hi there, does the skirting have a moulded profile? if so and its softwood and the boards are approx 6" deep i would not be too surprised if most of them will be cupped especially if purchased from b& q and the likes this makes it not too clever to get an excellent fit with either a hand cut joint or a machine cut joint. i would be tenpted to hire a mitre saw from your local hire shop.

if using an mdf board cupping wouldnt be the issue getting a true cut might be though especially at 150mm deep they would most probably have to be cut on the flat all internal joints/ corners would be scribed.

to get a tight joint you need tomeasure accurately then cut the board a shade longer and spring into place (bend out the middle a little allow the corners to go into the corner then push the centre in.

as for adhesive i wouldnt bother just in case the boards have tocome out at a later date!

p.s if the joints aint that great there is always decorators filler to disguise them

regards

steve

I'd definately consider MDF skirting, as Steve said no cupping is a big advantage.

I'd glue it with Pinkgrip or the like though much neater.

As for cutting it how about the unthinkable   cut it by hand

With 6" wide boards you are going to need a decent machine to cut them and you have the learning curve and the cost. With so little to do over such a long period makes sense to me

one other small point 6" is pre worked stock size[sawn size] the act off moulding /planeing[working]the timber removes around 6mm
so althought six inches is 153mm it will fit in a saw with  150 capacity

same applies to any worked timber [dressed planed]although the larger the timber the greater the reduction

1"= 22mm 2"= 45mm 3"=70mm 4"=95mm 5" 120mm
ect and by the time youve reached 9x1" your only a fraction over 8 1/2" at around 218mm

different timber from different sources will of course vary slightly but in general wood from the sheds[b&q ect] is around 2 to 3mm thinner than wood yards so try not to mix and match for the easiest results

cheers folks
plenty of food for though here.

Will give MDF some consideration. Also pricing the saw options.

(meanwhile must crack on with the floor tiling .............. )

thanks again
cimo

Big_All, could you try explaiing again please?

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NO SUCH THING  JD!, well at least not after a brickie and a plasterer have been at it!!

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That's right.

When you have cut the first piece at 45 degrees the 'scribe' line is the line where the mitre cut meets the face of the skirting.  Cut along that line with a coping saw and you will have magically cut out the exact shape of the skirting.

I always glue.  No holes to fill afterwards and no danger of hitting hidden pipes and cables.  

If you have a compound mitre saw set the saw up to about 30 degrees in both settings and cut both pieces with the same setting. They will butt up perfectly together and the angled joint is stronger and less noticeable than a vertical one.

If you don't have a CMS then I'd just cut each board end to about 30 degrees, use one when cut, to scribe  a line on the other so both angles are identical.

Thanks for all the help!