Fitting skirting board of multiple depths

Question

Ok, I've done something really dumb. I fitted my own laminate flooring. Having never done it before, and only being moderately handy, I had varying degrees of success... some parts are perfectly 10mm from the wall, others are 22+mm. (Next time I'm hiring a professional.)

I didn't want a huge brick of skirting all the way around to cover my mistakes, and I decided I'd forgo beading/scotia, so ordered multiple thicknesses of skirting board. Most 18mm, but two pieces of 25mm for the bigger gaps along certain walls. This is what I ordered--flat boards with a beveled top edge.

Now it's arrived it's suddenly struck me that I don't know how to make those two depths meet in a visually pleasing manner in the corner -- both inside and outside. Like I say, really dumb.

How can I cut these two depths so that they fit together? 45 degrees just isn't going to work, is it?

Answer 1

I'd suggest using the thicker board along an entire wall that has larger gaps requiring that depth. Use the thinner boards along an entire wall where you can get away with it. Your best bet, though, is probably going to be to go with the "huge brick" of skirting and make it the same thickness all the way around. The other option would be to use thinner skirting and quarter round at the base, but I believe that's what you're calling "scotia" and you don't want to do that. Since your chosen skirt board has a simple chamfer at the top, you could use a very short skirt board with chamfer as the scotia board instead of something rounded - that would better fit with the theme.

If you attempt to intersperse bits of 25mm skirting with bits of 18mm skirting, it's going to look like a bodge job no matter what kind of joint you make between them.

You don't indicate what kind of treatment the top has (square, simple round over, Roman ogee, etc.), so we can't give you any advice on how to make the corners meet, but you should be able to do it and have it come out decent looking. Cut a few short lengths and work out how to make them meet up nicely. If the tops are anything but square, I'd suggest you look into coping the joints. It'll take a bit of practice, but it's probably going to be the easiest way of doing it. Ask a question over at Woodworking if you've got questions about how to cope a joint.

Don't forget, these are corners and hardly anyone looks at the skirt boards in the corners. If it's really bad, you can hide them behind furniture, plants and other decorations.