Attaching pine skirting to Lime plaster wall moisture management

[trimattrdg]

I will be attaching 7’ painted Pine skirting to new lime plaster. Possibly over thinking it but concerned about moisture behind the skirting causing problems . I saw another thread on here suggesting MSP on the rear but have also had limewash on the back suggested which seem very different approaches. The lime plaster goes down to the floor so was planning to fix with screws and plugs into the brickwork . Also. are there any merits to scribing out gaps for ply mounting peices instead of screwing skirting directly to wall?. Previous to this had problems with gypsum plaster board dot and dab even on internal solid walls so keen not to trap any moisture.

 

[malcolm]

I've been screwing skirting directly to the lime plaster. I don't take the lime down to the floor though. I like to chip out an inch or two at the bottom so the lime can't suck water directly up from the floor and the skirting covers that.

The skirting that came off was rotten and it was due to the normal stuff - impervious paints, high ground levels, no chance of any water getting away. That's mostly fixed but I'm not planning to paint the new skirting with modern waterproof paints as the skirting needs to breathe.

 

[Toby Newell]

I've been screwing skirting directly to the lime plaster. I don't take the lime down to the floor though. I like to chip out an inch or two at the bottom so the lime can't suck water directly up from the floor and the skirting covers that.

^^^ that is a sensible idea.

It depends how old your property is and whether it's rural or urban but most Victorian type skirtings were fitted to battens to give breathing space. No need to scribe, just attach skirting direct, if you have space.

 

[dandrew]

The traditional method employed wooden 'grounds' to which the skirting was nailed.
A ground is simply a length of 2 x 1" softwood with a bevelled top edge that was nailed to plugs (wooden wedges) that were hammered into the vertical joints between bricks, one every 18 inches or so. The plaster came down to the top of the ground, which was set just below the top level of the skirting board, so the top edge of the skirting was against the plasterwork and the wall below the ground was bare, not plastered. Therefore there was an air gap between the wall and the back of the skirting below the ground. There was no need to put any finish on the back of the skirting in this scenario, and it wouldn't have been done anyway as it was 'out of sight'. In high-class work the bottom of the skirting was tongued into a groove cut in the floor boards that was cut with a trenching (dado) plane. This stopped the bottom edge of the skirting curling away from the floor and producing an unsightly gap.

David

 

[Toby Newell]

The traditional method employed wooden 'grounds' to which the skirting was nailed.
A ground is simply a length of 2 x 1" softwood with a bevelled top edge that was nailed to plugs (wooden wedges) that were hammered into the vertical joints between bricks, one every 18 inches or so. The plaster came down to the top of the ground, which was set just below the top level of the skirting board, so the top edge of the skirting was against the plasterwork and the wall below the ground was bare, not plastered. Therefore there was an air gap between the wall and the back of the skirting below the ground. There was no need to put any finish on the back of the skirting in this scenario, and it wouldn't have been done anyway as it was 'out of sight'. In high-class work the bottom of the skirting was tongued into a groove cut in the floor boards that was cut with a trenching (dado) plane. This stopped the bottom edge of the skirting curling away from the floor and producing an unsightly gap.

David

^^^ that, although in my 28 years I have worked on hundreds of period properties including dozens of landmark buildings, including The Palace of Westminster and The Law Society. Holborn Town Hall having mightily impressive 18 inch high skirting as I recall, but I have never seen the groove in the floor.

I just did the oldest house in Brighton earlier this year, a Georgian townhouse in the Royal Crescent, Laurence Olivier used to live next door, so presumably pretty high class, going back to an Islington Georgian townhouse tomorrow and client has just updated me on a 6,000 sqft Georgian townhouse in bath. If I end up doing that I shall look harder for the grooves. If they are actually a thing I am disappointed I have never seen them.

You would of thought I would of noticed that! Not saying it's not true but 99.99% of floors drop away partially from the skirtings and all I see is gaps! I will make an effort to try and find them in the future.