When it comes to skirting boards there are all kinds of materials to choose from. There are woods, wood laminates and even plastic skirting. One of the more popular choices is that of pine skirting. Part of this is because the pine is not that expensive and it is very versatile. You want to choose a type of wood that allows you to do lots of different things with it so that you are sure you can make the skirting boards work in a room no matter what the decor might be. There are a few things to keep in mind though as you choose your pine boards for your home.
The first thing to consider is how many knots you want the boards to have. You need to consider this carefully as really knotty pine skirting boards lend themselves only to staining. It is difficult to paint a knotty piece of pine because the paint doesn’t go on evenly. Another reason you need to consider choosing a really knotty board is because if you decide to stain it rather than to paint it you will find yourself limited on the types of stains you can use. For instance, you won’t want to use an oak colored stain because it will be quite obvious that the wood isn’t oak due to the knots on the board. Trying to stain such a board oak colored would just look silly.
Another thing you need to think about when you are buying your skirting boards is the height and thickness that you will want to have. Skirting comes in various thicknesses and it’s important that you buy something that will look good and compliment the room that it’s in, not distract from it. If you get something to thick in a room that has a delicate decor, you’ll find that the skirting boards look too heavy and seem to weigh down the room. On the other hand if you buy boards that are short and thin in a room that is full of heavy drama, the boards will look too wimpy to be right for the decor.
You also need to pay special attention to the quality of the boards. You don’t want to spend good money on boards only to get them home and discover that they warped. If you buy warped skirting boards then you are likely not to discover that until you try to install them. If you have already stained or primed the wood then you are now out all that work because you can’t install warped skirting. Not only will it not look good, but more importantly the skirting board won’t last for very long.
