Stair skirtboard goof – need opinions
Hey guys,
I need some advice please. I’ve been converting part of our basement into a mudroom area.
I cut new skirtboards for the steps and glued and screwed them into place. A few days later I now realize that I cut the skirtboard too short on the bottom and now have a significant gap to make up from the bottom edge of the skirtboard to the height of the baseboard.
If you see the image at the below link, the blue tape is the plane of where the skirtboard should go and the red tape is the height of the baseboard.
My conundrum is how to make up that space. I’ve thought about using biscuits to join triangles of 1x to make up the difference, but I don’t think I’ll be able to elegantly hide the glue line (the edge of the skirtboard is a rough cut.)
Unfortunately due to time and money, tearing the skirtboard out is not an option.) If you guys have any thoughts on how to make this work/make it look intentional, I’d be grateful.
Thanks guys!
Chad
Replies
I may not quite understand your problem, but why not just butt your base into the skirt board as it is? Is a detail that is done often.
from what I can see I say just butt the baseboard in as well.
Hi - thanks for your response. The height differential between the top of the skirtboard and the top of the baseboard is about 5", which (to me) would look clumsy. At this point I'm just looking for any potentially elegant solutions to my rookie gaffe. :)
Biscuit or pocket screw an extension piece in. Sand the seam/ joint smooth. Then skim coat over the joint with bondo and sand smooth. Should hide the joint.
Live by the sword, die by the sword....choose your sword wisely.
I don't know if he can do either as the skirt is glued and screwed!
What is the baseboard profile & size? Looks to be about 3-1/4"?
In the picture the tread and riser look close to the same dimension,
so what is the rise & run?
With the ply wood I am thinking "carpet wrapped"?......Iron Helix
actually, butting the base into the vertical skirt merely repeats the stairstep shape
the configuration becomes a concentric extension of the stair/ skirtboard
I would not use your extended skirt... to me that would look more clumsy and unplanned
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OTOH.... it's your skirt/baseboard.... you should please yourself
Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Edited 11/5/2009 10:10 am ET by MikeSmith
Not to hijack this thread, but I'm about to begin a stair project myself, so if any of you photo takers out there have any pictures of skirtboard terminations like Basswood posted above, please share them. Or maybe a new thread in the Photo Gallery?Seems like Skirtboards would make a good thread for the Photo Gallery.
I felt the same.
what ? ... that he should please himself ?....hah, hah, hahMike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I can't tell from the pic -- does the skirt board have a profile at the top edge?
Many times, I've seen (and done) the butt-ends of skirts butted to the butt ends of baseboard. The profile at the top edge of one matches the profile at the top edge of the other.
And you just be sure to make nice tight miters in the profile edges, regardless of the height match or mismatch -- the profile edge follows the line, no matter how many corners it takes.
By dressing up that small vertical line with the profile, it makes it look very much like its supposed to be there.
I won't be laughing at the lies when I'm gone,
And I can't question how or when or why when I'm gone;
I can't live proud enough to die when I'm gone,
So I guess I'll have to do it while I'm here. (Phil Ochs)
my skirtboard has a pc of trim nailed to it,about a 1/4" wider and 1/2 taller than the skirt,3/4 thick to trim that edge,then the baseboard just comes into it with a butt.
can i use the words skirt and butt in the same post?
the older i get ,
the more people tick me off
I like the lines in your photo. Biscuit, glue, and sand the joint smooth. Skirt to base transitions can't always be made that way though. They also work best if the base and skirt are the same thickness and have the same profile at the top or the same base cap.
If the skirt top is unadorned, the profile can be ripped off of the top of extra base stock and added as a base cap.
Here are pics of the transition you are looking for and an example where the wall at the top of the stairs was not long enough to miter the skirt into the base, so a piece was added to join base to skirt.
Edited 11/5/2009 8:36 am ET by basswood
Thanks everyone for the feedback (and Basswood for the pics.) That's a clean approach. Iron - you're right they were carpet wrapped when we bought the house, and DW wants to put carpet back on them (in spite of my protests.)The skirtboard is flat 1x stock - there's no profile at the top. I do like the Bondo recommendation, as that should hide the butt joint nicely. I'll mock up something with scrap and see how it could work (and perhaps mill up a cap to match the baseboard.)Thanks again guys.
Chad
Monkish- I typically make a vertical cut that is the same distance in front of the tread nosing as the tread nosing is away from the top of the skirtboard. Just eyeballing it....I would say thats what you did. Thats a very proper looking stringer termination.
Stan
The only mistake there might be thinking there is a mistake. I make them along the same lines as Stan with the skirt being equal to the hieght of the nosing of the last step.
I also agree with Mike.
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Edited 11/5/2009 12:11 pm ET by Joe