Professionals recommend choosing a baseboard for the floor at the stage of designing the interior of the apartment. A floor fillet can hide wall defects or highlight them. You can hide wiring inside the decorative element. There are several standard algorithms for selecting a protective and decorative element based on characteristics, which will be discussed in this guide.
Wooden floor skirting boards
There are also 2 divisions here.
Floor plinths are made:
- Made from hardwood.
This is a solid array - expensive, but effective, reliable, safe and environmentally friendly material. It is often combined with luxurious, elegant parquet. But at a high cost, such skirting boards have low ductility and can become deformed under non-ideal conditions of use. The installation of solid wood products should be trusted only to experienced, competent specialists. Otherwise, the bar can easily be split.
- From coniferous trees.
This is a softer wood or plywood. The latter is covered with chips of valuable wood. Finished products are available at an affordable price, which is why they are very popular among buyers. Plywood skirting boards are especially durable. This material has a multilayer structure. The fibers in it are arranged perpendicularly, which makes the plywood as strong as possible. But glue and other impregnating compounds make the material less environmentally friendly. Thus, FBA plywood is considered the safest, and FSF plywood (with phenol-formaldehyde in its composition) is considered dangerous.
Skirting boards in the color of the floor
The choice of the first or second type of wood depends on whether you plan to paint the installed baseboard in the future. If yes, then you can save money and buy a budget option made from coniferous trees.
Classic style floor with skirting boards
It is also important to remember that wooden baseboards are not friendly with moisture. Therefore, they are not suitable for installation in a toilet or bathroom.
Which material to prefer and why
When selecting, it is necessary to take into account the purpose of the premises, operating conditions, degree of wall alignment, chosen finishing design, complexity of installation and price. If you have limited financial resources, it is better to opt for PVC or MDF profiles. Ceramics or duralumin are perfect for bathrooms, toilets, and showers.
If you do not have the opportunity to provide high-quality painting, then it is better to buy ready-to-install material with a finished coating.
If you have curved surfaces, you will have to buy polyurethane tape. Solid wood can only be installed in dry, heated rooms. You can also achieve good results by purchasing veneered plinth.
Floor plinth made of MDF, its advantages and disadvantages
The material is a mixture of wood flour, melamine and urea resin. The components are connected and pressed. The result is a reliable, strong and safe design.
Floor plinth
It also has other advantages:
- low cost;
- an impressive selection of shapes, textures and colors (depending on the film covering the baseboard on top);
- ease of cutting the material and installing finished parts;
- There are options for painted planks on sale.
Contrasting skirting boards
But the material also has some disadvantages:
- low moisture resistance;
- intolerance to direct physical impact - parts are deformed.
White baseboard
Today on sale you can find skirting boards made from another type of MDF. These are LDF panels. They are characterized by lower weight and density. Therefore, such panels are easier to cut, but they are less resistant to high humidity and shock.
Liquid wood floor plinth
The material combines plastic and MDF. It is made from wood waste, as well as shells and paper.
Without floor plinth
The plant materials selected for the base are combined with a synthetic filler and a coloring composition.
Brown baseboard
Pros:
- large selection of plate shapes;
- resistance to water and mold;
- the ability to cover parts with laminate, veneer, or paint.
Advantages of cork floor skirting boards
There are two options for making cork plinths. The first is a balsa wood base.
Brown contrast plinth
The second is a cork veneer covering for another material.
The advantages of this plinth:
- safety for nature and human health;
- high-quality adhesion of the material to the wall;
- the ability to slightly bend parts during installation.
Skirting in the color of the walls
The disadvantages of the material include low resistance to moisture and mechanical stress. As well as the non-standard appearance of the panels. They do not pair well with every flooring option.
Purpose of coverage
Designed to protect floor and wall coverings from contamination, damage and premature aging, which makes it almost irreplaceable.
- It provides additional protection for wallpaper from moisture, preventing the edges from prematurely turning yellow and wrinkled;
- The plinth acts as an indispensable decor that hides uneven edges and flaws in the cladding;
- Creates an aesthetically complete finish
- You can hide technical wires in it.
Synthetic skirting board for the floor
The composition of such materials is completely synthetic.
Low plinth
There are several main options among them:
- Polyurethane.
Durable, reliable option. Compact, light weight. Resistant to water, but does not tolerate sudden changes in humidity levels. Can be coated with paint (water-based only). The main disadvantage of this option is the likelihood of cracks appearing at any stage of operation.
- Polystyrene.
Budget replacement of plastic. Lightweight, comfortable to install. Does not absorb water or odors. Among the disadvantages: rapid accumulation of dust on the surface, low resistance to UV rays. The latter causes the parts to crack. The material also releases hazardous substances for some time after production.
- PVC.
The most budget option. The material has high flexibility, so it is convenient to install it in rooms with uneven walls. The main disadvantage is low strength. This is the most unreliable material of all those listed in this rating.
- Duropolymer.
The new option on the market is the most durable and reliable. The material is heavy, but dense, wear-resistant and affordable. The baseboard made from it is not afraid of moisture, mold, and is not hazardous to health and the environment. The surface can be painted immediately without prior preparation. Disadvantages: difficulty in cutting, small selection of panel shapes and designs.
Advantages of metal floor plinths
Metal baseboards are rarely chosen. Usually in cases where there is a high probability of direct physical impact on the panels. Or to implement a special design idea.
Pros:
- original design of the plinth;
- Possibility of installation on uneven surfaces;
- resistance to moisture, mold.
Among the disadvantages, it is worth noting the need to use special connections and plugs. They worsen the appearance of the structure.
Types of floor skirting boards
The types of panels for decorating the area between the floor and the wall are distinguished not only by material. There are other classifications. It will be useful for every buyer to study them all.
- By purpose
There are several types, depending on which room and zone you plan to use the plinth for:- plastic – for decorating complex parts (arches, columns) and rooms with a non-standard layout;
- frame - help to lay a strip of material along the bottom of the wall that covers the floor;
- fluted - allow you to install the floor covering on the wall;
- specialized - options for public premises (increase the strength and wear resistance of the structure);
- universal – used most often, suitable for any room.
- By shape
Most often, straight and curved skirting boards are used for repairs. But you can also find profiled ones on sale. Each type has its pros and cons.Black contrast plinth
- By the presence of constituent elements
There are various types of skirting boards on sale today. This can be either a single structure or a composite one.Meet:
- single non-separable profiles;
- composite options of 2 parts - internal (base) and external decorative.
- By size
Based on their dimensions, the planks are divided into 3 main types:- small with a height of up to 4 cm;
- standard (universal purpose) with a height of up to 7 cm;
- high up to 15 cm - selected for rooms with a ceiling above 3 m.
The second option usually includes a cable channel in the kit. This design helps hide the unevenness of the wall. It is convenient to install in different types of rooms.
Basic selection factors
The floor plinth runs virtually along the entire perimeter of the room being finished. And its practical as well as aesthetic significance for the interior cannot be overestimated. Therefore, even if cutting out the construction/repair budget requires cutting costs, you can refuse anything, just not the baseboard. But if you have to choose a cheaper option, you should remember what you shouldn’t save on:
- On durability. The baseboard must last at least 30 years.
- On surface quality. Caring for the baseboard should be reduced to wiping with a damp cloth or cleaning using the most common detergents.
- On resistance to aggressive influences. The plinth must withstand temperature changes, high humidity, mechanical shocks of varying intensity (not with a hammer, of course, but kicks, children’s toys, etc. “must”).
- On flexibility. After all, there are curves in the interior that will have to be circumvented with plinths.
- At a depth. The material must have a fairly deep cable channel, because often it is in the baseboard that you have to hide television or computer wires.
Of course, you can save on design - buy a plinth that is not the same shape or color as provided for in the project. But is it worth it? The plinth has an important decorative role, and artificially diminishing it means disrupting the balance and integrity of the interior. But if financial conditions require it, there is always the opportunity to purchase material that can at least be painted in the desired color.
How to choose the right size baseboard for your floor
The required size of panels depends on the parameters of the room. And first of all, attention is drawn to the height of the ceilings. If this parameter does not exceed 2.5 m, you can choose small or standard planks with a height of 3 to 5 cm. The color here is chosen according to the taste of the buyer. But it is desirable that it matches the shade of the floor as much as possible. Then visually the walls will appear more elongated.
Standard ceilings in modern rooms are considered to be 2.7 m high. Then you can choose universal baseboards. Usually these are panels with a height of 4 to 7 cm. These are the products that are presented in the store in a huge assortment. You can choose different shapes and colors of skirting boards.
Skirting in the living room
For large rooms with high ceilings, narrow skirting boards are not suitable. Otherwise, they will greatly stand out from the overall harmonious picture. In such conditions, you can safely allow yourself any experiments with the design of the plinth. Choose panels of any width, color, shape, texture, from different materials. Options when the color of the baseboard matches the floor or contrasts will look equally interesting.
Manufacturers
As with any other material, when choosing a skirting board you need to pay attention to the manufacturer. Well-known brands and brands traditionally maintain the high quality of their products in order to maintain an impeccable reputation and high position in the market (including price). And when buying their skirting boards, the buyer can be sure that he is purchasing a truly excellent product that will fit perfectly in the place intended for it.
However, quite often you need to save money. Then you should look at a specific product, read the manufacturer’s annotations for it and customer reviews. And also rely on the opinion of experts. And choose a really high-quality plinth that will last quite a long time, maintaining its qualities.
Most often, skirting boards are produced by factories specializing in the production of floor coverings. And they do this as a collection, that is, one option of flooring material corresponds to 1 option (or more) of plinth. Purchasing a collectible plinth for the selected floor covering is the optimal solution, unless otherwise provided for by a specific design project.
For expensive exclusive interiors, skirting boards are made to order, taking into account all the features of the design solution. There are elements that look like a real work of art. They support the style, visually unify the space, tying together seemingly disparate objects.
