Choosing skirting boards: profiles, heights and materials

Common skirting profiles

Most skirting falls into a few families:

• Square edge and pencil round: clean and modern.
• Chamfered: a simple angled top, common in newer homes.
• Torus: a rounded top, a good match for many period houses.
• Ogee: an S shaped moulding, more decorative and traditional.

Height

Taller ceilings suit taller skirting; low boards in a tall Victorian room look lost. In modern homes with lower ceilings, very tall skirting can make the room feel heavier. Matching the height and profile of the architrave around doors keeps everything consistent.

MDF or timber

Primed MDF is stable, smooth and ready to paint, and does not have knots that bleed through paint. Softwood is traditional and can be painted or stained. Hardwoods such as oak suit clear finishes. In bathrooms and kitchens, moisture resistant MDF or sealed timber is sensible.

How skirting is fitted

Old skirting is removed carefully to avoid damaging plaster. Internal corners are scribed rather than simply mitred, which gives a tight joint that stays closed when the wood moves. External corners are mitred. Boards are fixed with adhesive and pins or screws into the wall, and gaps along uneven walls and floors are filled before painting.

Fitting skirting before or after flooring depends on the floor type. With a floating floor, skirting often goes on after, covering the expansion gap.

Matching existing skirting

In older houses you may need to match an existing profile for a repair or an extension. Many profiles are still made, and bespoke moulding can be produced where one is not. Taking a small offcut or a clear photo of the end section helps identify it.

Painting and finishing

Skirting takes knocks from vacuum cleaners, furniture and feet, so the finish matters. A durable satin or eggshell paint is usually chosen for painted boards, applied after filling nail holes and caulking the top edge to the wall. Leaving the caulk to cure before painting avoids cracking along the joint.

For stained or oiled timber, the boards are usually finished before fitting or very carefully afterwards, because filler shows through a clear finish. Choosing matching architrave and door linings at the same time keeps a room consistent, and replacing skirting is a good moment to hide cables behind a routed channel or to fit sockets and data points neatly. In rooms with underfloor heating, allow for a little movement at the bottom edge rather than fixing the board tight to the floor.

Plain square edge skirting often suits contemporary homes with flush doors and minimal architraves, while more decorative profiles can look out of place in a room with a very simple finish. If you are unsure, look at the doors and windows in the room, and pick a skirting that echoes the level of detail they already have. Many people also choose to fit the same profile throughout the ground floor so every room flows into the next.

Questions we're asked about this