Architraves,Skirtings

[FrankS]

I want to put a scotia trim between wall & ceiling. The ceiling is sloping. How should the joint profile be attained in corners? Also want a scotia bead in corners from skirting to ceiling. Walls & ceiling are T&G.
Also, how can I cut a vertical 45deg on a 140mm skirting? Mitre boxes are not deep enough and I don't have access to a combination saw.

FrankS

[GeoffS]

Frank - do a search on 'skirting' - you will find a couple of long threads on the subject. For most of it you don't do mitres but do the search and then come back with any unanswered questions.
Cheers

[capedcrusader]

FrankS
This might not be so easy. In order to make the horizontal profiles match the raking profile exactly you would have to cut custom moulded profiles in each of the horizontal directions to match the raking profile. The "top" piece would also be different to the "lowest" piece. For example if you used square dressed timber for the cornices the raking piece would have to be smaller in width than the horizontal pieces because they intersect on the raking pieces diagonal if you get my point. If you cant picture what I mean draw the raking profile in elevation at reasonably large scale and plot how it intersects with the horizontal pieces as sections. Also because the pieces would have to be different thicknesses the horizontal (ie: in plan view) mitre angle would not be at 45 degrees. Each piece would end up being at a different finished width which might also look a bit crap.
But if accurately matching the profile isnt so important just cut both pieces with a reasonably close compound angle and fill in the gaps/match the profiles somehow. You could do this without a CMS by temporarily tacking the raking piece at the ceiling angle in your mitre box and cutting at 45 degrees. You might want to use a simpler profile like quad for example though. Hope that helps.
Cut your skirting on the flat with your circular saw set at 45 degrees using a T square guide made from two pieces of well planed timber and scribe to that.

[wombat47]

We gyprocked a sloping ceiling and were in the process of trying to work out how to cut the cornice - but running into all sorts of problems, as outlined by Caped Crusader. A friend dropped in, surveyed the problem, took a couple of pieces of cornice and a saw and proceeded to cut them freehand. They fitted so we made her cut the real thing. The corners match brilliantly.

It can be done - you just need to find someone who can do it.

Skirting board - I have cut a couple of pieces of 3x2 to the desired angle using a mitre box, then clamped the pieces onto a wide skirting board, and carefully cut by hand, holding the saw against the face of the 3x2. Not perfect, but functional. This was for an external corner of somewhat more than 90 degrees, using recycled old, wide skirting board.

[FrankS]

Thanks Wombat 47.
I'll try almost anything.Thankfully only have one ceiling to do.
FrankS

[adrian]

As GeoffS has said, you don't necessarily have to mitre the skirting. You can install one piece all the way to the corner then hold the end of a scrap piece at right angles to the back of the piece you want to install next, and then trace the profile of the moulding. Then cut it out with a coping saw. The two will butt together like a jigsaw puzzle. At least, that's the theory.
It's probably the best way to do it when the corner isn't 90deg.

I hope I've explained it properly. Practice with an offcut.

[FrankS]

Yes, thanks Adrian. I think I'll be able to manage the skirtings now

FrankS

[GeoffS]

Just a point on skirting boards that doesn't seem to get a lot of mention.
The bottom edge of the wall is frequently not perpindicular to the floor. Rough bottom plates and studs not of exactly the same size as the plate cause this. If you try to mitre an inside corner in this situation it is a real headache and the result can be a mess. It can need a compound mitre in all 3 dimensions - 4 if you take your time into account!!
One reason why a square cut and coping the 2nd cut is the normal method.
Cheers

[vGolfer]

I've just been reading some of the threads on Skirting and it has been very helpful. I was originally just going to mitre the corners and hope fr the best. Reading up on some of the threads it has been suggested the best way to do it is to butt a full length of skirting against the wall and then scribe the profile onto a piece pushed flush against the attached piece. Seemed like a great idea.

I decided to give it a try and just practice on some skirting offcuts I got from Chippys. The problem is it is that Victorian style skirting so the profile is pretty intricate.

For a bit of a novice like myself this method seems extremely fiddly and difficult and I doubt whether I have the skills to do it properly.

I am now thinking of going back to the mitred way, perhaps just overestimating the angle of the cut and then just fill any gap with No More Gaps. The skirting is being painted white anyway which will be the same colour as the walls.

Can anyone offer any advice?

[FrankS]

I've just been reading some of the threads on Skirting and it has been very helpful. I was originally just going to mitre the corners and hope fr the best. Reading up on some of the threads it has been suggested the best way to do it is to butt a full length of skirting against the wall and then scribe the profile onto a piece pushed flush against the attached piece. Seemed like a great idea.

I decided to give it a try and just practice on some skirting offcuts I got from Chippys. The problem is it is that Victorian style skirting so the profile is pretty intricate.

For a bit of a novice like myself this method seems extremely fiddly and difficult and I doubt whether I have the skills to do it properly.

I am now thinking of going back to the mitred way, perhaps just overestimating the angle of the cut and then just fill any gap with No More Gaps. The skirting is being painted white anyway which will be the same colour as the walls.

Can anyone offer any advice?
vGolfer... I've had reasonable success doing it this way.Any misfit can be easily fixed with an angle grinder using reasonably coarse grit paper. Advice I received on this forum was invaluable. My skirting was 140mm Colonial pattern.
Cheers
FrankS

[vGolfer]

Frank, do you mean you just cut at 45 degree angles or you scribed?

[julianx]

The most important reason for scribing internal corners is to prevent shrinkage gaps, a mitred joint has 2 thicknesses of timber to shrink where as as a scribed joint has only one thickness therefore potentialy only half the gap. To get a tight fit I generally cut the moldings a few mm longer and spring them in ie put one end in then bend the oversized timber to get the other end in then push the bend flat against the wall and nail it flat. Good grief it's so much harder describing somthing like this with words rather than actions.

[GeoffS]

Always willing to provide a contrary view!! - I was always taught that the main reason for not mitreing is that buildings or more particularly rooms are rarely square. Also walls are frequently not perpendicular and that can really mess up a mitre.
More importantly I feel is that an 'open' mitre can be very visible while with careful use of scribing any slightly open joins can be hard to see. As has been explained in the past look at the corners from the door(s) and arrange the join so that you won't be able to see into the join. Easier to describe with a drawing than words but I'm sure that has been well explained elsewhere.
You can still use use Julian's approach and cut the boards a mil or so too long and spring them in. That will also take care of some the shrinkage. It also accomodates some of the errors in cutting the scribed line particularly with 'colonial' style skirtings.
Either method can look OK and likewise either method can look BA. It just depends on how carefully it is executed.
Good luck

[julianx]

ok ok! "ONE" of the most important reasons is to prevent gaps. Anyway all the walls I put up are always perfectly square and plumb :D :D

[mic-d]

The best way to "scribe" the end of the board you are going to cope is to cut it at 45º on a cmpd mitre saw and then follow the line of the cut along the face of the skirt with the coping saw, cutting a little more off the back of the board for a nice crisp joint even if the corner is not quite 90º.

Cheers
Michael

[GeoffS]

Mic - that is a great method but not good if the wall is not perpendicular.
For younger readers (!!) walls not being perpendicular is more likely to be the result of warped bottom plates and studs that are not dead centre and/or have warped over time. Hardwood frames built in the 1950s can be an extreme example of this with the plaster board doing some very strange things at the bottom and the top.
Anyway, I do agree with MIc, that is the best way to 'scribe' the line but just check first.
Cheers

[FrankS]

vGolfer
I scribed the inside corners and mitered the outside corners.
Hope this works for you
FrankS