribed the skirts. 
> I guarantee you that they won't fall down because it's not done.

  As you are a contractor / price for job that is a fair call and I agree totally , if you are doing the job for yourself and that 15 mins dosen't make that much diffrence then I would leave no gap just for my oun satisfaction, espically if I was having polished boards saves needing quad. :2thumbsup:

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## Dirty Doogie

Just my 2 bobs worth - solid timber skirting I would butt against the floor, but with MDF I think I would leave a 6mm or so gap.  
In the house I am working on currently, rain got in during recent wet weather and made a little puddle in a few corners - and VIOLA! the Pooey MDF shirting swelled and blew. UURRGGHH! Now I got to replace it! 
DOOG

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## Mcblurter

Simple solution
Cut all your skirts so they fit in position.  Paint them.  Lay carpet then place skirts on top, NO GAP!!!
Nail holes can be filled and painted later.
Any problems with this idea?
Cheers
McBlurter

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## Zedd

i reno'd a house and replaced the existing skirts. the gaps under then old skirts between the floor and the walls was up to almost an inch in some cases. I backfilled with that foamy goop that expands. then after it dried I used a hacksaw blade sharpened into a flexible knife to cut the foam to 90deg and put the new skirts on top as normal. 
it keeps vermin out and also dust from under the floorboards. 
As far as I know they leave / left a gap so expansion & contraction can happen without the boards being warped out of shape. the foam i used is flexible so no probs there... 
I'd certainly do it that way again.

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