Do You Paint Skirting Boards Before Walls?
On a recent project I was working on in my own home, I needed to replace the old skirting boards, architrave and cover with new skirting boards and designs. I removed all of the old stuff, took out the carpet and underlay and was essentially left with a blank canvas from which to begin.
I needed to decide how to proceed. Do I paint the skirting boards before walls or install the new mouldings and then set about painting the walls?
When I thought about it, I could see a major benefit of painting the walls before adding the new skirting boards, architrave and coving. I thought that by painting first I wouldn’t need to do any ‘cutting in’ around the woodwork, which would be much faster since I could use a roller for the whole wall instead of switching to a small brush when I got close to the moulding.
I also didn’t want to run the risk that my sub-par painting skills would result in me getting dark blue paint all over the fresh white skirting boards! By painting first and then installing the new skirting boards afterwards I felt comfortable that this risk would be avoided.
In terms of whether to paint walls or skirting first, I made the decision to paint the room first, which was quick, easy and relatively painless. I made the decision to paint the room first, which was quick, easy and relatively painless.
I brought in Stephen from REDS BESPOKE CONSTRUCTION to fit the new skirting boards, architrave and coving. It was soon after that I realised that I should have done this before painting!
When it came to fitting the architrave around the bedroom door a pretty major problem was identified almost straight away. The architrave that I had removed was a standard 70mm width, so I opted to replace it with a wider 95mm architrave so that it would be wide enough to mask any damage that may have happened to the plaster when the old architrave was removed.
Because my house is very old (mid-19th Century), the walls are not perfectly square as you would find in new builds. The door around which the new architrave was being fitted is very close to the internal corner where the walls meet, and the extra width on the new architrave meant that it now did not sit flush against the wall as the old architrave had done. This resulted in the fitters having to chisel into the plaster so that the architrave could be fitted without a gap between it and the wall behind. This created a large amount of dust and debris which wasn’t great for the newly painted room!
We then discovered that the power socket on the rear wall was not straight. This meant that the new skirting board would not fit underneath it as planned, so the socket had to be moved further up the wall. This again caused some damage to the new paintwork.
Generally, I found that fitting skirting boards and particularly coving a lot messier than I had assumed. Because we had painted the room dark blue, the white caulk smudges where the newly fitted mouldings had been sealed were very obvious and coupled with the dust from the alterations to the plaster the room was left in need of another coat of paint to get the finished look I originally set out to achieve.
Therefore, although it may seem logical to paint a room before installing new mouldings I would recommend doing the reverse and having your new skirting boards and architrave installed before painting the walls. Having to go back and re-paint to fix the mess was a stress and an extra expense that I could have avoided by doing things in the right order.
About the Author
Kieron Miller is the Managing Director of Skirting 4 U and has been working in the skirting board and online retail industry since 2012. Kieron has been using his extensive product knowledge and problem-solving experience to help both trade and private consumers all over the country find the perfect skirting board products for their projects. He continues to innovate new solutions and product ideas as the market continues to grow.
Related products
-
Antique MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Antique Skirting Board is very traditional in its styling, and... -
Asmara 4 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Asmara 4 Skirting Board is an intricate homage to classical period... -
Asmara 5 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Asmara 5 Skirting Board seamlessly brings together elegance and... -
Skirt4u 324 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The design of our S4U 324 profile is based upon the ever-popular Torus... -
Skirt4u 327 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The 327 design is something of a departure from traditional skirting board... -
Skirt4u 330 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our 330 skirting board brings together the best elements of our 327 and 324... -
Asmara 3 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Asmara 3 is the perfect statement skirting board design. Extremely bold... -
Bullnose MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Bullnose Skirting is widely used by both trade professionals and private... -
Bullnose Groove MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our Bullnose Groove Skirting Board is a modern profile that is a great... -
Bullnose Groove 2 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our Bullnose Groove 2 Skirting Board is a modern take on the classic... -
Chamfer MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Chamfer skirting remains as popular today as ever. The simplicity of the... -
Colonial MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our Colonial Skirting Board is a replica of a design that was common in the... -
Edge MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Edge Skirting Board is from the same ‘family’ of designs the Chamfer... -
Edge Groove MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Edge Groove Skirting Board is the regular Edge design with the addition... -
Edge Groove 2 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Edge Groove 2 is a skirting board design that brings together the most... -
Edwardian MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our Edwardian Skirting Board design is an homage to styles widely used in... -
Georgian MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our Georgian Skirting Board is inspired by interior moulding designs used... -
MDF Lambs Tongue Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Lambs Tongue Skirting Board is a widely-known style and is something of... -
Marlie MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Marlie is a skirting board design that is exclusive to Skirting 4 U. It is... -
Mini Bullnose MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Mini Bullnose skirting board is sometimes referred to as ‘Pencil Round’. It... -
Ogee MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Ogee skirting board has really stood the test of time and remains a firm... -
Ogee 2 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Ogee 2 skirting board has been introduced to offer an alternative to the... -
Regency MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Regency skirting board is not too dissimilar to the Ogee style in terms of... -
Ovolo MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Ovolo skirting board is another profile that is widely known and sought... -
Torus 1 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our Torus skirting board is an absolute classic MDF moulding design.... -
Stepped MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Stepped skirting board is a visually striking design that is a great choice... -
Victorian MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our Victorian skirting board design is manufactured to sympathetically... -
Torus 2 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Torus skirting boards are by far the most commonly purchased profile we... -
Victorian 2 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Our Victorian 2 profile is a second variation of a skirting board design... -
Windsor MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00Windsor Skirting Board is one of our more exclusive profiles. It is popular... -
Antique 2 MDF Skirting Board
Price: £0.00The Antique 2 Skirting Board profile is a less complex version of our... -
Skirt4U 327 MDF Architrave
Price: £0.00The 327 design of architrave is something of a departure from traditional... -
Skirt4U 330 MDF Architrave
Price: £0.00Our 330 architrave brings together the best elements of our 327 and 324... -
Skirt4U 324 MDF Architrave
Price: £0.00The design of our S4U 324 profile is based upon the ever-popular Torus...
Related posts
-
Coloured Skirting Boards - Improve your home by using colour on skirting boards and architrave.
Posted in: Skirting 4 U Product Advice & Inspiration02/06/202027727 viewsSkirting boards don't always have to be white. In this blog we look at a few skirting board colour ideas that may...Read more
-
Finding A Skirting Board Style To Suit The Emerging 2020 Interior Trends
Posted in: Skirting 4 U Product Advice & Inspiration01/02/202013201 viewsA look at the key design trends for the coming year and how to compliment each style with the right skirting board...Read more
-
Three Reasons To Choose Primed Skirting Boards
Posted in: Skirting 4 U Product Advice & Inspiration11/20/201913910 viewsAn overview of some of the advantages of purchasing pre-primed skirting boards.Read more
-
How To Make Dado and Picture Rails Work In Modern Interiors
Posted in: Skirting 4 U Product Advice & Inspiration08/13/201930550 viewsThere are many ways in which you can introduce dado rails and picture rails making them a feature in your home that...Read more
-
How To: Our Guide To Revamping Your Skirting Boards
Posted in: Skirting 4 U Product Advice & Inspiration05/14/201913253 viewsHome renovation can be both costly and time consuming and admittedly skirting boards may not be right at the top of...Read more