# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  Why scribe a skirting board joint?

## HigherPlane

Hi Guys   
I ripped up the skirting board and binned it (as it was badly damaged) before putting down bamboo flooring. While pulling it up I noticed the joins in the corners of the room had one piece carefully scribed to fit flush up against the other (I'm talking one of those ornate sort of curvey skirtings by the way). Why did they do this rather than just use a 45 degree cut on the drop saw, to creat a mitre joint? My guess is maybe it would work better if the walls aren't exactally 90 degrees. I'm asking because I have to put new ones in and I'm not the greatest fan of scribing. 
Cheers  
Matt

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## Bedford

It's also so that if it moves back into the corner when you nail it, the join stays together, where a miter would open up.

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## chrisp

My understanding it that it is to do with general movement.  The scribe joint is more tolerant of movement. 
Also, there is an order to the method too.  (Someone my like to correct me) From memory, the first skirt to go in should be the one furthest from the doorway - this will have 90 degree cuts at each end.  The board that abut to it will be scribed at that end and 90 degree at the other.  The idea, I understand, is that any gap in the scribe is not evident when entering the room. 
If the walls are long (or longer than the skirting boards), the intermediate joints are overlapping 45 degree cuts.  Again, the idea is to allow movement, but not make it too obvious.

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## ringtail

Bravo ! chrisp has nailed it. You always put the first board opposite the doorway and go from there.  Bugger all chippies do it theses days because they are dodgy, pushed for time and the painter will fix it. It gets pretty tricky doing scribes with boring skirts like bevels or bullnose but its still worthwhile.

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## r3nov8or

> ... It gets pretty tricky doing scribes with boring skirts like bevels or bullnose but its still worthwhile.

  Wondering how it this trickier than ornate skirt profiles

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## ringtail

Sorry, I should have chose my words better. Its a challenge because you end up with the smallest wafer of timber at the top that it almost impossible to cut. Sometimes you need to a razor blade or a dremel, unlike a six inch skirt that has meat all the way.

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## HigherPlane

Thanks for that guys! So do generally just use a jigsaw or is there an easier method? At a quick count there's about 40 joins to do because of all the angles and partitions in the house, so if anybody has any tips on on making this more efficient I'd love to know. ie everything from tricks to measuring up quickly to a fast way to repeat all the scribe cuts.  
Cheers 
Matt

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## chrisp

The usual method is to cut a 45 degree mitre first, then cut along the junction of the profile and mitre with a coping saw.   
Also, back cut it a little so only the front of the profile is touching the adjoining skirting board.  i.e. cut it a little steeper than 90 degrees with the coping saw.

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## ringtail

A dremel is very handy for doing it a lot faster. Cut the internal mitre 1st, then use the coping saw and the dremel to do the fine work

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## r3nov8or

you know, in all my renos I haven't bothered with the coping saw thing - I have just cut the two mitres, and No More Trade hides the imperfections if need be. After all the drop saw is already 'calibrated' for the external corners when going about this sort of work...  Maybe I'm one of those dodgy builders ringtail refers to  :Smilie:

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## ringtail

No more trade, love it thats gold. When I say dodgy, its more to do with the fact that most employers are not willing to teach their apprentices the method or they dont know how to do it themselves, or, it takes too much time to do so they dont bother - time is money, thats why most houses these days are crap. The two favourite sayings in the trade are 1. - it will hide ( referring to dodgy things not been able to be seen in the final product ) and 2 . - the painter will fix it ( refers to everything else to do with lack of quality fit and finish ) Old houses with crap foundations and/ or clay soils move like you wouldnt believe. This is when mitres open up and no more trade just wont cut it. But as long as it looks good on sale day ?

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