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I have a lot of cables, junctions, etc. behind the skirting board I want to be able to access it in the future, without ripping apart the board again. I was thinking magnets, some click holders, or hinges. Or make some kind of doors?

But I have no idea what would be the best solution.

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    "Best" is opinion based, which is off-topic here. If you'd care to come up with a solution and describe it, then ask for things you may have missed, people can address your specific solution. You could even write up 2 or 3 questions, each with a different approach and ask for "what have I missed" with each, but a broad question asking for "best" won't cut it.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 12:38
  • How tall & wide is the skirting board? Is it in front of (like a typical US baseboard), behind (like the board at the bottom of a typical US kitchen base cabinet) or flush with whatever is above it? Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 13:16
  • What does "skirting board" mean here? How thick? How tall? What material? What finish? What's behind? Details matter with such solutions.
    – isherwood
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 14:15
  • How often do you need to access these cables? What kind of "junctions" are they? In the US, mains wiring junctions/connections must be easily accessible, so I presume that's what you're after here, too? Of course, in the US they must be made in a UL approved junction box, if yours are just made in the wall, that might not meed British wiring standards (I'm not certain).
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 15, 2021 at 12:55
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    I see my earlier comment re: everybody in the UK knowing how skirting goes has been deleted & we're now back to a lot more US-based confusion. UK walls aren't plastered right to the floor, that's what the skirting is for. You can put anything you like behind. It's up to the next worker to identify in-wall cabling before drilling. Most cable drops are chased into the brick, not conduited. We didn't until recently have a 'drywall' predominance in building & still don't in a lot of new builds. Cement block has replaced brick, but 'plasterboard' is still just a covering, not a construction method.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Nov 15, 2021 at 19:08

3 Answers 3

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I'd just install with "trim-head" screws. Easily removable, not trying to get absurdly fancy about it. Trim-head because they are smaller and less obtrusive than normal-sized screw-heads.

The "slide in place" suggestion by @Solar Mike could be implemented with mitre cuts at both ends of a section of board (removable - long points to the wall, fixed - long points away from the wall) or via spline joints at both ends. Depending on fit it could either be somewhat fussy or excessively loose, and would be prone to getting jammed with paint.

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  • +1 Simple is always best. Why faff around trying to get something to sit flush when you can fix it easily with screws.
    – DWGKNZ
    Commented Nov 15, 2021 at 14:28
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Assuming that by 'removable' you don't actually intend for this to come out every other weekend, more like every 2.. 5 years.

In which case, you don't need something easy to see, hinged, screwed or mitred [which will scratch the wall as you try to lift it straight up anyway].

What you need is decorator's caulk or even silicone. [Silicone is best, but you need to be painting white, as it's tough to paint over].

Once your skirting is in, I'd assume you will caulk the top edge & corners right round to make a better line for decorating. So, just extend the idea.
Cut your piece of 'removable'. Sand or plane the edges so you won't have a fight to pull it out again. You could even slightly mitre it 'the wrong way' so it won't wedge in the gap. Fit it not quite tight in line with the rest of that piece. Nail or 'no more nails' the rest & just place that piece in.

Caulk the top & the sides where it meets the rest of the board. Paint as the rest.

When you need it back out again, just run a Stanley or modelling knife through the silicone/caulk & out it comes. Re-caulk it if it needs. With silicone you can often get away with pushing it back into place & the join just vanishes.
I have a similar structure in a tiled area over an enclosed toilet cistern. One piece of the top is a removable board, cut out of the rest of the top. the joints around it are silicone rather than grout. The joins never absolutely perfectly match, so though it goes unnoticed by all but myself, I can easily find it every time I need to be in there.

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From your description of skirting I am guessing that this is a single or double wide trailer home. If that is correct, for my sister, with the same situation, I cut an opening in the skirting with a fine metal saw blade that was big enough to allow access to the area in question. I then installed a treated wood frame with the end boards buried in the ground for support and connected the skirting to those frame boards. I then made a door out of plywood to cover the rest of the access opening. When finished, I painted all the exposed wood with outdoor paint to match the skirting. Shazam, an almost hidden access door to the underside of the trailer.

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    In the US, I would agree with you. In many other parts of the world "skirt boards" are what we'd call "baseboard trim". The asker is in the UK, so it's probably the ROW definition being used.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 12:22
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    Yeah, this is just not understanding the terminology and answering about somehting utterly unrelated.
    – Ecnerwal
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 13:22

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