Scotia Alternative

Without removing the skirting you will likely have to use a trim of some sort. Your usual options are scotia, quadrent (quater round) and pine cove moulding, scotia is often provided when purchasing the flooring to match the floor colour, all have timber variants that you can paint to match the skirting instead. There also is one other option but more difficult to source and install is an end profile (not all places make or offer it and so only provide T Bar or threshold trims) often souced from the same place you purchase the flooring from but its primary function and design is for door thresholds and floor to floor transition strips.

My advice is to remove the skirting and replace it. And replace it with slightly higher skirting. It makes the job much better and professional. If it is a period house with taller skirting I'd recommend a 50mm r1a skirting tacked onto the existing - then painted to match.... Scotia beading is almost obsolete now.

When asking for a quote, I would specify that you want the skirting taken off before doing the flooring. Be firm about it. This way your quote will include repairing any damage to the walls. Sometimes these just pop off, other times they take chunks of plaster with them and you have to fill, sand and repaint the walls. If you're lucky the damage will be minimal and can be easily covered by taller skirting boards. The problem is you need to find someone that does flooring, carpentry and minor building work.

Higher skirting or re-plaster

The most professional way to do it is to remove the existing skirting boards. I would carefully knife the top edge of the skirting where it meets the wall, if you think about it the skirting would be re-fitted higher than it was with the thickness of the new floor underneath. I did this on my own house many years ago and laid solid oak floor boards not laminate rubbish. When you lay the new floor up to the existing skirting you have to leave an expansion gap allowing for movement, and that’s why you then need a ‘cover’ bead to hide it. Hope this makes sense to you. ‘George the joiner’

Another option is to cut the bottoms of the existing skirting boards to allow for the new wooden flooring to slide underneath/future movement and expansion. The same can be done for the door architraves. Removing the skirting is the ideal solution, but this is another option using specialist tools.

Hi, if you’d like to avoid scotia there are a few cleaner, more modern options. The best finish is usually to carefully remove the existing skirting, install the wood flooring correctly with the required expansion gap, then refit or replace the skirting. This gives the neatest and most premium look. If removing the skirting isn’t possible, other good alternatives are: • Flat timber beading (square edge) painted to match the skirting for a more modern look than standard scotia • Shadow gap / slim aluminium trim for a contemporary finish • Flexible colour-matched sealant for very small gaps only In my experience, standard scotia is the quickest option, but a slim square-edge trim looks much more modern and discreet. The best solution depends on the size of the expansion gap and the condition of the existing

I have had this dilemma. I suggested to my customer i could trim bottom of skirting with a multi tool.far better finish than scotia bead.