Without the baseboard around the room, even the most expensive elite wood flooring will look ridiculous. The wooden floor plinth will immediately transform the interior and make it expressive. Being in such a room is nice. The article is devoted to a review of existing types of skirting boards, and also talks about the rules for fixing them. In view of the large range of products of this type on the market, the article will be useful to people who are going to carry out repairs in the apartment on their own. The materials of the article will help you to navigate correctly and choose a high-quality, compliant floor wooden skirting.
The advantages of wood products
Traditional wooden skirting boards today are gradually losing ground to modern materials - these are aluminum, stainless steel sheet, plastic, etc. But despite this, wooden skirting boards are still in price, and in recent years the demand for these products has been growing steadily. This happens because people are saturated with beautiful wraps and now prefer to use practical, safe for health and environmentally friendly materials in their homes. Wood in this regard is the best option. MDF skirting boards are used in conjunction with a laminate flooring or with linoleum. Wood paired with these materials will look bad. It's like putting on sports leotards with shoes.
For the manufacture of skirting boards can be used in various species of trees. Most often it is a pine. Wooden floor plinth is much stronger than modern plastic substitutes. Aluminum profiles and stainless steel profiles are made thin-walled, and therefore, with the slightest impact, dents remain on them.
In addition to durability and the ability to tolerate significant loads, wooden floor skirtings have a number of additional advantages: ease of installation, the presence of a channel for laying a telephone cord or cable for a television antenna, a long service life, the ability to paint in any color or varnish of any color, resistance to extremes temperature and increased humidity.
Existing varieties of wooden skirting boards
Over time, people's perceptions of beauty change, sophistication in the decoration gives way to practical minimalism. Based on this, the appearance of skirting boards is changing. So, the traditional floor is replaced by a high floor skirting. And over time, there has been a tendency to increase its popularity.
When implementing non-standard design projects, they often do not take into account the cost of materials, including floor skirtings. In such cases, a wide wooden baseboard is often made on special order using expensive types of wood. Such an element will add luxury to the room.
What to look for when buying
There should not be many bitches on the outside. A few pieces are still valid. They try to hide such areas behind furniture. But when there are a lot of bitches, they will spoil the whole appearance of the room.
It is very important that the products meet all sanitary and hygienic standards: for wood impregnation and for the application of protective and decorative coatings, only compositions and products that have passed the relevant certification should be used. The health of all those who will live in the apartment depends on this.
On the outer surface of the skirting board is not allowed the presence of any defects: cracks, spots. Serious problems can develop with such trifles. So, a minor crack can lead to cracking of the entire baseboard.
In the production of such products, it is extremely important that all process steps are followed. So, before you get on the counter, the wood must be dried. If for some reason this operation was not carried out or was carried out with violations, then such a plinth with a high degree of probability will deform and become covered with significant cracks as it dries.
The shape and standard sizes of skirting boards
Is there a single GOST that would regulate all the characteristics and dimensions of floor wooden skirting boards? He is not there. Therefore, the market offers a variety of options and designs of floor-mounted wooden skirting boards: wide, high (has a height of 14 cm), standard (height is equal to the width and is 5 cm).
All wooden skirting boards by type of production and technology features can be divided into veneer skirtings and solid wood skirting.
Skirting boards can also be classified according to the shape, nature of the outer surface and the cross section for interior and combined. Modern technologies today allow mass production of skirting boards with complex carved surfaces.
Description and characteristics of veneer skirting board
Skirting board of this type is created on the basis of inexpensive wood. Usually the base is made of pine or spruce. But as a finish, you can use expensive elite material. Most often, such is oak. The keyed floor skirting board has quite good performance characteristics and the massive skirting board is only resistant to moisture: under the influence of humidity, the veneer can peel off from the base. Moreover, this disease is characteristic both for a high-quality skirting board at a high price, and for cheaper options. Moisture resistance can be increased by applying several layers of wear- and moisture-resistant varnish.
Solid wood skirting board
The cost of such skirting boards can vary greatly and depends primarily on what material they are made of. So, a wooden floor plinth made of solid ash, oak and cherry belongs to the category of premium products and is very expensive. But pine or spruce are the cheapest materials. It should be said that the operational characteristics of the materials are not much different. This is, perhaps, a question exclusively of the image and status of the owner.
Preparatory phase of work
To work, you need to take care in advance and prepare all the necessary tools. In the work, one cannot do without a drill with a set of drills for concrete and wood, a screwdriver with a cross bit, a saw with a small tooth (it is quite possible to use a hacksaw for metal), nails, tape measure.
Before proceeding with the fastening of the skirting boards, it is necessary to cut the original strips into pieces of the required length, as well as prepare the ends for joining. These works must be carried out very carefully, because even the slightest oversight will lead to significant gaps and gaps, which will adversely affect the entire interior. To hide such gaps will be almost impossible.
With plastic skirting boards everything is much simpler: just cut the planks to the desired length. At the same time, it is not necessary to catch exact angles: all flaws and defects at the ends will be hidden by decorative overlays. Cutting skirting boards from wood is a completely different matter. At the ends that will dock in the corners, it is necessary to obtain the exact values of the angles. It is necessary to maintain the linear size. A cut at a certain angle cannot be done without accessories. Such a device in this case is a carpentry miter. You can also use a portable wood cutting machine with a circular saw.
How to fix floor wooden skirting boards
There are several methods for attaching wooden skirting boards. Most often, wooden skirting boards are mounted, as a rule, on self-tapping screws. The distance between the holes (pitch) is 0.5 meters. But if the wall has a significant curvature, then it is recommended to screw in screws with a smaller pitch to press the baseboard against the wall and eliminate the gaps.
Fastening a high floor skirting is as follows. First, the screws are screwed into a wooden plinth so that they slightly come out from the back. Skirting board with screws is applied to the wall. On the wall with a marker or pencil, places for holes are marked. Drill on concrete to make holes into which wooden plugs are clogged. The skirting board is again mounted against the wall and screwed on with self-tapping screws. Screw caps must be slightly drowned in wood. The resulting depression is masked with a wax pencil or putty on wood.
Features of the installation of veneered skirting
These skirting boards are attached to the so-called clips (anchors). These elements are screwed to the wall on the screws with a certain step (usually 0.5 meters). Each clip has a kind of mustache that goes into the grooves on the back of the baseboard and fixes it. This baseboard is fastened in two counts. But to remove it if necessary in order to then install it back is quite difficult. Most likely, you will have to remove the old ones and fasten new clips.
Oak skirting boards
Oak is a special tree. Its wood has incredible strength. Depending on the geographical location of growth, oak can be brown, yellow and even green. It goes well with varnish coatings. However, in rare cases, paint is used as a protective coating. The oak floor skirting board is characterized by high resistance to moisture and temperature extremes. Oak practically does not absorb water and does not swell with prolonged contact with it.
Walnut Skirtings
Hazel wood also has a high density and is not inferior in its operational characteristics to oak. Also applies to the species of valuable trees. Walnut products serve for a long time, they have proven themselves when used in a variety of conditions. Walnut wood, compared to oak, is less resistant to humid conditions. However, this drawback is more than compensated by its incredible appearance and amazing texture.
Description of other breeds
Mahogany, although not often, is also used in the manufacture of skirting boards and parquet boards. Impressive with its appearance. The material well tolerates increased moisture, is wear resistant.
Beech is not as common as oak and walnut. But plinths are also made from it, which are not inferior to competitors in quality and characteristics. Beech color is white. A wooden floor skirting made of this material will become the royal decoration of the home and will last a long time, while maintaining an excellent appearance.