Termites ate my skirting boards

G

gooram

Only happened in a single room, but I'm thinking of redoing the boards in the entire house.

Does anyone have any advice on doing this?

Things I know and/or have thought of:

1. Run a paint stripper along the edges between the wall to ensure you don't pull paint off. Then ease the board off in one go using something to lever against to protect the wall.

2. Replace with a slightly higher board so you don't need to repair/repaint the wall.

3. Do you paint your boards before installing? Makes sense to me.

4. Anyone had this done by a pro and any ideas on cost?

5. Good time to replace floors if that's in your plan.

Thanks for your help.
Gooram
 
im taking 2-1 on odds that skirting boards are the least of your dramas...get yourself a pest dude who has a x-ray type camera to investigate asap............anything less is a waste of time especially inside a house.

regards

sp bookie
 
They're double brick walls which is some consolation, and I've had the rest of the place inspected, roof trusses cleared, found some in the pergola out back and in the cubby house, which is now gone. Have had the place treated and now monitoring for further activity. Cheeky little fkkers.
 
gooram said:
Only happened in a single room, but I'm thinking of redoing the boards in the entire house.

Does anyone have any advice on doing this?

Things I know and/or have thought of:

1. Run a paint stripper along the edges between the wall to ensure you don't pull paint off. Then ease the board off in one go using something to lever against to protect the wall.

In the termite room should not be a big issues in removing I still would use a multi tool and cut out between fixings, you can then lever from the end of the skirting board (protecting the walls that way) run a stanley knife on top of the skirting board if needed. Refix with a larger board if needed using http://www.ankermann.com.au/Product-FBS-6-5-SK-(6x60-Countersunk)_444.aspx

Multi tool http://www.bunnings.com.au/products...n-tool-bosch-180w-deluxe-access-set_2632.aspx (hope the links work) Multi tool about $100 if memory is correct. I have posted a photo showing a multi tool.

2. Replace with a slightly higher board so you don't need to repair/repaint the wall.

3. Do you paint your boards before installing? Makes sense to me.

I would at least prime the boards and give them a light sand before installing.

4. Anyone had this done by a pro and any ideas on cost?

It will depend on how many rooms type of skiting, whats in the rooms furniture, carpets etc etc.

5. Good time to replace floors if that's in your plan.

Be a good time to check the floor boards if the skirting has had dinner guests :eek:


Thanks for your help.
Gooram
Click to expand...


Thanks
Brian
 

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If you have lazy termites like at one of my properties they only ate the skirtings and quad in one room. Removed affected pieces and timber sleepers outside. No problems.

Just run a stanley knife along the top to stop paint ripping. New ones aren't that expensive. Undercoat and paint before replacing. Just putty up nail holes and touch up with paint.

If you are painting the walls do it before replacing skirtings.
 
We had the same problem where we had damp getting into the house for various reasons (leaky downpipe, hole in tank etc) that were since fixed.

Old skirtings are quite hard to get off as they are nailed into wooden plugs in the wall, yours might be the same as they are on double brick.

We were lazy and just mortared/plastered up the damaged wall (our walls are stone) down to ground level and left the rooms skirtingless. No more termite munchies :mad:
 
Thanks for the tips.

NDS, re price for a carpenter to do this, lets assume it was for an empty 3 bdrm house and a standard skirting. Ballpark figure?

Note assume supply and install.

Also, would new floors/carpets go down before or after skirting? I assume if we put them on after, then we won't need additional beading?

If sourcing my own skirtings, where's the best place to get them?

Thanks.
 
Skirtings of standard profile are incredibly cheap, we're talking around $10 for quite a long length. This is primed MDF stuff. Very easy to source at hardware stores.

You put carpets in afterwards and you won't need extra beading, laminate timber you either put it in first or you put extra beading on later. We recarpeted this house and did floating timber floors in the kitchen and we did carpet after skirtings but skirtings after laminate, it looks lovely.
 
RumpledElf said:
Skirtings of standard profile are incredibly cheap, we're talking around $10 for quite a long length. This is primed MDF stuff. Very easy to source at hardware stores.

You put carpets in afterwards and you won't need extra beading, laminate timber you either put it in first or you put extra beading on later. We recarpeted this house and did floating timber floors in the kitchen and we did carpet after skirtings but skirtings after laminate, it looks lovely.
Click to expand...

Yeah thanks for that. I think that's what I'm going to do.

Rip out skirtings, cornice, floor coverings.
Then plaster and paint facebrick walls.
Lay floating floors/carpets
Paint skirtings
Install skirtings and cornice.

Can you buy pre-painted skirtings? Surely everyone wants white gloss skirting boards?
 
Cornice? Don't you mean architrave? Architraves go around doors, cornice is the plaster stuff where the ceiling meets the walls.

No, you can't buy them prepainted. And funnily enough gloss white costs more than not-gloss-white. We wanted gloss white skirtings in the house we are building, and they charged us extra because it needs an extra coat of paint ... not so for off-white.
 
RumpledElf said:
Cornice? Don't you mean architrave? Architraves go around doors, cornice is the plaster stuff where the ceiling meets the walls.

No, you can't buy them prepainted. And funnily enough gloss white costs more than not-gloss-white. We wanted gloss white skirtings in the house we are building, and they charged us extra because it needs an extra coat of paint ... not so for off-white.
Click to expand...


No I mean cornice, I'm plastering over some internal brick walls at the same time, so cornice needs to come off.
 
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