Skirting boards are a fundamental component in your home both practically and aesthetically. They not only add the finishing touches to your room but act as a transitionary material between the wall and the floor, protecting the bottom of the walls from scuffing and dirt. Skirting boards can also be used to cover uneven surfaces and untidy joins. The role they play throughout the home is essential, and so it is important that they are properly maintained, sealed and looked after.

Choosing the Right Caulk

It is important to think about the environment of the area you will be caulking, you need to take into consideration a few factors such as: moisture levels, temperature fluctuation, paintability and durability. An acrylic based caulk is one of the best options for skirting boards, as it is less prone to shrinking and cracking, it is paintable and holds a degree of elasticity so that it remains flexible.

Preparing the Skirting Boards

Before applying caulk to any of the skirting boards, it is important that both the walls and skirting boards are properly prepared. 

The walls adjacent to the skirting boards should be filled and sanded, and the skirting boards should be sanded down

Once both the walls and the skirting boards have been sanded it is important to clear up any leftover dust. Use a hand dust pan and brush to sweep up any dust, then take a damp cloth to wipe any remaining dust from the surfaces. You should then use a vacuum to hoover up any dust in the surrounding areas.

Applying the Caulk

• Once you have loaded your caulk into the caulk gun, take a utility knife and cut the nozzle at a 45° angle. 

The further down the nozzle the cut is made, the bigger the opening and thus the larger the bead of caulk coming out.

You may want to run a line of masking tape along the top of the skirting board and the wall, leaving a small space in the middle in which to apply caulk. This will help to give you a much straighter and cleaner finish.

• Place the end of the nozzle to the end of the skirting board and gently pull on the trigger. Once the caulk has begun to come out, move along the skirting board continuously until you reach the other end. It is important that you maintain the right working speed when caulking in order to create a constant flow of caulk. 

Smoothing and Finishing Techniques

In order to get a neat finish on your skirting boards, you will need to smooth out the caulk. For this it would be advisable to use a caulk smoothing tool, but you can use a wet fingertip.

• Wet either the smoothing tool or your fingertip with soapy water and drag along the caulk along the top of the skirting board to smooth out the caulk.

It is advisable to do this in sections to avoid making any further mess and to remove the excess caulk as effectively as possible.

Leave the caulk to dry and cure per the manufacturer’s instructions and go back to check if the caulk has sunk anywhere along the skirting board. If there are areas or gaps where the caulk has sunk, you will need to add more and smooth over again.