Wooden floors are carefully maintained to look beautiful and feel inviting. The finish is re-coated periodically to make the protection durable while at the same time making the floors look their best. Floors are an expensive investment in a home, and people want them to last as long as possible. 

What Skirting Boards Do

Wood flooring systems are bound to the subfloor by wooden skirting boards or skirtings that frame the floor and ceiling. Skirting boards are important to the floor’s stability and protection.

When installing a wood flooring system, you are essentially creating a large wooden box around your home. The floor framing and the walls support the weight of the house and keep it from collapsing. Every wall of the house is braced or hipped, at the corners with studs and headers. To keep the floor from sagging or bending, you must also brace the floor with rippers, nailers, and other framings that serve as the floor system’s footer.

Skirting Boards Protect the Floor

The skirtings are part of that framing. They keep the floorboards in place and in the correct positions. They support the weight of the floor and allow the floor to stretch and flex without letting the boards pop out of place. They also serve as a weather barrier protecting the floorboards from moisture and humidity for long-lasting performance.

Skirting Boards Protect the Structure

In addition to keeping the wood flooring system in place, skirting boards also protect the structure from damage. Even a minor defect in the subfloor will cause the floor to warp, crack and eventually fail. The skirting boards preserve the structure by keeping moisture and humidity away from the wood subfloor, and your wood flooring system stays beautiful and durable.

What Happens When Skirting Boards Are Missing?

If you remove the skirtings, the boards will pop out of place. That’s why you can use a sledgehammer for popping the boards loose from the floor. This is especially true with floating hardwood floors, which aren’t attached to the traditional floor joists usually found in houses. With floating floors, it’s just nailing holding the boards to the floor. There’s no batten to keep the boards where they need to be.

What Happens When Skirting Boards Are Damaged?

Without skirting boards, the floor is susceptible to dents and scratches. Durability is one of the hallmarks of a wood flooring system. But with a damaged skirting board, the system’s durability is diminished. If the skirting board isn’t repaired, the damage will only worsen.

And the best way to prevent the skirting boards from being damaged in the first place is to install the skirting boards first before the flooring.

Conclusion

Skirting boards protect the wood flooring system from dings and scratches and absorb minor impacts from furniture and other heavy objects. But, like any other wood flooring system, it’s susceptible to damage from moisture and humidity. If you notice a warped or weakened skirting board, it’s time to call a flooring contractor to repair it.

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