Skirting and architrave are the sort of detail people rarely notice until they are wrong. Chipped, gappy, or the wrong height for a newly refitted floor, and suddenly a whole room looks tired even though the walls and floor themselves are fine. It is one of the most cost effective jobs we do, because a relatively modest spend on new skirting and architrave lifts a room's finish more than almost anything else at that price point.
This guide walks through the choices involved, from profile and height to the practicalities of removing old boards and scribing new ones to a floor that is very rarely as level as it should be, along with honest guide costs per metre so you can budget sensibly.
Why skirting and architrave get replaced
The most common trigger is a new floor. Lift an old carpet and lay engineered timber or a floating floor, and the gap left under the existing skirting is either too big to hide with a beading strip or the skirting itself is now sitting at the wrong height relative to the new surface. Rather than patch it, most people take the opportunity to fit new skirting that properly suits the finished floor level.
Damage is the other common reason, skirting takes a battering from hoovers, prams, dog claws and moved furniture over the years, and in older Hampshire homes it is common to find boards that have been painted over so many times the original profile detail has been lost under layers of gloss. Woodworm or rot at the base of skirting in older properties, particularly near external doors or damp corners, is also a frequent reason for replacement.
Finally, plenty of customers simply want to update the look of a room. Swapping a thin, plain Victorian style skirting for a taller, more substantial ogee or bullnose profile, or the reverse, moving from heavy Victorian mouldings to a cleaner square edge profile, changes the whole character of a room without touching the walls or floor at all.
Choosing a profile and height
Profile choice tends to follow the age and style of the house. Georgian and Victorian properties usually suit a period profile with ogee or torus detailing, often paired with matching architrave around doors and windows so the two elements read as one family of joinery. Taller skirting, anywhere from 150mm to over 200mm, suits higher ceilinged period rooms and looks proportionate against taller doors and deeper cornicing.
Newer builds and more contemporary renovations tend toward a simpler square edge or chamfered profile, often in a shorter height of around 100mm to 145mm, which sits comfortably with flush panel doors and plainer architrave or no architrave at all in some modern designs. There is no strict rule, plenty of period homes have been successfully modernised with plain skirting, and plenty of new builds have had period profiles added to bring in some character.
One thing worth deciding early is whether you want skirting and architrave to match in profile family, which most people do for a cohesive look, or whether you are happy for them to differ, which sometimes happens when architrave is being kept and only the skirting is being replaced. Either way, it helps to see a physical sample of the profile before committing, since photographs rarely convey the actual depth and shadow line accurately.
Dealing with old skirting and uneven floors
Removing old skirting sounds simple but can bring its own surprises. Boards fixed with old cut nails or a heavy bed of adhesive often pull plaster away from the wall as they come off, and it is common to find a section of skirting hiding a cable run, a badly patched socket, or even old wallpaper edges that were never trimmed properly. Budgeting a little time and a small allowance for making good behind old skirting is sensible rather than assuming it will lift away cleanly.
Floors in most homes, particularly older ones, are rarely dead level, and new skirting has to be scribed to follow whatever undulation exists rather than leaving unsightly gaps. This is a skill in itself, taking a profile gauge or template of the floor and cutting the back edge of the skirting to match it exactly so the board sits tight to the floor along its whole length. Skipping this step is the single biggest reason DIY skirting jobs end up with visible gaps that then get filled with excessive amounts of caulk.
Corners present their own challenge too. Internal corners are usually coped rather than simply mitred, meaning one board is cut to fit over the profile of the other, because walls are rarely a true right angle and a coped joint tolerates that far better than a mitre, which opens up into a visible gap the moment the angle is even slightly off.
- Check for cables, old sockets or damp behind existing skirting before removal
- Scribe new boards to the actual floor level, do not assume it is flat
- Use coped joints on internal corners rather than mitres
- Prime and undercoat before final fix where possible to reduce on site painting
Guide costs per metre
As a broad guide for Hampshire, supplying and fitting standard MDF skirting in a common profile tends to run from about 18 to 30 pounds per linear metre, including removal of the old board and basic making good. Moving to a taller or more elaborate period profile, or to solid timber rather than MDF, typically pushes that toward 30 to 50 pounds per metre.
Architrave is usually priced in a similar bracket per metre but with a lower total cost per door or window opening since the run of architrave around a standard door is shorter than a room's full skirting run, typically 60 to 120 pounds per opening for supply and fit in a matching profile.
Painting is often quoted separately, and a fully painted finish including undercoat and two topcoats on new skirting and architrave for an average sized room can add anywhere from 100 to 250 pounds depending on how many openings and how much trim there is. These figures are guide ranges only, and a full house re skirting will usually attract a better overall rate per metre than a single room due to the efficiency of one continuous visit.
Sequencing the work sensibly
If you are having new flooring fitted at the same time, skirting should generally go in after the floor, so it can be scribed and finished cleanly to the actual floor level rather than guessed in advance. The exception is engineered or solid timber floors that need an expansion gap, where skirting is fitted after the flooring but positioned to allow that gap to be hidden neatly behind it.
If redecorating is also on the cards, most people prefer new skirting and architrave fitted before final decoration, so any small marks from fitting can be covered by the final paint coat rather than needing touch ups on walls that are already finished. It is a small sequencing decision but it saves a fair bit of frustration.
Talk to us about your skirting and architrave
Skirting and architrave might be a modest line item next to a full renovation, but fitted well it makes a genuine difference to how finished a room feels, and fitted badly it is one of those things that nags at you every time you look at the floor. We take the same care over scribing and coping joints on a skirting job as we do on a full panelling installation.
If you would like a guide price for your rooms or want to talk through profile options, call us on 02380 201687 or 07833 227576, or email info@vipwalls.co.uk and we will happily come and take a look.
Common questions
- Do I need to replace architrave if I am only changing skirting?
- Not necessarily, plenty of homes keep the existing architrave and just have skirting replaced, especially if the architrave is in good condition and a similar profile. It tends to look best if the two are at least a similar style, but they do not have to be replaced together.
- Why does my new skirting have a gap at the floor?
- This almost always comes down to the board not being scribed to the actual floor level, which is rarely perfectly flat. A properly fitted board is profiled on the back edge to follow the floor exactly, which avoids the need for excessive filler or caulk to hide a gap.
- MDF or solid timber skirting, which is better?
- MDF is stable, cost effective, and takes paint beautifully, which is why it is the most common choice for painted skirting throughout a house. Solid timber costs more and can move slightly with humidity, but some period properties and natural wood finishes call for it specifically.
- How long does re skirting a whole house take?
- For an average three or four bedroom house, a full re skirt including removal of old boards, fitting, and undercoat typically takes several days on site, with final top coats sometimes done as a separate visit once everything else in a redecoration is settled.
- Can you match an unusual existing profile?
- In most cases yes, either by sourcing a close match from standard mouldings or by having a profile specially milled if the existing one is particularly unusual, which does add cost but keeps a period property consistent throughout.
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