How I fit skirting boards and other trims

 Thought I might share how a numpty cuts skirting and other trims. 

 I am busy writing eight pieces about Chocolat for DH&MS and keep ending up with yards of stuff I don't have space for so it seems a good idea to split the load between those pieces and this blog.

The idea in both places is to share 'amateur time' with folk so they know they can have a go and not make a worse job of it than me.

In that vein here is the honest sequence of how I do it - yes, I do know how to do it properly, but .......



I start by lobbing a piece of skirting in place and think about which way I want the cut to go.

Now here comes the really numpty bit - do I mark it with a finely sharpened pencil, nope!









I walk across to my trusty saw bench - aka clamp, mitre box and desk - and put the wood in the box,  matching my hand to the cut that goes in the same direction.











Then it is just a matter of cutting it.  If you are new to this - the key to success is to use the sides of the slit that the saw goes through.  Put the saw blade right against one of the sides while you are cutting so you get a good vertical cut through the wood and an accurate 45 degrees.  Always place the back of the skirting to the side of the box, so all the trim shapes are at the top and facing you.  

Not all saws cut in two directions so get the feel of which way it cuts - on the push or the pull? Don't use any real effort to shove the saw back and forth, let the teeth do the work.

Here's what they look like (dry fit) in situ - good cuts even if I am a numpty.












The final thing I do as I go along is label each piece clearly on the back.  That way when they are all painted and ready to go in I know what's what.

Most of them will need some adjustment or other as they butt up against door frames but that will just be a case of a simple straight cut. It isn't worth the grief of trying to work out their precise length in advance; unless you are practising fine engineering they will never be right.