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I have approx. 50 sq m of floor tiling with no skirting, approx. 25-30 linear metres. This is ground floor including a WC and utility but not bathroom type wet environments, although she does like to mop the floors a lot. Sticking stuff to a wall whilst still being supported by the floor seems like something that just might be within my skill set but I have a few questions. 1) These are 600x600 9mm thick, concrete grey, porcelain tiles, am I likely to be able to a good enough cut edge to just cut the tiles into strips to use or should I only use the existing 4 finished edges? 2) I was thinking of using 100mm high. Sound right? 3) I’m going to need a cutter for these and as I have no other tiling to do, hiring may be more cost effective. What is a recommended cutter for large format tiles to get a good edge along the complete length every time? Butts not mitres at corners. 4) What’s the preferred technique? Just butter them and stick them on? Will use a reputable ready mix for this to save me the hassle of mixing on the job. I think I’ll need a 15-20mm depth in some spots so may need to use a bit more adhesive to fully fill the gap and paint the tops. I would use tile spacers under the strips and between them. I would try to match up with the floor grout lines even though that will be more work. 5) Grout or sealant in the gap between floor and upstand? I was going to grout.

Skirting seemed so simple until I started looking into it. All help appreciated please. We were thinking of some pre-primed MDF skirting (like the image of the sample just received) which we could then paint (gloss / eggshell) and fit ourselves. Any thoughts on that plan? And for fitting, would you glue to the wall? If so, with what? A "No More Nails" type glue? And what would you do about the slight gap at the top (where it joins the wall) and the bit at the bottom (where it sits on the tiles / wood floor)? Lastly, upstairs we are having carpet which we need to fit after the skirting apparently. Would you fit the skirting slightly off the current floor level to try to get the same skirting depth look throughout? Thanks

Somebody recently wrote about MDF skirting and linked to this (or a similar) page. The image shows a skirting run with a wiring channel cut into the back of the board. Great idea, I thought! Then my caution circuit clicked over to 'On' . It's such a neat idea, there must be something wrong with it. Is there?

Until five minutes ago when I googled it, I didn't even know that the little rectangular blocks of wood sometimes placed at the intersection of architrave and skirting had a name- turns out these are 'plinth blocks' or, if decorated with some sort of detailing, 'rosettes'. I'm planning a fairly contemporary finish and going to use primed MDF which will be finished in a gloss white (to give a slight contrast to the matte white walls). I *think* I prefer the look of plinth blocks, but I know you can go ahead without them. I also wonder if using them makes fitting the arc/skirt a tiny bit easier?

Wow, I cannot believe its 4 months since the last blog entry. Life has just been busy, busy, busy and for a while, there didnt seem to be much to report, even though we have been busy. The bedrooms have been plastered and painted, skirting fixed and the bedrooms doors have been bought and are awaiting fixing. The best thing was finally gettitng the bathroom fitted. Its been a while since we had a working loo and while the 'portaloo' in the cellar was adequate, the new one is fab! Fist we had to rebuild the walls which was a shame as the middle room has looked great with all that space. Then we addede 9mmply (I think) which covered all the chipboard joins and gave it rigidity. Sealed with pva and screwed down. Although there are joins on the left hand side, these are going to be under the units and bath so we arent worried about them. The main part is all one for the lino to cover. The bath was one of the smallest we could find, 150cm long and we extended the side wall into the middle room to fit it in without having to dig into the exterior wall to fit it in, although fitting it was a PITA. AS always, the OH soon had it all fittd and I could start the tiling. having looked round at showrooms, we went for couple of vertical mosiacs, one opp the loo so you can see your relection!, and the other above the bath, along the shower line. They look smart although I did have some issues as they are a thinner tile than the rest and it took a bit of time to get it right. The loo was a bit of a pain as we didnt really have many options for its location due to the plumbing already in place, but then we had to get the waste through the floor avoiding the floori beams, which of course were directly where he wanted to go. So he had to use a side bendy thing to mive the waste a few inches to the left. Its not perfect but it works and once the sink was in, it was not too noticable. We're quite pleased with the final look - sorry about the photo's - its hard to get a decent picture of such a small room. But its almost finished, just a couple of little touch ups with the sealant and a glass screen. Even the radiator is up and running. still needs a door! but a curtain works for now. Upstairs the walls were plastered and painted and I'm very pleased with the look. The lounge has also been done and the ceiling repaired from the foot through it - you cant see where it happened. Am very happy with the plasterers apart from the mess they make! I spent a couple of hours cleaning the stairs, ready for painting the edge, only for the OH to paint the walls and not bother cleaning off the excess off the wood, so I had to do it all over again! But after filling and rubbing down the wood, I have undercoated the sides of the stairs ready for the final coat and the carpet. Its not briliant but as the wood is probably over a hundred years old, the buyer will have to accept the odd bump and crack that I couldnt cover. Here are before and after shots. So what else? Here's the lounge with the lights fitted and working. the skirting is cut and just needs to be fixed and I ahve the coving to put up - going for a polyeuythene one from Screwfix which had excellent reviews as its very lightweight and easy to cut. I shall let you know how it goes as i have ever done coving before. We had a chap in yesterday to come up with a plan for the kitchen. As it is such as small space, we wanted to get some ideas to add to the layout that we have come up with. We have gone for Howdens as they are very reasonably priced and they have a sale on now so hopefully we can get a really good price. But thats for the next blog post - I'll have finished the garden wall then too so more photo's. Its all coming together now but still seems to be taking ages to get to that finishing line. I guess we'll ge there, when we get there, no good rushing and making a mess.