DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

Hi, I need to fit my skirting around an octaganal shaped bay area and dont want to mitre the internal joins but am confused how to cut them so they fit correctly. The skirting is chamferred edge which is causing the problem.

Please help

See our project on angles used in carpentry

Would I be right in saying that it the modern way to do it? Was told not to mitre internal joins because of any movement.
I'm after some 'old school' ways in order to do a tidier job please :D

Hi. Traditional methods evolved to deal with traditional materials. IMHO the old methods are not always better. Traditionally you wouldn’t mitre internal joints because as the timber shrinks, an unsightly gap would open up. (I’ve said on here before that wood doesn’t shrink along its length, in fact is does, but only marginally. It only matters on long runs). Mitres are also not very tolerant of error; both the length and angle have to be accurate. Both these facts mean that for a skilled carpenter with only hand tools a scribe joint (one where the end of one length is shaped to fit the profile of the other) is overall faster, safer and therefore more profitable!

Modern skirting made from MDF won’t shrink, and a mitre saw removes a lot of the accuracy problem.

So unless you are using solid real wood I’d be inclined to use internal mitres as per the good Doctors advice. Might not be what the “prosâ€

Thanks for the advise :)