Remove skirting?

[JohnnyF]

Hi I'm just wondering if any plasterers out there can give me some advice.

We're renovating a house and any loose plaster has been taken back to the brickwork and I've removed all lath and plaster / plasterboards from the stud work.

So basically all that is left on the brick walls / studs is the skirting at the bottom.

Will it cause the plasterer/builder (whoever does the plasterboarding) a headache if I leave the skirting on the studs?

If they want to dot and dab onto the brick I'll have to take off the skirting as it'll stick out further than the current skirting. But for reboarding on the studs the new boards shoukldn't stick out any further, so if it isn't required on the stud then I may save my elf a few bob from buying/fitting new skirting.

Any advice would be great.

Cheers

John

 

[Richard C]

Yes it will cause problems; you don’t really have any choice to take it all off! I wouldn’t attempt to plaster a wall with the skirting or door architrave in position. Not only does it make life difficult for the plasterer, it will make the finished result look shoddy. The cost of replacing it is negligible compared to the cost of the plastering & it may be possible to re-use the original if you remove it carefully & strip it back. When finished off with new skirting & architrave, a re-plastered wall will all look 2000 % better; it will look like a pigs ear if you cut corners!

 

[JohnnyF]

Ok - I have a dilemma now! I have no problem taking off the upstairs skirting but the ground floor skirting is quite ornate and alot taller than the modern stuff and I haven't seen any replica's. I guess I could get some more machine cut but I reckon this would cost a fair bit.

If in the downstairs rooms we are only skimming will this look bad if we leave the exisitng skirting on?

 

[Richard C]

OK I can see why you don’t want to remove the ornate skirting. Your plasterer will be able to work up from this if it’s only a skim but it will make it more difficult for him & you will loose 2-3mm of the depth but if he’s any good it should look OK. I would definitely remove the standard stuff though &, as I said, if you’re careful how you take it off (find the nails & lever either side simultaneously) you can actually re-use it if it’s not bruised or damaged. I’ve salvaged, stripped & re-used about 30% of the skirting & architrave on my property renovation so far.

 

[LeeJC]

Not sure where you are, but for a price most timber yards will be able to recreate your skirting using a sample.

I'm doing the same sort of thing as yourself, and fortunately the skirting has all be replaced before with 7" torus, which is easy to get hold of, the floorboards however are a different but i'm going to take a sample to my local yard, they will tell me if they have stock that matches, or alternatively do me an individual run.

If your skirting is seriously ornate then it may not be possible due to tooling restrictions, but unless hand carved i would doubt it.

 

[JohnnyF]

cheers for the advice - i'll do as you say. Take the standard stuff off.

The ornate stuff isn't that ornate - it's just alot more moulded than the modern sort of san stuff.

Off to Travis Perkins with a cut off the architraves to see if they have anything matching.

Cheers

john