Skirtings, Mouldings & Jambs

Skirting Boards 

Skirting is used to create a border across the length of interior walls where they connect to the floor.  This gives a finished look to the room as these products form junctions to cover up uneven joins. 

Furthermore, skirting boards also protect the walls from scratches and dents caused by furniture and pets.  

Several types of skirting boards are available in New Zealand to match the design specifications of any space. For example, it's possible to get black skirting, white skirting, and pretty much every shade in between. These can be made out of MDF and wood as well, such as timber skirting.

Types Of Skirting 

The following types of skirting boards are available in New Zealand depending on their materials and function:

Wood Skirting

This type of skirting gives a sophisticated look and goes well with tiled and marble flooring. Wooden skirting is the best choice for light walls, floors, and areas with suspended ceilings. 

Known for offering a range of colours, designs, dimensions and finishes, wooden skirting is commonly used for traditional interior decor. 

Pencil Skirting

These are great for newly plastered walls or rooms where new floors have been laid. That's because pencil skirting boards are often used to hide expansion gaps or create neat edges for any plasterwork that's laid in. Also, these go well will plain or patterned walls. 

Metal Skirting

This is made from aluminium or stainless steel, giving a modern and a rather industrial look to any space while also a certain lightness to the interiors. However, metal skirting does get scratched easily. 

Flush Skirting

This type flushes the plastering and the skirting together since both are on the same level, giving a highly seamless appearance to the interior. It also helps to keep away dust due to the absence of any wall projections. 

Moulding

These are decorative trims that enhance the walls and corners of any space. Moulding can also work well with wall coverings, complementing textured wall fabrics and wallpapers to create a unique look. 

Moulding Types

The main types of mouldings in New Zealand include:

Design-Enhancing Trim

These add style and dimension to an interior with panel moulding, chair rail, and architraves. Entryways and walls look exceptionally great with this style.

Primary Trim

This type is generally used in installations in New Zealand and includes casings, crowns, and baseboard mouldings. Primary trim is the most functional of them all, covering gaps between areas while also giving a stylish and decorative appearance. 

Decorative Trim 

It's possible to create detailed designs and emboss them in mouldings for some added glamour and definition on a budget. Plinth blocks, corner blocks, rosettes, and other such features are used together with ornate mouldings to create a lovely effect.

Uses Of Moulding

The different types of mouldings are used in the following areas in New Zealand:

• Floor including base shoe, baseboard, base cap
• Ceiling and wall and ceiling  including crown moulding, chair rail, and panel moulding
• Window and door including architraves and casing
• General-purpose for lattice, corner moulding, and screen bead

Moulding Materials And Uses

Several densities and types of moulding are readily available, making it essential to pick the right one for an easy installation process. Here are a few favourites:

• Poplar is easy to paint and has fine grain lines for a sophisticated look
• Medium-density fiberboard MDF mouldings usually come primed for easy painting and is a high-grade material
• Pine mouldings give texture to a room with their grain lines 
• Primed finger joint moulding is made from smaller pieces joined together, and its products are available in poplar wood and pine
• Fir has two-grain patterns, including mixed grain and vertical grain for different wooden mouldings 
• Aspen has a fine texture and is a softwood for ornate mouldings
• Oak moulding is usually milled from white or red oak, making it very durable
• Polyvinyl chloride PVC mouldings are robust and offer moisture protection. PVC moulding can be cut and installed easily without cracking or chipping
• Polystyrene prefinished moulding is easy to cut and install, moisture resistant, and lightweight 

Jambs

Door jambs, also known as door legs in New Zealand, form a door frame's interior that holds a latch's strike plate and the mounting hinges on different sides.

Parts Of A Door Jamb

There are interior and exterior door jambs with different parts, as follows:

• Head jamb
• Side jamb
• Casing
• Doorstep
• Threshold and sill
• Mullion
• Door sweep
• Sidelight

Material For Door Jambs

The most common material for door jamb construction in New Zealand is wood. This can be softwood like hemlock, fir, pine, etc., that is affordable and easy to use, especially for hinge installation and mortises creation for deadbolts and latches. 

On the other hand, hardwood like oak is challenging to work with since it's harder and more expensive. 

Furthermore, it is also easy to find PVC door jambs, metal door jambs, and those made from fibreglass. Yet, wood is most commonly used.