Saturday 10 October 2015

Skirting Boards Attached: The Next Step (Painting)

This morning we met up with Paul, the painter, to discuss the next step and to agree upon a price.

In discussing the process, I had my previously unanswered question answered. Why do they not pre-paint the boards and cut to size and simply touch up? The answer lies in the process needed, and in the properties of the gloss paint itself.

The process is:
  1. Seal all of the gaps.
  2. Plug and fill the nail holes.
  3. Sand it back.
  4. Tape and mask the floor/walls.
  5. Two coats of undercoat and a top coat of gloss.
The gloss paint is very liquid and runny (whereas the matt paints are not so much - you'll really see this when you get a skin forming on gloss paint) so it makes it very difficult to paint. Also, unless the gloss has fully dried (>24 hours) it can make touch ups or repairs even worse.

No wall is ever straight so there will inevitably be gaps between the wall and the skirting board against it. These gaps need to be filled, as do the nail holes.

So, don't be too shocked at the gaps below (I was initially, but hopefully they now make sense to you).




I'm impressed how they managed to follow the wall.


It is not a small job. Three guys for about three days work. When the gloss goes on, the house needs to be still (so as not to raise dust) for 24 hours.

Now for the bad news. He can't start for about two weeks. Not all bad though, it gives us time to do other things, like fences, driveways, and oh, yes, that's right, PACK!

4 comments:

  1. hi,

    were looking at building with PD, and don't like the look of the quad. did you do your own flooring? any advice would be great.

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    1. You don't get much choice. It is either that or a gap between the floor boards and the areas that do not have skirting board (which are not many, around the island bench and in the galley for us). A gap would look worse.

      I don't particularly like them either, but you have little choice.

      To be honest, you don't really notice them. Sure, when you're thinking about all things flooring, you naturally tend to micro focus on them, but I can honestly say, this is the first time I've thought about them (or seen them) in the month since we moved in.

      The reason we have so LITTLE quad, is because we had PD leave the skirts off (and the materials behind), we had our own installers put it in post hand over, then we got the original fixup carpenters who worked on the house in to put them on (on top of the floorboards - hence the clean look and lack of quad). Then we got the original painters in as well to finish the job. At our cost, of course.

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