Home & DIY
How many metres of skirting board do you need?
Linear meters of skirting board from the room perimeter, with boards to buy and cost.
Quick answer
Usable perimeter = 2 × (length + width) − total door widths. A 5×4 m room with 0.9 m of doors: 2 × 9 − 0.9 = 17.1 m. With 5% waste: 17.1 × 1.05 = 18.0 m. At 2.4 m per board: ceil(18 ÷ 2.4) = 8 boards.
Linear meters needed
18 m
- Usable perimeter
- 17.1 m
- Boards to buy
- 8 pieces
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How it works
Measure each wall separately in irregular rooms. Skirting hides the wall-floor gap and takes knocks — buy one extra board for mistakes. MDF is cheaper; solid wood or MDF-wrapped takes stain and lasts longer in high-traffic halls.
Profile height and finish drive the SKU — pre-primed MDF skirting boards is the DIY default; stained timber needs longer drying between coats. Internal corners want a miter saw for clean 45° joins; construction adhesive plus panel pins beats nails alone on plasterboard walls. Run a laser level along the floor line before you cut the first length.
The reason home-fitted skirting has gaps at the internal corners is that it was mitred. Rooms are never truly square, so two pieces cut at 45° meet at an angle that is not ninety and the joint opens — the trade way is to scribe: one piece goes in square against the wall, and the profile of the moulding is traced and cut onto the end of the second so it sits over the first. A scribed corner also stays closed when the timber shrinks, where a mitre opens further. External corners are the opposite case and do want the mitre, cut slightly tight and eased to fit.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I skirting behind kitchen units?+
Usually no — units sit flush against the wall. Subtract fitted furniture depth from perimeter or simply skip those wall sections. Run skirting only on visible walls; the gap behind base cabinets is never seen once units are fitted.
What height skirting board?+
Common heights: 7–10 cm modern, 12–15 cm traditional. Taller skirting suits high ceilings; measure existing boards if replacing to match door architraves. Going taller than your door frames without planning looks wrong — check architrave overlap before you order.
How to join skirting corners?+
Internal corners: mitre at 45° or scribe for uneven walls. External corners: mitre. Cheap alternative: square cuts with corner blocks — easier for DIY, less elegant. Scribing (marking the wall profile onto the board) beats forcing a mitre on walls that are never truly square.
Skirting on stairs?+
Stairs need separate measurement along tread nosings and landings — not included in a simple rectangular room calculator. Add linear metres per flight manually. Plinth blocks at the bottom of newel posts often replace mitred skirting on stair strings.
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