Hi Mark, doing mitres/scribing etc with skirting etc can be a bit of an art but is easy to learn etc, these are some of the things to bear in mind, most of it obvious, chippies are a bit like radio techs etc, they like to work in their own way but hear goes:
Internal corner mitres are rarely successfull.
Reason: Mainly because one assumes the walls to be 90 degrees to each other and dead plumb and all the boards are of the same thickness. Fact: they mainly aren't, hence scribing employed.
If say doing a bog standard room with an architraved opening try to finish you last cut on any external angle that might be present (mitres) or where the skirting abutts the architrave, it's easier to trim and get dead right, try to avoid getting into a situation where a board has to have a full scribe on both ends, it's a pain, this can normally be avoided by working your way around the room in a logical manner.
If the walls aren't plumb but you want the boards to fit at exactly 90 degrees to the floor then the options are: fit boards dead plumb and fill any gaps at the top with caulk onced primed, up to 3mm gap is the normal max. acceptable proir to filling.
If the gap is larger then either remedy the wall or take (shave) the backs off the skirting.
If you are a perfectionist good luck otherwise a slight out of plumb skirting won't really be that noticable.
Take into account any non plumb of the adjoining wall when cutting the ends of the skirting for either a straight cut or a scribed cut. When doing the straight cut then undercut it in adjoining walls favour, plus a narrow margin, it will fit then.
When doing a full scribe it needs to be undercut, cut the length of the board slightly over, that way it will "snap in" nice and tight where the scribed joints butts the adjacent board.
When finishing off to an architrave, mark the butt end of the board with a marking knife both top and bottom then join the two marks with a knife, I rarely use a pencil as they are generally not acurate enough. Check the edge of the architrave as they often do not sit at 90 degrees, undercut butt end if needed. For fitting architraves, use a marking knife to mark the 45 degree points. prior to cutting. In fact use a marking knife for all more exacting jobs including fitting butt hinges etc.
External mitres: Sometimes can be tricky if the walls are not plumb or square to each other, usual solutions apply.
Glue and pin the mitres (longish thin Sherradised pins are the best, rub joint the glue if you can 'till the glue stiffens up a bit before pining)
If the mitres are part of a comlex arrangement then sometimes making them up off the wall is better ie: a seperate sub assy. make up glue and pin and leave to set before fitting.
Stained/varnish skirting is very exacting if you want a good job done.
Lawrence.
Internal corner mitres are rarely successfull.
Reason: Mainly because one assumes the walls to be 90 degrees to each other and dead plumb and all the boards are of the same thickness. Fact: they mainly aren't, hence scribing employed.
If say doing a bog standard room with an architraved opening try to finish you last cut on any external angle that might be present (mitres) or where the skirting abutts the architrave, it's easier to trim and get dead right, try to avoid getting into a situation where a board has to have a full scribe on both ends, it's a pain, this can normally be avoided by working your way around the room in a logical manner.
If the walls aren't plumb but you want the boards to fit at exactly 90 degrees to the floor then the options are: fit boards dead plumb and fill any gaps at the top with caulk onced primed, up to 3mm gap is the normal max. acceptable proir to filling.
If the gap is larger then either remedy the wall or take (shave) the backs off the skirting.
If you are a perfectionist good luck otherwise a slight out of plumb skirting won't really be that noticable.
Take into account any non plumb of the adjoining wall when cutting the ends of the skirting for either a straight cut or a scribed cut. When doing the straight cut then undercut it in adjoining walls favour, plus a narrow margin, it will fit then.
When doing a full scribe it needs to be undercut, cut the length of the board slightly over, that way it will "snap in" nice and tight where the scribed joints butts the adjacent board.
When finishing off to an architrave, mark the butt end of the board with a marking knife both top and bottom then join the two marks with a knife, I rarely use a pencil as they are generally not acurate enough. Check the edge of the architrave as they often do not sit at 90 degrees, undercut butt end if needed. For fitting architraves, use a marking knife to mark the 45 degree points. prior to cutting. In fact use a marking knife for all more exacting jobs including fitting butt hinges etc.
External mitres: Sometimes can be tricky if the walls are not plumb or square to each other, usual solutions apply.
Glue and pin the mitres (longish thin Sherradised pins are the best, rub joint the glue if you can 'till the glue stiffens up a bit before pining)
If the mitres are part of a comlex arrangement then sometimes making them up off the wall is better ie: a seperate sub assy. make up glue and pin and leave to set before fitting.
Stained/varnish skirting is very exacting if you want a good job done.
Lawrence.
