The MDF skirting boards are extremely popular these days, because of the materials they used called medium-density fibreboards. They are still made of wood; however, they have been processed and engineered to make them appear and feel finer, smoother, and more flexible. That is why when you are working with MDF skirting boards, you have plenty of choices. You can have them nailed, screwed, or glued.



Glueing MDF Skirting Boards

There are a variety of glues that you can utilise in MDF skirting boards. These include hot melt, UF or unrea formaldehyde, and epoxy. Of all, the hot melts are considered to be tops, whilst epoxy is used sparingly because it is more expensive. There is also constant research these days in determining the best possible type of glue to use with MDF, and hopefully, there will be improved ones to be released in the market soon.

One of the most common problems with glue is its strength. If there is moisture build-up, it becomes weaker, thereby, making the skirting boards easily loose. When you are using glue, therefore, you have to make sure that the moisture content of the MDF skirting board is only from 4 to 8 percent.

Nailing MDF Skirting Boards

Staples or nails are normally utilised in conjunction with the glue. They can fasten joints. It is a common situation during nailing of MDF that the plane that is parallel to its surface may start to split. To help curb the problem, you can use a staple or wire gauge nail that is fine, especially one that has 14 or below grade.

The technique in proper stapling or nailing is not on the nail or staple itself or even on the equipment used. It's how you apply pressure to it. When you can direct the right amount of pressure, then you can allow the nails or staples to penetrate more effectively into the MDF skirting boards and can hold them together for a very long time. Nails should also be driven forming a right angle to the skirting board if you don't want them to bend.

Screwing MDF Skirting Boards

If you want the skirting board to be screwed, you need to use pilot holes, which are required when you are going to drill the edge of the surface. Their root diameter should be from 85 to 90 percent of your chosen screw and shall be placed into a hole with a depth equal or slightly higher than the driven length of the screw.

In screwing, there's always the possibility that you can split the surface of the MDF skirting boards. To avoid that, though, you have to select the right size of the screw that you're going to use as well as prevent from over-tightening them into the hole. On the other hand, you can increase the holding strength of the screws more by choosing one that has longer depth than diameter. That's why the longer the screw, the better they are to your MDF skirting boards.