Skirting and boxing in boiler pipe questions....

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

Soldato
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Got two quick questions about what people generally do in these two situations.....

Got someone coming doing my skirting next week. I've already laid the flooring so the skirting is being fitted over it. It's pretty primed MDF which I intend on giving an undercoat first but then I'm just wondering what people recommend in terms of giving of when to gloss them. Should I let the joined. Dry fit everything then gloss them and have him come back and fit them once glossed or should I just have him fit them all when they've been undercoated and gloss them whilst on?

Second - Tiler is coming next week to tile kitchen walls. The boiler pipework is on show above the worktop and I've got some 18mm MDF to make a small box to box them in but I'm just wondering when people box in their pipework like this do they create a permanent box or just a shield for the pipes that can be moved easily? I ideally want the Tiler to tile the boxing in so just wondering what people do?
 
Gloss the skirting once it's on... that way you can fill any fixing holes (if the joiner doesn't gripfix it on) and fill the joins.

Assuming your boiler has the vales, filling loop, etc under the boiler, I wouldn't go for a permanent box. You'll be likely to need to get in at some point.
 
How easy is to gloss woodwork once it's on though and the flooring is already down? Is it not likely to end in tears with gloss all over my laminate lol?. My brother is a decorator and I'm hoping he will offer to do it but just thinking what will be easiest if he can't do it!

And yep all the valves are directly on the underside so I'll just make an L shape MDF shield to go in front of it and ask the Tiler to tile this so it matches the wall.
 
It's easy.

Run wide masking tape along floor and try and slide it under the skirting if the gap isn't too tight.

Try and remove the tape as soon as possible. Ideally when gloss is still wet.
 
If there's a fraction of space left under your skirting, literally enough to slide a sheet of newspaper underneath at least a few mm then you could paint the skirting without messing up the laminate. You could try your hand at cutting in with gloss, or taping, but I think it would be very slow going and no guarantee it wouldn't make a mess.

For the boxing I would personally recommend a removable box if you can, just because you never know. If you can get the boxing tiled as a standalone piece, then you could 'fix' it to the wall and counter with caulking/silicone. It will be reasonably stable yet still allow the whole section to come off with a decent pull.
 
Fair point about using newspaper or such like to slide under. That's prob gonna be best way to go about it really isn't it. Will have a chat with my brother over the weekend and see what he thinks about it!

We've got a worktop that has a real wood top surface so I'm not sure I'd want to keep siliconing things to it and keep removing it. Will that not damage the top when it needs to come out? Thinking about it I could make the shield so it isn't completely the full height of the opening and have a little bit of clearance in there so there is still access to the valves with your hands.
 
If you're going to gloss just give yourself plenty of time to do it as I've never seen good results of a rushed attempt.

Also in my limited experience with glossing, that is one area where a good quality brush is well worth the money.
 
They'll probably need 3 coats, 1 undercoat, 2 top coats so id do the undercoat and top coat before they go on, then do the top coat after. Depends how much youve got to do tho and if youve got dodgy knees:D
 
i tried undercoating and glossy my skirts before putting them on coz ive got wood flooring and cba masking.......they twisted :(....

so im gonna put mine on as is and ill have to undercoat and gloss once there on....kitchen done...just 4 more full rooms to go :(
 
You may get away with one undercoat and one gloss depending on the quality of the products. Easy to pain while all in situ. Thin card to slide under or newspaper as mentioned above. Take your time.

As for boxing in, 18mm seems quite thick for that. Are you tiling over it?
 
Can you tile onto mdf? when i had my pipes in the kitchen done i was getting it ready and the plasterer asked me box them in with plasterboard
 
Kimi said:
Can you tile onto mdf? when i had my pipes in the kitchen done i was getting it ready and the plasterer asked me box them in with plasterboard
Click to expand...

I've tiled onto MDF loads of times in the past. I definitely wouldn't box a pipe in with plasterboard!
 
Sorry i was reading and posting wrong, i meant can you plaster on to mdf?

When i done mine it was quite big as it had a soil pipe running down the middle to, had to make a frame then attach plasterboard.

So with tiling, you can stick them to anything? but to plaster, it has to be plasterboard?
 
I've got some sheets of A3 paper which I think i'll end up using for the glossing. Going to give the full 4.2m lengths an undercoat tonight.

The boxing in is only a small L shape about 45cm along one length and 18cm on the other length and its only 22cm high so not a big area at all. Why do you say 18mm is too thick? I'd rather something that was pretty robust and yep I do want it tiling over!
 
I've done a fair bit of reading and can see that tiling onto MDF is generally a big no-no but as this is a very small non-permanent area am I right in assuming it will be OK?

Do I just need to prime the MDF in question with 2 parts PVA to 1 part water?
 
If it were me i'd buy composite skirting next time and never have to paint it. MDF is poop and much if not all oil based white paint will go yellow. The water based white paint is better at staying white but is a bitch to apply and get good results, therefore composite all the way for me from now on.
 
I'm not dismissing the advice given in here but is it really essential I use marine ply? Why can't I just use the 18mm MDF I've already got if I prime it?
Its not a large area or a permanent fixture so I don't really want to go and buy a sheet of marine ply for a tiny job. Can I not just prime what I've got and have it tiled?
 
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