What would you do with this gap?

[s13302]

Hello,

I am trying to find a solution to fill the gap that runs below our bay window (see pictures), which currently allows quite some draft coming in. The person that refurbished our bay window said they could fill the gap (assuming with some kind of filler/foam) and I wondered if that would be an appropriate solution. Perhaps a far-fetched thought but could a filler in the gap lead to condensation build up or to any other forms of dampness issues?

An alternative solution would be a skirting board but as the gap (or floorboards) is uneven, I'm a bit concerned that if not done properly, it could look odd. Added to that would be the higher cost of hiring a joiner, which I am trying to avoid.

What are your thoughts? Would you fill the gap with a foam?

 

[Feltwell]

Don’t use expanding foam,it makes a right old mess. I’d stuff some loft insulation in there, and tack some plain moulding on with brass pins to cover most of the gap - and just live with the unevenness against the floorboards.

A plain strip wood moulding with a rounded top edge is easy enough to get (Wickes sell them amongst others), is quite thin and delicate and won’t shout for attention once painted in.

No damp implications to blocking up that gap. If there’s a good draft coming through it then it sounds like your ventilation under the floor is probably OK!

 

[Flyfisher]

The person that refurbished our bay window . . .

. . . couldn't refit the skirting board at the right level to match the existing skirting for some reason.


I'd go with Feltwell's suggestion. Most DIY sheds have a wide range of thin mouldings. I'd definitely avoid the squirty foam though.

 

[s13302]

Thanks for the responses so far! I'm not sure if I would be able to squeeze loft insulation in there, especially where the gap gets narrower but when I looked into this idea I came across something called weatherstrip. https://i1.wp.com/www.littlehouseonthecorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DSC_7432.jpg?resize=500%2C333&ssl=1

That looks pretty easy to use, perhaps that would to the trick?

 

[Feltwell]

You'd get loft insulation in there - just buy either the wool type (thermafleece) or the recycled plastic type, which B&Q sell, and you can tear it with your hands easily and stuff it into the gap with a wooden kitchen spatula. Don't get fibreglass, nasty itchy stuff to handle. It doesn't need to be rammed in solid, in fact it won't work as well as it should if you did do that - just enough so it goes in, expands a bit and fills the gap.

Or you could do the same thing with the foam strip you've shown, it really doesn't matter too much, go with what you prefer. My only concern with the foam strip is it needs to be big enough to fill the biggest gap but compressible enough to go into the smallest - you can't adjust it by tearing to down as easily as you can loft insulation. If you do go with it then stuff as much as you can in with a blunt tool such as a kitchen spatula, keep anything with a sharper edge like a filling knife for the smallest gaps only, as you'll just poke holes in it and destroy it if you're not careful.

Don't be tempted by cans of expanding foam though! It would fill the gap but it's horrible stuff, messy and sticky and expands way more than you think it will if you've not used it before. I can pretty much guarantee that you'd regret using it. It would also be a pig to get out in the future, if you ever had to.

 

[keatsie]

Personally, i would use cork expansion strip. This compresses to fill the uneven gap and is relatively easy to use, the finish can be painted to match the skirting although the cork finish tends to blend in quite well. You can get the strips in different sizes and lengths, you will probably need to trim slightly.

http://www.directflooringcentre.co.uk/index.php?route=product/search&search=Expansion%20cork

This is just one supplier, google may provide someone local.

 

[mardinor]

I’d carefully prise off the skirting and refit it at the correct height. This will solve your gap and (to my eye) the much bigger annoyance of the uneven join. Easier than filling and at most might require a bit of two-part filler if the wood is damaged in the removal.

 

[88v8]

Looks as if the skirting is part of the panel. Pretty damaging to remove**. I wouldn't touch it over such a trivial issue, although if it's been taken off and replaced like that, the person responsible did a fairly crap job.

Stuff some felt carpet underlay in the gap.
Then a bit of beading if the visuals bother you.
Whatever you stuff in needs to be quite tight, otherwise when you vacuum round the edges of the room with the crevice tool it will suck right out again.

Ivor

** bear in mind the OP presently seems to have fairly elementary practical skills. Some of us have been DIYing forty years, we can do stuff that yoof can't, yet.

 

[Feltwell]

Indeed - suggestions appropriate to the (apparent) DIY experience of the OP. Which is no criticism, we all had to start somewhere.

Ideally yes you would take the skirting off and reposition it (my first thought what WAS the person who put that on thinking?) but if you look at the picture the moulding higher up is out of line as well which makes me wonder if the whole panel is out of place for some reason. Taking the skirting off without damaging it will be difficult and disruptive, a bit of moulding planted on to cover the gap will make it look a lot better and be very easy to take off again in the future if someone decides to do a more in-depth job.

I quite like the idea of cork strip if the gap was consistent - indeed I may well do that here, hammer the cork in far enough that it sits behind the front edge of the skirting and sits in the shadow - but I think here visually it needs something cover it all up due to the large difference in gap size.

No rights or wrongs, only opinions and options to be considered.......

 

[a twig]

IMO, the easiest is expanding foam, the SOUDAL genius gun thing makes it really easy, and they do a version for windows that doesn't expand like quite such a mad thing.

Once hard, trim with a knife, caulk/sand if required, then paint.

It's not very period, but it's the simplest. The other end of the scale is to try and realign the whole panel.

Depends what your objectives are

 

[Owain]

... that doesn't expand like quite such a mad thing.

I made a right mess of the lounge carpet filling a hole in the bedroom. It's surprising how far the stuff will travel through a void and pop out again.

 

[Feltwell]

IMO, the easiest is expanding foam, the SOUDAL genius gun thing makes it really easy, and they do a version for windows that doesn't expand like quite such a mad thing.

Once hard, trim with a knife, caulk/sand if required, then paint.

It's not very period, but it's the simplest. The other end of the scale is to try and realign the whole panel.

Depends what your objectives are

True, but I don't think that foam would ever give a good finish once painted. Even if you kept it deeper in the gap and caulked on top, on that size gap the caulk wouldn't look good and the paint over it would be liable to crack as it moved.

I admit I really don't like foam - partly because it's nasty sticky stuff that can make a hell of a mess, and partly because I've seen it used as a bodge far too many times. I've yet to find a situation where's it's really necessary and there isn't a better, albeit more time consuming, alternative.

 

[MikeG]

The skirting board shouldn't be the point at which air infiltration is stopped. I would remove the skirting boards carefully, and find out why air is getting through the walls. Fix that properly, and the gap under the skirting is then just a trivial decorating matter.

 

[Feltwell]

I'd presume it's just air bricks ventilating the under floor cavity as they should - but then presumptions are dangerous!

There's a pretty good draft under my floors, it's surprising considering how small the air bricks are. I've insulated under the floor but actually one of the more challenging areas is round the edge - the joists are so tight to the wall that it's difficult to get any insulation in the gap, but it's enough for air to get through. This is especially true in the bay as there is a perforated sleeper wall across the front of it under the floor, making the underfloor area inaccessible from the main part of the room (you can get under the ground floors in my house) so it was difficult to get access to insulate thoroughly without taking skirting off and floorboards up. So for me there is some benefit to plugging the gap under the skirting I think.

 

[s13302]

Brilliant, thanks for the very helpful responses and ideas!

I will avoid the foam but I think both the cork expansion strip and the loft insulation should work if I manage to get them in far enough. I tried out the idea with a piece of wool and it seems to sit in the shadow quite well so I won't have to bother with the beading. If some of the insulation/cork material doesn't go in all the way I think it should still be fine as our dining table is right beside that window and you can't see the lower part anyway.

Thanks again

 

[CliffordPope]

the moulding higher up is out of line as well which makes me wonder if the whole panel is out of place for some reason.

Looking at that for the next decade would annoy me so much, and no amount of foam or beading bodgery would diminish that nagging irritation.

Like having to look at a picture that's not hanging straight.