Ideas for flood resilient skirting

[Mr Punter]

I have a ground floor that should be flood resilient but currently has 150mm x 18mm MDF skirting.  I am thinking of changing this so if we get flooded it is one less thing to stress about.  The walls are painted render and the floors are wood effect porcelain.   I don't want to spend a fortune.  Any ideas would be welcome!

[Oz07]

Quickstep do a vinyl skirting to match their flooring but isn't cheap. They even do it for the floating floors. Couldn't you do a tiled upstand to match floor? Still have architrave problem though

[Ferdinand]

Wood effect porcelain tiles.

[ProDave]

I agree with the above to match the floor.

 

Where I used to live in Oxfordshire there was an old cottage by the river that regularly flooded but only an inch or 2 of water.  That had cement rendered walls, quarry tile floor and quarry tile "skirting"  When a flood was due, small stuff went upstairs, large furniture went up on blocks.  When the flood went, mop out the floor and put it all back.

 

I think the sockets were all a bit higher up the walls.

[Oz07]

@ProDave you been in the Sam Smith pub by the river in York?

[Mr Punter]

1 hour ago, Oz07 said:

Quickstep do a vinyl skirting to match their flooring but isn't cheap. They even do it for the floating floors. Couldn't you do a tiled upstand to match floor? Still have architrave problem though

The issue with the tile is that it may look a bit odd - like the floor is trying to climb the wall - and also it would not be as deep as current and I think there may be a few gaps where the 10mm floor tiles are not finished tight to the walls.  They are 200mm high so I will not rule them out.

 

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

Wood effect porcelain tiles.

You are agreeing with @Oz07 just to bully me.

 

38 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I agree with the above to match the floor.

 

Where I used to live in Oxfordshire there was an old cottage by the river that regularly flooded but only an inch or 2 of water.  That had cement rendered walls, quarry tile floor and quarry tile "skirting"  When a flood was due, small stuff went upstairs, large furniture went up on blocks.  When the flood went, mop out the floor and put it all back.

 

I think the sockets were all a bit higher up the walls.

OK OK.  3 out of 3.  I will have a measure up.  Our sockets are 1100mm from ffl.  I think it could flood to a metre, but hopefully not too frequently.

[Oz07]

Personally in latest place I've just accepted when the mdf skirt firs up from mopping I'll replace it. I started a thread on here but couldn't get any definitively moisture resistant gear. How often are you planning to be flooded @Mr Punter?

[Ferdinand]

My bathrooms have tiled upstands.

 

I like them.

 

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Roger440]

3 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

I have a ground floor that should be flood resilient but currently has 150mm x 18mm MDF skirting.  I am thinking of changing this so if we get flooded it is one less thing to stress about.  The walls are painted render and the floors are wood effect porcelain.   I don't want to spend a fortune.  Any ideas would be welcome!

 

Im i correct in assuming you have rendered the walls in lieu of plaster? How does that look? Is it as smooth as plater?

 

Definitely interested in the skirting board options?

[Roger440]

I did once find plastic clip on skirting board, but unless you have arrow straight walls, that probably not going to look brilliant

 

I did toy with the idea attaching the skirting boards with screws and nice brass cup washers, and simply remove after a flood and dry out. If you used a decent timber it should be ok. The main driver behind this is the front of the house is old 9 inch walls with lime plaster and mortar, so needs to dry out. So nothing "waterproof" can go on the wall

[Mr Punter]

13 hours ago, Oz07 said:

How often are you planning to be flooded @Mr Punter?

 

The EA had it as a 1 in 30 year event.  There have been some improvements since but climate change effects are an unknown.  The site flooded in 2000. 

[Oz07]

On this latest place I've stuck the skirtings 9n with pins and foam. Its a decent fixing but apparently they are easy to remove in future without damage to wall. Scraper or bread knife down the back. 

[Ferdinand]

Could you do something like eg copper or checkerplate. Or presumably oak would do it, or there must be others. There are a whole range of boat timbers including Ash and Cedar, which would survive a short flood.

 

If you really want timber you could ask the coastal engineers what they  use for piers and groynes, and get some planks cut.

 

Or can you use things made for fascia?

Edited May 21, 2020 by Ferdinand

[Bored Shopper]

Have anyone tried duropolymer skirting?