Large gap between skirting board and tiles

Cat_M

Hi. What's the best option to rectify this problem please? There's easily 2cm gap between skirting board and kitchen floor. Can you use filler and paint over it? What filler would you use? Thanks. Could it be done in a day or would it be dry enough to sand/ paint in same day if so? Thanks.

jack of all

Any photos? 20mm is too big a gap to fill with any type of caulk or sealant. That's a big gap for even some cove or quadrant moulding to cover as these are generally only 19x19mm or maybe 22mm x 22mm. Put up a photo or two to get a better idea of the problem...

slave1

200mm not 20, OP your floor has sunk and 2cm is a pretty big amount, is this a new build? Waste of time if still sinking

Shaunoc

slave1 wrote: »

200mm not 20, OP your floor has sunk and 2cm is a pretty big amount, is this a new build? Waste of time if still sinking

200mm is an earthquake
20mm a tremor

Tell me how

I'd be more worried about finding the root cause than a solution if there's a 20mm gap. If it's 200mm? I'd be getting a hotel room for the night.

Apiarist

Cat_M wrote: »

Can you use filler and paint over it? What filler would you use? Thanks. Could it be done in a day or would it be dry enough to sand/ paint in same day if so? Thanks.

It would be good to leave a small gap, as it will make removing the skirting easier later. 2cm is to large a gap for a filler, you could either glue a 15 mm plank to the bottom of the skirting board and fill over that, or your could just remove the skirting accurately and put a slightly wider new skirting.

awec

What to do in this situation depends on why you have the gap IMO.

Cat_M

awec wrote: »

What to do in this situation depends on why you have the gap IMO.

No idea why. It's been there'since I bought the house 15 years ago. House is 25 years old. It didn't come for mention in my survey. I didn't notice as ther was lino on top of the tiles vwhen I bought it. Didn't bother me but now I'm selling up and wondering if it will bother anyone else.

listermint

Hmm... That could have just been a crap flooring and skirting job. Rather than subsidence

chuck eastwood

Cat_M wrote: »

No idea why. It's been there'since I bought the house 15 years ago. It didn't come for mention in my survey. I didn't notice as ther was lino on top of the tiles vwhen I bought it. Didn't bother me but now I'm selling up and wondering if it will bother anyone else.

Rip it off. Get a decent floor paint from the likes of AIC in tallaght and put back on a new skirting of about 150mm. Days work and it will look great

Cat_M

listermint wrote: »

Hmm... That could have just been a crap flooring and skirting job. Rather than subsidence

It's only bad at a section . Not the whole way around. My husband used a split level and said both the floor and the skirting boards are level at that point so it's weird.

RebelButtMunch

Perhaps there was a wooden floor on top of the tiles that had been removed

Cat_M

chuck eastwood wrote: »

Rip it off. Get a decent floor paint from the likes of AIC in tallaght and put back on a new skirting of about 150mm. Days work and it will look great

I don't know if I'll be able to get someone for such a relatively small job. Is the previous suggestion of the beading being glued to it and painted over an option at all?

Cat_M

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Perhaps there was a wooden floor on top of the tiles that had been removed

We did wonder about that alright. Odd and all as it seems especially if the same people put lino down on top of tiles. Odd.

Cat_M

If you were a prospective buyer, would that freak you out? Or would the possiblity of the wooden floor be a reasonable explanation??

Twenty Grand

Did it drop?

Can you take the skirting off and lower it till it hits the tile?

tabby aspreme

At some stage there was flooring up against the skirting, there is a lip of dried paint at the bottom of the skirting, probably a wooden floor. It would be easier to fit new skirting, than try to reuse what's there, as it's probably steel nailed to the wall and will break when being removed.

Twenty Grand

I'd probably leave it if you need to spend money.

It's not going to stop someone buying the house.

Car99

Get a lenght of fairly simple looking architrave, nail it to the existing skirting along the entire lenght . It will look good when finished.

Cat_M

Car99 wrote: »

Get a lenght of fairly simple looking architrave, nail it to the existing skirting along the entire lenght . It will look good when finished.

So you mean covering what's there ?

jmBuildExt

Cat_M wrote: »

So you mean covering what's there ?

not covering it entirely.... a piece skinnier than the skirting that wcovers the gap. like adding an extra profile - you'd have to paint the whole lot though. i think it will look good.

i think that gap is too wide to put a strip of beeding in.

listermint

Just buy 7 Inch Skirting, take off whats there and install the taller stuff. It could be done in a few hours. No other changes needed it covers everything. Cost > 40 Euroish in materials.

awec

Yea I'd probably just replace the skirting entirely

But if you do, and you repaint the skirting, the walls are going to stand out as looking worn compared to the brand spanking new skirtings.

g6fdyotp5nj2l7

Cat_M wrote:

It's only bad at a section . Not the whole way around.

So are you saying the skirting reaches the tile except for that section.

Cat_M

Archer Ambitious Stack wrote: »

So are you saying the skirting reaches the tile except for that section.

It reaches the tile at a different point of the room. The gap is not consistent around the room.

Cat_M

There is laminate flooring on the rest of the downstairs. Is it possible that there was laminate there before? Doesn't explain the inconsistency in the gap tho. Unless by SK e weird idea that previous owners partially floored the kitchen - diner.

awec

Is your floor level?

The only way you have a gap that big in one part but not another is either your floor is not level, your skirtings are a different size or your skirtings are wonky.

Cat_M

awec wrote: »

Is your floor level?

The only way you have a gap that big in one part but not another is either your floor is not level, your skirtings are a different size or your skirtings are wonky.

Maybe the floor is not level. Husband insists it is as per spirit level but I'm not sure..

awec

Cat_M wrote: »

Maybe the floor is not level. Husband insists it is as per spirit level but I'm not sure..

If the spirit level says its level then it's probably level. That's a fairly big gap so I'd think you'd have noticed if the floor was that sloped.

Are the skirting boards on straight? Stick the spirit level on those. And are the skirtings the same size the whole way round the room?

Does the gap just appear at one point, or gradually appear?

Purgative

Cat_M wrote: »

Maybe the floor is not level. Husband insists it is as per spirit level but I'm not sure..

Probably not - We live in an older house (not quite as old as me ) none of the floors are level, or the walls true.


For my money just fixing a strip of quadrant will give a neat enough job. Get white and you won't have to paint. After a couple of days you won't notice it.

my3cents

Cat_M wrote: »

Maybe the floor is not level. Husband insists it is as per spirit level but I'm not sure..

Is the skirting board level (along the top edge)and all the same height?

If both floor and skirting board are level and the gap is equal all the way around then their must have been some other floor covering or someone expected to put one down when they put the skirting board on.