Home DIY

Is that on the bay? Looks like an internal 90 mitre if so scribing it is a better option.

I'm finding this frustrating because it's something that is easy to show people but tricky to explain by writing it down because there are lots of little tricks that add up to make the finished job. Plus I'm writing this on a phone

Until you have the joint cut you want the skirting to be slightly over length, you'll hopefully see why in a bit

1. You want the join to be facing away from the door as this will make it less noticeable. Take the board that is going to be at the back and offer it up to the wall, then take an offcut and place it on the other wall butting it up to the first piece of skirting and use the edges that meet to draw a line where they meet. This gives you the angle of the wall, use this to set your mitre saw to the correct angle cut the end off the skirting then offer it up to the wall again, it should now sit (mostly) flush with the wall it's meeting.
   
2. Next take the second piece of skirting and butt it up to the first, repeat the process with an offcut of skirting. So that you have the angle of the other wall. Set your mitre saw to this angle but this time with a 45 degree bevel set (tilt the blade to 45) and cut along the line.
   
3. Using the side of a pencil tip rub it along the edge where the cut meets the face of the skirting. This give you a much more defined line that is easier to follow.
   
4. Use a handsaw to cut along the straight part of the line. You want to back cut this so that the cut is at about 95 degrees from the face (slightly past vertical).
   
5. Use a coping saw to cut the wiggly bits at the top, again back cutting. The back cutting just makes a bit easier to adjust and means it will all fit together nicer if the joint isn't an exact 90 degree angle.
   
6. Offer them up ,should fit nicely. If you're happy fix them together.
   
   

This video is ok but not exactly how I do it, should give you the right idea though:

https://youtu.be/tQ21WE4KGfw

This is why I like square trim boards - overlap one end or the other (depending on where it will be seen from the most) throw a little polyfilla or whatever your favourite white goop is, paint and done.

Like Bobbo has said, there are a lot of little things to take care of with skirting. Especially tricky if you have 2 inside angles as you can't leave the ends over length when you scribe to the floor level. If your room is on a slope then you need to adjust for that with the boards or the mitres or both.

I don't use the method in the video but it's a very popular method. There's a special jigsaw base that helps me out occasionally with skirting but I find if you have them level and measure the angles with the starrett angle finder then you can cut them pretty reliably with a decent mitre. If you have a wall that slopes in at the base, which a lot do especially in the corners, then take some material off the back of the board with a plane or chip some lumps out of the wall.

I would always start by deciding on a level above the floor that I want the skirting to be. Use a level or laser line to mark that and then scribe the bottom of the board to fit the undulation of the floor. If you are fitting carpets you can leave a gap. So if you want 6" skirting you start with 7" and cut it down. This is the step I think most people overlook.

Most people think skirting should be pretty easy but it requires most of the tools and lots of experience to get it right because you have to account for the walls and floors not being straight and level.

Don't even get me started on the best way to fix them to the walls!