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How to fix gap behind skirting board?

We are currently redecorating and have stripped the wallpaper down.

We have noticed a large gap behind the skirting board to the brick above where they both should roughly meet. There is more than and enough space behind the skirting board for expansion etc.

The house is fairly old, build around 1930 and has cavity walls.

Is there a way to fill this gap? Should it be filled?

Whoever worked on this house before has done a rubbish job by filling the gap with a thin horizontal wooden strip.

Any guidance would be appreciated!

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EricL

Hello @omgitschintu

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about the gap in your cavity wall.

Just a friendly reminder before you begin your renovation, I suggest having your wall tested for lead and asbestos content. As this house is quite old a number of renovations may have been carried out through the years, and certain toxic materials might have been used in the process. In the interest of health and safety it would be best to have it checked out before you begin.

If the test is positive, you'll need to engage the services of a lead/asbestos removal specialist to take out the toxic materials. If the test is negative, you can continue with your renovation plans.

Generally speaking, the gap in the wall can be patched with plasterboard. However, before you begin, I propose examining the material on your wall to see what was used to cover it. I also suggest engaging the services of a senior builder or a tradesperson who has experience in renovating houses from that era. They will be able to tell you if mixing old and new wall materials is advisable.

However, if you wish to keep the integrity and originality of the home then it would be advisable to use the same original materials used on the wall. Once you get the results from the test, you can then plan a course of action with your builder on how the gap can be repaired and covered.

Let me call on our experienced members @Nailbag and @Dave-1 for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

Nailbag

hi @omgitschintu

It’s very difficult to get a good idea on the situation in that photo. Generally gaps are formed between a wall and skirting boards where the wall dips in. Using a flexible paintable gap filler is standard practice here. But if there is a very large gap, then this is a result in the stud wall behind the plasterboard not being levelled. If this is the situation in your case then that timber strip would have been used to fill most of the gap then a silicon filler used to finish the job. That said silicone didn’t exist in the 30’s for this application.

Nailbag

Dave-1

Good Morning @omgitschintu Looking at the photo I am wondering if someone has tried to make that strip part of the skirting board, it looks like it has some shape that is consistant with the actual skirt? Whichever way, @EricL 's suggested checks I would definenlty do, the wall may be horsehair plaster considering its age which means that it may not be standard thickness. It can be filled to level yes, but may need some filling (A few mm)

Option B you could change out the height of the skirting boards so a higher type will cover that strip and no new plaster needed. It depends on how close you want to stay with an original look.

Dave

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