Skirting Boards: Profiles, Heights, Materials, and How to Fit Them

Your builder has finished plastering the new extension and your decorator has painted the walls. It looks almost done. Then someone fits the skirting boards and they're 95mm tall in the new room but 145mm everywhere else in the house. Now the doorway between old and new has mismatched skirting that screams "extension" every time you walk through it. Replacing it means pulling off what's just been fitted, filling the holes, repainting the damaged plaster, and buying the right size. Two days and £200 wasted because nobody measured the existing skirting before ordering.

What it is and what it's for

Skirting board is the trim fitted at the junction where your walls meet the floor. It serves three practical purposes: it hides the rough edge where plaster meets the floor surface, it protects the base of the wall from scuffs and vacuum cleaner impacts, and it covers the expansion gap required by laminate and engineered wood flooring.

No building regulations govern skirting board height, profile, or material. It's a purely aesthetic and practical choice. But it's one of the most visible finishing details in any room, and getting it wrong (wrong height, wrong profile, poor mitre joints) makes an otherwise good build look amateur.

Skirting is a second-fix item. It goes in after plastering is complete and fully dried (allow 4-6 weeks for new plaster), and its timing relative to flooring depends on the floor type. More on that below.

Profiles explained

The profile is the decorative shape moulded into the top edge. This is the single biggest source of confusion for homeowners ordering skirting, because the names are not obvious and builders' merchants often use them interchangeably.

Torus has a semi-circular hump near the top, similar to the rounded moulding at the base of a classical column. It's the most common profile in UK homes built from the 1930s onward and the most widely stocked at every builders' merchant.

Ogee has an S-shaped double curve (concave flowing into convex). It's the second most common profile and often sold as a dual-sided board with torus on one face and ogee on the other, letting you choose which profile faces outward. Wickes labels these "Torus/Ogee" boards.

Bullnose has a simple, soft rounded top edge. Clean and minimal. Popular in contemporary renovations.

Chamfered has a straight 45-degree bevel cut at the top edge. The most modern-looking option. Works well in new-builds and minimalist interiors.

Pencil round is the simplest profile: just a tiny 3mm radius on the top edge. Almost square. Very modern.

Ovolo has a shallow elongated curve. Similar to torus but flatter and more subtle.

Lamb's tongue combines a concave dip with a convex lip. Period-specific. You'll find it in Georgian and early Victorian properties.

Identifying your existing profile

If you're extending an existing house, the skirting in your new rooms needs to match what's already there. Measure three things from a piece you can access: the height (bottom of board to top), the thickness (front face to wall), and the profile shape (photograph it from the side, edge-on). Take those measurements and the photo to the merchants' merchant.

Standard torus and ogee profiles in 119mm and 145mm heights are available off the shelf at Wickes, B&Q, Screwfix, and Travis Perkins. If your existing skirting is an unusual period profile or a non-standard height (Victorian homes often run 170-220mm), you'll need a specialist supplier. Skirting World, Period Mouldings, and The Skirting Board Shop all offer extensive profile ranges including bespoke profiling to match samples.

Height: getting the proportions right

Skirting height should relate to your ceiling height. Too short and the room looks unfinished. Too tall and it dominates the wall.

145mm is the default for most UK homes. If you can't decide, 145mm in torus or ogee profile will look right in almost any room with a standard 2.4m ceiling.

For period properties, match what's already in the house. Victorian and Edwardian homes typically used 170-220mm skirting. Replacing it with 95mm modern board during a renovation is a common mistake that devalues the period character.

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Matching skirting to architrave

Skirting and architrave (the trim around door openings) should use the same profile for a consistent look throughout the room. If you're fitting torus skirting, fit torus architrave. The architrave is traditionally slightly narrower than the skirting is tall, but matching the profile matters more than matching the exact dimensions.

MDF vs softwood

This is the decision that generates the most conflicting advice online. MDF suppliers say MDF is better. Period restoration companies say timber. The honest answer depends on your situation.

MDF skirting is made from medium density fibreboard with the profile machined into the face. It's consistently smooth, free of knots and grain, takes paint well, and comes pre-primed from most suppliers. The edges are uniform and the profiles are crisp. For a painted finish in a stable, dry room, MDF gives you a factory-smooth result.

Softwood (pine) skirting is solid timber, typically Scandinavian redwood. It's more durable at external corners (MDF chips if you catch it with a vacuum cleaner), it can be sanded and refinished, and it's the traditional choice for period properties. But builder's merchant pine is often inconsistent, with knots, splits, and twists that mean you reject a proportion of lengths before fitting.

Here's what the pricing actually looks like at a standard builders' merchant:

The common claim that "MDF is always cheaper than softwood" is wrong. At Wickes, pine 145mm skirting is actually cheaper per metre than MDF 145mm. The price relationship depends on the size, the profile, and whether the MDF is pre-primed. Specialist online MDF suppliers (Skirting World, Metres Direct) are genuinely cheaper than builders' merchants for bulk orders, which is where the "MDF is cheaper" perception originates.

The practical recommendation: MDF for any room that's getting a painted finish and has no moisture exposure. Pine for period properties where you want to match existing timber trim, for external corners in high-traffic areas, and for anyone who wants a natural or stained finish. In a new kitchen extension, use MR MDF.

How to work with it

Cutting

Every cut on skirting involves either a straight cut, an internal corner, or an external corner. You need a mitre saw for the angled cuts. A hand saw and mitre box will work for a few cuts but the accuracy drops off quickly, and on a full room you'll burn through patience before you finish the second wall.

Straight cuts at butt joints (where two lengths meet along a wall run) should be angled, not square. Cut a 45-degree angle back from the face so the visible joint line is minimal and can be filled. A square butt joint opens as the timber moves and looks poor.

External corners (where the wall turns outward toward you) get a standard 45-degree mitre on each board, meeting to form a 90-degree corner. Apply grab adhesive and pin both pieces while the adhesive cures. External mitres on MDF are fragile. Consider pine for corners that take impact.

Internal corners are where most DIYers go wrong. Do not mitre internal corners. The two 45-degree cuts never meet cleanly because UK walls are rarely at exactly 90 degrees, and any wood movement opens the joint over time. Use a scribed joint instead.

Scribing internal corners

Scribing (also called coping) produces a tight internal corner joint that accommodates walls that aren't perfectly square and stays tight as the timber moves. Every carpenter does this. Most DIY guides skip it or mention it briefly. Here's the full technique.

1. First board: cut square and push it tight into the corner. This board doesn't need any special treatment.

2. Second board: cut a 45-degree back mitre on the end (the profile side of the cut faces you, the back of the board is longer). This cut reveals the exact profile shape along the leading edge.

3. Cut the straight section below the profile using a fine-toothed handsaw (a floorboard saw is ideal). Cut along the line where the profile meets the flat face.

4. Cut the curved profile using a coping saw with the teeth facing backward (toward the handle). Follow the profile line revealed by the 45-degree cut. Back-cut slightly (angle the saw so more material is removed from the back than the front). This allows the face to sit tight against the first board even if the corner isn't exactly 90 degrees.

5. Sand the cut edge with 120-grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel for curves, flat for straight sections.

6. Dry-fit before committing. Push the scribed board against the first board and check for gaps. Adjust with the coping saw or sandpaper.

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Fixing to the wall

How you fix skirting depends on what's behind the plaster.

Masonry walls (brick or block): Use screws and wall plugs. Drill 6mm holes through the skirting at 50mm from each end and then every 500mm along the run. Mark through, remove the board, drill the masonry with a 6mm masonry bit, insert wall plugs, then screw the skirting into place. Apply grab adhesive (Gripfill or similar) to the back of the board before fixing. The adhesive does the long-term holding; the screws keep it in position while the adhesive cures.

Plasterboard on timber studs: Use lost-head nails (40-50mm) driven into the studs, combined with grab adhesive. Locate studs with a stud finder or by tapping the wall (studs sound solid, voids sound hollow). Nails at 600mm centres into studs. The nails pull tight against the adhesive.

Plasterboard on dabs (dot-and-dab): This is trickier. The plasterboard is stuck to the wall with blobs of adhesive, with an air gap behind. You can't rely on the plasterboard alone to hold fixings. Drive through the plasterboard into the masonry behind using longer screws and wall plugs (70-80mm screws to get through the board, gap, and into the block).

Always combine adhesive with mechanical fixings. Adhesive alone on a perfectly smooth modern wall can work, but it's unreliable on the slightly uneven surfaces found in real houses. The mechanical fixing holds the board while the adhesive cures and provides insurance against adhesive failure.

Dealing with uneven walls

UK houses, particularly Victorian and Edwardian properties, rarely have flat walls. Gaps between skirting and wall are the most common complaint on every DIY forum.

Small gaps (under 5mm) at the top edge: fill with decorator's caulk after fitting. Run a bead along the top edge, smooth with a wet finger, let it dry, then paint over. This is standard practice, not a shortcut.

Larger dips (5-20mm): scribe the top of the skirting to follow the wall contour. Hold the board in position, run a compass or pencil against the wall to transfer the contour onto the board, then plane or jigsaw the top edge to match. Time-consuming but it's the correct fix.

Extreme dips (20mm+): the plaster may need chiselling back below skirting level so the board can sit flat. This is a plasterer's job, not a skirting problem.

For floors that aren't level, pack both ends of the board equally, scribe the bottom edge to the floor contour, and trim with a jigsaw or hand plane.

How much do you need

Measure the perimeter of each room in metres. Subtract the width of each doorway (typically 760-860mm per opening). Add 10% for waste from cutting, mitres, and rejected lengths (increase to 15% if you're fitting for the first time and expect to make mistakes).

A typical 4m x 5m room: perimeter is 18 metres, minus two doorways at 0.8m each = 16.4m, plus 10% waste = 18m of skirting.

Skirting comes in standard lengths of 2.4m, 3.0m, 3.6m, and 4.2m. Choose lengths that minimise joints along wall runs. If a wall is 5m long, buy a 3.0m and a 2.4m length rather than three shorter pieces.

Cost and where to buy

That MDF range covers everything from specialist online suppliers (Skirting World at the low end, ex VAT) to Wickes fully-finished white boards at the top. The cost ranges above give you per-metre pricing. Multiply by the length you need for your rooms to get a material total. Not a huge sum for a single room, but it adds up across a whole house.

Wickes, B&Q, and Screwfix all carry torus, ogee, chamfered, and bullnose profiles in MDF at 119mm and 145mm heights. Pine options are more limited in stores but always available to order. Travis Perkins and Jewson carry a wider range for trade customers and often beat DIY store prices on bulk orders.

Specialist online suppliers are worth considering if you need more than a room or two. Skirting World and Metres Direct cut to exact lengths, offer every profile in every height, and are cheaper per metre than the high street on larger orders. Delivery charges apply for standard-length boards.

Pre-primed vs bare: MDF skirting from Wickes and most online suppliers comes pre-primed in white. This saves the most time-intensive preparation step. Pine arrives bare and needs priming before painting. Factor in the primer cost and the time if you're comparing like for like.

For professional fitting, a competent carpenter will fit a full room (four walls, all corners) in half a day. A whole house of skirting across 8-10 rooms takes 2-3 days. Get quotes from at least two carpenters to compare day rates and per-metre pricing in your area.

When to fit: the flooring question

This catches people out. The answer depends on your floor type.

Before carpet: fit skirting first. The carpet fitter uses the bottom of the skirting as a straight edge to tuck gripper rods against. If you carpet first, the fitter has nothing to butt up to and you end up with a messy edge.

After laminate or engineered wood: fit skirting second. These floors need an expansion gap (8-12mm) around the perimeter, and the skirting covers it. If you fit skirting first, you need to leave a gap underneath for the flooring to slide under, which is fiddly and often leaves a visible gap.

After vinyl or LVT: fit skirting second, same reasoning. The skirting hides the cut edge of the vinyl at the wall.

In all cases, wait until new plaster has fully dried (4-6 weeks minimum for fresh plaster) before fitting skirting. Fitting to damp plaster traps moisture behind the board and risks mould growth.

Acclimatisation

Bring skirting boards into the room where they'll be fitted at least 24-48 hours before installation. Timber and MDF expand and contract with temperature and humidity changes. Material that goes straight from a cold delivery van into a heated room will shrink as it acclimatises, opening mitre joints and creating gaps. Pre-prime any cut ends before bringing boards into the room to reduce moisture absorption during acclimatisation.

Alternatives

There's no real alternative to skirting board for the wall-floor junction. Shadow gap details (a recessed channel instead of a protruding board) are used in high-end contemporary interiors but require precise plastering and specialist aluminium channels. They cost significantly more and are rarely practical in a renovation or extension where wall surfaces aren't perfectly flat.

Tile skirting (a strip of matching floor tile fixed to the wall base) is used in some kitchens and bathrooms. It's durable and easy to clean but looks clinical in a living space.

The real choice is MDF vs softwood, covered above.

Where you'll need this

• Decoration - skirting is fitted after plastering and painted as part of the decoration phase
• Flooring - skirting covers the expansion gap at the edge of laminate and engineered wood floors
• Kitchen installation - skirting or plinths fitted where kitchen units meet the floor at exposed edges

Skirting appears in every room of any extension or renovation project. It's one of the final finishing items and one of the most visible. Getting the profile, height, and fitting right makes the difference between a room that looks professionally finished and one that looks like a DIY job.

Common mistakes

Not matching the profile to the rest of the house. In an extension, the new rooms connect to existing ones. If the existing house has 145mm torus skirting and you fit 95mm chamfered in the extension, every doorway between old and new will look wrong. Measure and photograph existing skirting before ordering anything.

Mitring internal corners instead of scribing. Mitred internal corners open over time as the timber moves and never sit tight in the first place because UK walls aren't at perfect 90-degree angles. Scribe internal corners. Mitre external corners only.

Fitting to damp plaster. As noted above, new plaster must be fully dry before skirting goes on. Rush it and you trap moisture behind the board, risking mould and paint failure. If the plaster still has dark wet patches, it's not ready.

Using standard MDF in a kitchen or bathroom. Standard MDF swells permanently when exposed to moisture. One spill that seeps behind the board, one period of sustained condensation from cooking, and the bottom edge starts to bloat. Specify moisture-resistant MDF for any room with a sink, washing machine, or shower.

Not filling and caulking before painting. Nail and screw holes need filling with wood filler, sanded flush. The top edge where skirting meets the wall needs a bead of caulk to close the gap. Without these two steps, the finished paint job shows every fixing and every wall irregularity. Caulk the top edge, fill the fixings, sand, then apply the final coat.

Ordering without measuring thickness as well as height. Standard MDF skirting is 14.5-18mm thick. Standard softwood is 19-21mm. If your existing skirting is 21mm thick pine and you order 14.5mm MDF, the new boards will sit further back from the door architrave (which is usually 18mm thick). The difference is visible at the junction. Check all three dimensions: height, thickness, profile.