Skirting Boards And Architrave

[mrbojangles]

Fellow DIY'ers, after a bit of advice if you would be so kind.

The Budget Bungalow is on it's final finishings bits and pieces. We are now at the Skirting board and architrave stage and unsure what to get. The plastic stuff I have seen thus far, I am not impressed with and so would prefer to use wood. However, the house is in the boonies and we don't have a termite system fitted, so I have used very little wood on the build up to now.

If I was to go with wood, does anybody know what is the best wood to use, the best way to treat the wood before fitting and does it work. Or is it futile and the termites eat the lot whatever you treat it with.

My Daughter finishes school in a couple of weeks, so her and MrsBoJangles are heading off to Thailand in advance of me. Therefore, I'm trying to get it planned now cos I want her to buy all of the right stuff and get cracking on with it

If anybody has used some good stuff that works, if you have a piccie I can show her of the tin, that would be a great help also.

[Crossy]

Mai Daeng (Burmese Ironwood) is very hard and termite resistant (not termite proof), all our floors, skirtings and window/door frames are of this.

Not sure what you would treat it with, ours is just varnished with the usual Thai style toffee-apple finish.

Have you considered Mai Shera http://www.mahaphant.com/en/our-products/Fiber-Cement-Board-Siding.jsp?prdid=28 totally termite proof and long lasting?

[doglover]

^{I'll second the Mai Shera recommendation. Probably cheaper than real hardwood and zero risk of termite attraction. In our house we installed the plastic look like wood baseboards. The problem is it is hollow and this makes a great house for ants and other bugs (even found gecko eggs in there) along the rough little crevice where floor and wall meet.}

^{If I were to do it again...}

1. Fit the "conwood" for installation
2. ^{Sprinkle bug killing powder in the rough crack where the walls and floor meets}
3. ^{Install the "conwood"}
4. Fill any small gaps with paintable silicone.

Make sure to do steps 2 and 4 yourself.

[mrbojangles]

Thanks for that gents. Never considered the Shera option. I'll have a look at that.

[ignis]

If your floors are tiled why not use tiles as the Skirting board ?

[mrbojangles]

If your floors are tiled why not use tiles as the Skirting board ?

We have done in the bathroom and balcony area and may do that in the kitchen but IMO I just prefer the look of a different material being used for skirting. I like the demarcation between floor and wall that a skirting board provides and also like the flow to carry on around the doors using the same material as the skirts. That's just a personal aesthetic preference though and not necessarily a pratical one.

[ignis]

If your floors are tiled why not use tiles as the Skirting board ?

We have done in the bathroom and balcony area and may do that in the kitchen but IMO I just prefer the look of a different material being used for skirting. I like the demarcation between floor and wall that a skirting board provides and also like the flow to carry on around the doors using the same material as the skirts. That's just a personal aesthetic preference though and not necessarily a pratical one.

Yes but there is no need to use the same Skirting board tiles as the floor, myself the tiles are Royal Blue, as are the door/window frames and the architrave I pained the same colour [:living room and dinning room] the tiles are Black, as are the door/window frames and the architrave in the kitchen, Signal box Red in the downstairs bathroom. 10 years on still look like new, had to replace some architrave from time to time, as termite eaten over the years.. [have the odd tile in junk room so when need to repaint Home Pro match the colour 100% with the tiles]

All the upstairs is wood, as are the floors [except bathrooms]

[mrbojangles]

Some good points there ignis. I will look at some of the options in tiles. Are the skirting tiles rounded off at the top or do you just fill in with grout/plastic trim?

[sotsira]

Some good points there ignis. I will look at some of the options in tiles. Are the skirting tiles rounded off at the top or do you just fill in with grout/plastic trim?

I used skirting tiles with an aluminium finishing trim.

[ignis]

Some good points there ignis. I will look at some of the options in tiles. Are the skirting tiles rounded off at the top or do you just fill in with grout/plastic trim?

I just used the same colour plastic trim, but you can get the rounded tops on tile, no idea now but back then these were far more expensive [my front room 11 meters x 6 meters so cost would have added up]

Edited June 2, 2013 by ignis

[krisb]

Whats wrong with just using MDF skirts and arcs? Easy to work with and affordable.

[mrbojangles]

Whats wrong with just using MDF skirts and arcs? Easy to work with and affordable.

Won't the Termites eat them?

[IMHO]

Whats wrong with just using MDF skirts and arcs? Easy to work with and affordable.

Won't the Termites eat them?

Yes

I'll add my vote for Conwood/Shera/Smartwood skirting boards. They are a little more difficult to install, but paint well and take the knocks, and eliminate one more piece of wood from your construction.

As for decorative cornice, both plaster and PVC types are available, but plaster is a little harder to find. Both finish well, but be wary of so-called "paintable silicon" your ceiling guys will want to use - it rarely is... Make your ceiling guys use Gyprock plaster (dries much quicker than other brands and doesn't shrink) to seal the gaps to be sure it will all take paint.

[krisb]

Unless there's gaps allowing termites in then it's not likely.

[krisb]

How about door frames etc, not made of wood either?

[mrbojangles]

How about door frames etc, not made of wood either?

Yeah they are krisp. That was a side reason for asking about the protection on wood. I don't think there was an alternative to that for the frames and I'm not sure of the type of wood they are made of but they are the ones that you buy as a door frame pack.

I was really hoping somebody on here would give a recommendation and just say "I used [insert product] type of coating on the wood and it's kept the Termites away" I could then get the mrs to buy it and get her brothers to coat everything before I get there but it looks like it will have to wait till I go over to look for alternatives to wood where I can and a good protector where wood has to be used.