Caulk nightmare!

[Dylan123]

Fitted my skirting boards. There were some gaps at the mitres and internals, and naturally at top of skirting.

someone who will remain nameless suggested a flexible filler. I was told it would sand.

I’ve consequently filled all the gaps, countersunk holes in the belief I can sand flat.

I now understand this acrylic filler can NOT be sanded. It’s basically caulk.

I have smears in quite a lot of places.

I’ve started scraping with a flexible knife but it’s hard work and even when done it’s still a bit rough.

do you think my satin wood paint will cover the sins of I put a couple of coats on it?

Any ideas how I can dig myself out of this mess without hours scraping? The internals are very hard to scrape.

or should I put undercoat on to cover it?

any ideas?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Sorry, but I think you are going to be spending a bit more time on your knees. I doubt that any paint will ever cover it up. On a new install I'd be looking at getting a heavy awl to scrape the stuff out of screw holes, however if you have gaps in internal (scribed) corners that tends to indicate poor scribing technique whilst gaps in externals often indicates either incorrect angle cut or possible cupping across the width of the skirting.

Either way you need to aim for no gaps on the externals (mitre mate andca sharp block plane are your friends) and minimum gaps on the internals as filler in either type of joint always telegraphs through the finis eventually or even cracks over time

 

[Dylan123]

Sorry, but I think you are going to be spending a bit more time on your knees. I doubt that any paint will ever cover it up. On a new install I'd be looking at getting a heavy awl to scrape the stuff out of screw holes, however if you have gaps in internal (scribed) corners that tends to indicate poor scribing technique whilst gaps in externals often indicates either incorrect angle cut or possible cupping across the width of the skirting.

Either way you need to aim for no gaps on the externals (mitre mate andca sharp block plane are your friends) and minimum gaps on the internals as filler in either type of joint always telegraphs through the finis eventually or even cracks over time

I used a mitre, the issue I got was getting the board level as I was using packers behind but the board angles were going awol.

too late now, gonna scrape as much as I can, it won’t be perfect but I don’t need perfect!

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I used a mitre, the issue I got was getting the board level as I was using packers behind but the board angles were going awol.

For future reference I almost always check how plumb the walls are at the bottom and if needs be chop back any plaster which is protruding with a club hanmer and an electrician's bolster. Any further discrepancies can be taken out by power planing the back of the skirting where needs be. Using scribed internals makes it far easier to accommodate a little bit of discrepancy. If external corners are assembled with a mitre bond adhesive it is a lit easier to keep those skirtings plumb.

It sounds so bad that as a tradesman I'd probably have pulled it all off, sanded back an re-used what I could, buying-in another few lengths to make good the shortfall, and simply scrapped the stuff that couldn't be re-used

Good luck with your scraping

 

[Dylan123]

For future reference I almost always check how plumb the walls are at the bottom and if needs be chop back any plaster which is protruding with a club hanmer and an electrician's bolster. Any further discrepancies can be taken out by power planing the back of the skirting where needs be. Using scribed internals makes it far easier to accommodate a little bit of discrepancy. If external corners are assembled with a mitre bond adhesive it is a lit easier to keep those skirtings plumb.

It sounds so bad that as a tradesman I'd probably have pulled it all off, sanded back an re-used what I could, buying-in another few lengths to make good the shortfall, and simply scrapped the stuff that couldn't be re-used

Good luck with your scraping

it looks fine when painted now. It’s not as good as a tradesman but it’s nowhere near bad enough to really draw attention to it.

I know there is an art to this, I have some more to do and I will try to get them perfect.

I did use a bolster on the plaster by the way, as I said, the main issue was missing sand and cement along the bottom and having to use packers. I failed to get the boards plumb leading to poor butt join internals.

these are square boards so didn’t need to scribe.