Saw baseboards mitred - fasten in 3 steps

• hardware store
  • Miter box - easy and cheap
  • Electric miter saws
• Miter cuts - so every corner succeeds
  • Decrease angle
  • Transfer cut
  • Miter sawbar
• Fix the baseboards in 3 steps

The skirting board forms the optical connection between the floor covering and the wall. Many new skirting boards are supplied as plug-in systems. More beautiful, however, is usually an invisible connection of the individual strips by careful Miter cuts. We will show you how the skirting board is properly mitred and how to fix the strip securely in the manual.

Skirts look really good when they are invisibly connected at an angle. Of course, carefully prepared miter cuts are required. But perfect miter cuts are not art, they just require some practice and imagination. Some of this can be compensated with the appropriate tools and aids. So every DIY enthusiast can use our step-by-step instructions to saw the baseboards perfectly mitred. At the same time, you can securely fasten your skirting boards to the wall in just three easy steps.

You need this:

• drilling machine
• drill
• Cordless Screwdriver
• screwdriver
• hammer
• abrasive paper
• pencil
• ruler
• Miter Saw
• electric miter saw
• foxtail
• miter
• Cuttermesser
• Angle, bend
• clamp
• baseboards
• Screws (nails)
• Installation glue
• dowel
• masking tape

Unfortunately, the worse your own spatial imagination, the more you need to upgrade your technology when sawing a miter skirting board. This means that you absolutely need a corresponding protractor and a fixed miter box, in which the angle can be set exactly. Even easier is the work with an electric miter saw, where you can adjust the angle exactly. However, the purchase will only be worthwhile if you want to perform other moldings and fine work in the future.

hardware store

The miter cuts have different variations on how the saw and the miter box can help you with your work. So that you can decide even better which aids better meet your demands for perfection, here is a small overview of the tools.

Miter box - easy and cheap

A simple miter box is made of either wood or plastic. She usually only has cutouts for 45 and 90 degree cuts. However, a narrow saw in these cutouts has a lot of play, so you can also deviate relatively far from the actual planned angle. Some slightly better miter shops have even more angle cutouts, but these miter shops are not much better. Even setting the bar at the miter box is difficult to impossible, which further complicates the work. At the next best miter box, the saw is tied to a guide. There are also other angle settings here than with the miter box. This fixed-loading drawer can usually be set to 22.5, 30, 45, 60 and 90 degrees. However, you also have to somehow clamp the strip yourself.

• Gehrungslade easy - from about 5 euros
• Miter box with fixed guide - from about 45 euros - professional versions from 130 euros
• electric miter saw - from about 60 euros - professional versions from 170 euros

Electric miter saws

The electric miter saw has numerous advantages, as it allows you to trim the baseboards bluntly. So you only need one tool that works very precisely. Often you can even adjust the speed of the saw. This can be helpful if you want to saw plastic strips with it. Most of today's miter saws have a connection for the vacuum cleaner, then you can immediately work in the room, without dusting the whole apartment. The angle settings on the electric saw are infinitely adjustable, which also makes unusual corners easily realizable, even for a beginner. When purchasing the miter saw you must pay attention to the diameter of the saw blade, it limits your work area. Some manufacturers offer saws, which have a very small diameter, then already high baseboards with Berlin profile become an obstacle. The saw should therefore have a leaf of about 25 centimeters in diameter.

Tip: In addition, attention should be paid to the stroke of the saw. Some chop saws can only be folded up a little bit, which limits the height of the workpiece again. If you also want to use the saw for other things like firewood, you need to buy very special models that are considerably more expensive. Otherwise, the cutting area is always too small.

Miter cuts - so every corner succeeds

Decrease angle

You should always start in a corner to cut the bars. The fewest corners are really exactly at right angles, so you should work very carefully and first create a curve in the corner. You can see exactly at what angle the strip has to be sawn off using the bevel or with a protractor. At the Winkelschmiege is a small locking screw, you should tighten each, so that the angle does not adjust. Always cut both ledges for the corner when you have removed the angle. Now the stops can still be cut with a little emery paper. Once a bar has been fitted, it becomes considerably more difficult.

Tip: If you're still practicing, it's helpful to first mark the corners that you will not see later. In the corners behind the living room cabinet or behind the sofa corner you can gain initial experience, without having to worry later about the not so perfect result.

Transfer cut

Try to set the appropriate angle as accurately as possible on the miter saw. If you only work with a miter box, individual angle measurements will be a bit difficult to produce. You will probably have to do more with the sandpaper than planned. When transferring the angle to the wood, you should again visualize how the bar sits later in the corner. Place the corner cradle on the ledge and make the cut as clean as possible.

Tip: You can use old small pieces of wood to make a test cut. Even small remnants of baseboards can be used to check whether you are on the right track. So you do not cut the expensive skirting.

Miter sawbar

Depending on which type of miter saw or miter box you are using, you should always set the bar before you start sawing. Imagine again which result you expect, that is in which direction the longer side of your miter cut should point. Especially with the miter cuts there are like small errors of reason, you can still discover so.

Tip: So that the wood does not tear out and splinters erupt, each bar should be cut on the back . However, this enormously increases the risk of thinking errors in miter cuts. Therefore, we recommend you to work with a fixed painter's crepe . Stick this on top of the fillets before drawing the cut exactly. The marker then comes to the front of the bar and thus remains visible to you. When sawing you then cut through the painter's crepe, so the wood does not break and your bar gets a clean exact cut.

Fix the baseboards in 3 steps

First, we show here the usual attachment with screws. However, you must always be aware that the screws will remain visible later. Be sure to use screws that do not rust. Depending on the wood species and color, you can use either brass screws or stainless steel screws. Even in heated dry living rooms, normal steel screws would become unsightly over time. In addition, every now and then wipes some water to the screw heads, which still drives the corrosion.

Tip: Alternatively, there are decorative caps for many types of screws. The small plastic caps are pressed onto the screw and hold by a small pin by itself. Even easier are adhesive dots, which are suitable in many wood decors. However, if your skirting board has got an individual color scheme, there will hardly be a matching cap to be found.

Step 1 - Measure and distribute

First measure all walls. However, you should not simply add up the individual lengths, but determine wall by wall how many strips you need. In the trade bars are usually available, which have a length of 2.57 meters. Even if that means a little more waste, you should not always put on full lengths. It can visually have a much better effect if you place the seam in the middle of the wall, instead of placing smaller ends of perhaps fifty centimeters exactly in the viewing area of ​​the wall.

Tip: Sometimes the Internet is 2.60 meters long, so you should not rely on it exactly. Of course, if you make your last from other planks or planks yourself, there are individual lengths that you should check first. Also pay attention to terms such as sorting. Then there may be different lengths in a package. This does not necessarily have to be bad if you have a lot of short walls, it's just a bit more elaborate in the planning.

Step 2 - Drill holes and dowel

To mark the holes in the wall, place a piece of strong cardboard under the strip. This will ensure that the baseboard will not constrict the floor later. Especially with a floating installation, there would otherwise be a squeaking of the two elements when the wood is working. The strips should be screwed at a distance of about 50 centimeters. Of course, where two ledges collide, additional holes must be placed. Always use a masonry drill with solid walls that is adapted to the dowels. So for a size 5 dowel, the hole should be drilled with a size 5 drill. If the dowel does not go straight into the hole, you can insert it with a small blow with the hammer. However, if more than half of the dowel is out, you should re-drill the hole.

Tip: Porous walls or aerated concrete blocks do not allow perfect holes for a durable dowel. Most of the time you notice when drilling that the wall is not the strongest. Then you can use the dowel with a little assembly adhesive in the hole. So it connects perfectly with the wall and turns afterwards when tightening the screw not with. Of course it works with some plaster. However, this must dry longer and you can not set the screws so long.

Step 3 - Screw on the skirting board

The skirting board itself should be drilled beforehand and the hole should also be reworked with a countersink. So the head of the screw can later be inserted flush into the wood. Inevitably, of course countersunk screws are necessary. If you want to put on a cap later, as described above, you should pay attention to corresponding sets in the hardware store. When marking the hole in the wood, keep the distance to the ground to prevent squeaking. First of all, insert the screws provisionally, and then tighten all the screws only when the bars fit together completely.

Alternative attachment with strip clips

Many of the modern baseboards that fit the floating floors offer the possibility of invisible fastening with special clips. Many of these strips also have a cavity on the back where cables and sometimes even pipes can be hidden. This makes them ideal for concealing heating pipes laid on surface. The telephone cable or your Internet connection can also be installed behind the hollow strips.

The clips are first also attached at a distance of 50 centimeters to the wall. However, they disappear completely when the skirting board is attached. So that the strips do not slide down, the clips at the bottom have a holder that fits into a groove in the skirting board. Therefore, you must also pay attention here again, that the brackets are not screwed too deep, so that the skirting board maintains a sufficient distance from the ground.

Tips for quick readers

• Check tool inventory and adjust
• Remove the angle with the nipple
• Mark cut on baseboard
• Fasten skirting board with miter clamp to miter box
• Saw the strip and sand if necessary
• hold both corner strips together in the corner
• Distribute bars evenly on each wall
• Keep a drilling distance of about 50 centimeters
• Drill holes in wall / pre-drill wood
• Place dowels with assembly adhesive
• Drill holes in wood slightly
• Screw skirting boards gradually
• Alternatively, attach baseboards invisibly with clips