DIY: Fitting of Skirting, Scotia and Coving
While it may not be the easiest of tasks, fitting skirting, scotia or coving is something that can be done at home, as long as you are careful, thoughtful and take your time when taking measurements and making cuts. Why waste money on expensive builders’ fees when you can easily carry out these simple installations yourself for a fraction of the cost?
Skirting Boards
You will need:
• Lengths of skirting board of the desired design
• A measuring tape
• A pencil
• A protractor
• A ruler
• A miter saw, or standard saw and miter box
• A hammer
• Cut clasp nails
It is firstly necessary to measure the length at the bottom of the walls onto which the skirting will be placed. Mark these lengths onto the rough, back side of the boards. Then, using a protractor, mark a 45˚ line onto the top face which points towards the center of the length of board. With the ruler and pencil, square off the piece of board by the continuing the line onto the front side and the bottom face in order that the line goes all round the skirting board. Then cut the piece using a miter saw which has been set to 45˚. Repeat this process for all of the necessary boards. Then place them all into position to check that they fit together. Finally, nail into the wall to fix them in place, hammering in a nail approximately every 40cm.
Coving
You will need:
• Lengths of coving of the desired design
• A measuring tape
• A pencil
• A protractor
• A ruler
• A fine miter saw, or saw and miter box
• A decorators’ paint brush
• Coving adhesive
Coving sections are available in pre-cut lengths for certain room sizes. However, buying coving this way is likely to be much more expensive than measuring and cutting it yourself. You must remember that some covings are very delicate and easily broken during cutting. Therefore, it may be necessary to use a finer saw than that used for skirting and scotia. It is advisable to test the saw to be used on an offcut first. Follow the same method of measurement and cutting as for the skirting. Then brush coving adhesive liberally onto the underside of each coving piece and push them into place. It may be necessary to remain holding the coving in position for a couple of minutes whilst the adhesive starts to dry.
Scotia
You will need:
• Lengths of scotia
• A measuring tape
• A pencil
• A ruler
• A protractor
• A miter saw, or saw and box
• A pin hammer
• Brass pins
Scotia is typically installed following the installation of skirting boards to cover the expansion gap on , and is attached using pins to the skirting itself. The lengths of scotia should be measured and cut as for skirting board. Following this, the lengths should be laid out in position to ensure that they all fit together. Then, nail them in place, hammering in a pin approximately every 30 centimeters.
I hope you enjoy the installation process!
Author Graeme K: It was fitting the new laminate flooring at the weekend that made me realize how difficult I seem to find ;aying scotia, or anything that involves angles, inverted angles and miter saws etc. I always do it the wrong way. So with my brother-in-law instructing, I have made the guide above.
