Brits are fixing chipped skirting in 9 minutes for £6 : can you spot the repair in your home?

Autumn brings damp boots, heavy furniture and frantic tidying. Floors survive. Skirting boards don’t. A quiet, cheap fix is trending.

Across the UK, households are restoring flaking skirting without lifting a single length. The method takes minutes, hides the scar, and costs about the price of a coffee run.

Why skirting boards chip in busy homes

Daily living punishes skirting boards. Vacuum heads knock edges. Toys scuff corners. Damp air makes timber swell. Paint then loses grip and flakes at floor level.

Daily knocks and seasonal moisture

Repeated impact weakens the paint film along the bottom edge. Moisture pushes from behind. That combination creates curling, brittle paint and shallow craters in the profile.

Low winter heating cycles add stress. Warm evenings and cool mornings move boards fractionally. MDF and softwood both react, just differently. MDF puffs at edges. Softwood dents on impact.

Check the damage before you start

Run a fingernail along the chip. If paint lifts in sheets, you are dealing with adhesion failure. If the timber crumbles, you have substrate damage. The first needs a fill and repaint. The second needs a stabiliser before filler.

The £6, 9-minute repair keeps your skirting in place, with no pry bars and no screw holes.

The 9‑minute, £6 repair you can do without removal

What you need on the floor beside you

• Soft cloth and a slightly damp microfibre
• Non-abrasive sponge and a drop of mild soap
• Utility knife or paint scraper for loose flakes
• Fine sandpaper, 180–240 grit
• Ready-mixed wood filler or two-part filler for deeper divots
• Small filling knife or flexible spatula
• Primer for bare MDF or stained timber spots
• Touch-up paint matched to your skirting colour
• Small brush, 25–38 mm, or a foam mini-roller

Step by step: from clean to paint

• Dust and degrease. Wipe the area with a damp cloth. Use a tiny amount of soap where needed. Dry thoroughly.
• Remove weak material. Lift any loose paint with the scraper. Stop once the edge feels firm under the blade.
• Key the surface. Sand lightly to feather the paint edge and add tooth for filler. Vacuum the dust.
• Prime bare MDF or stained timber. A quick dab prevents moisture uptake and staining. Let it flash off.
• Fill once. Press filler into the chip. Slightly overfill to allow sanding back to the profile.
• Shape. When the filler firms up, sand with small circular strokes until flush with the surrounding edge.
• Paint. Touch in the area with thin coats. Feather 2–3 cm beyond the repair for an invisible blend.

Aim for 30–60 minutes total including drying, spread across two short bursts.

Pro tips to make the fix invisible

Filling and sanding that matches the profile

Use a flexible filling knife so the blade follows the ogee or pencil-round shape. For crisp lines, hold a folded card against the floor as a guide while you sand. Avoid over-sanding the bottom edge, which can flatten the factory curve.

Paint and colour matching like a retailer pro

If you lack the original tin, trial a match on a sticky note. Let it dry fully, then hold it against the skirting under daylight and warm artificial light. Satin hides transitions better than gloss. For gloss, extend the blend a little further to avoid a dull patch.

Moisture drives most failures. Keep indoor relative humidity near 45–55% to protect joints and coatings.

Make it last through winter traffic

Prevention habits that reduce future chips

• Fit the soft brush head on the vacuum when running along edges.
• Slip felt pads under skirting-adjacent furniture. Replace them when they compress.
• Seal micro-gaps where the board meets the wall with acrylic caulk. This reduces draught-driven dust streaks that weaken paint.
• Keep humidity sensible. Run a dehumidifier after wet weather or drying laundry indoors.

Speedy micro touch-ups

For pinhead nicks, a pea of filler on a fingertip works. Smooth, wait, nib-sand, dot with paint. One kettle boil is enough time for a first sand on many ready-mix fillers.

Costs, timing and risks compared with ripping out

Extra guidance for tricky cases

When swelling or rot lurks under the paint

If the edge feels spongy, probe with the tip of a knife. Dark, crumbly timber indicates moisture ingress. Dry the area first. Use a wood hardener to stabilise fibres before filling. Address sources of damp such as leaky mopping, shower steam, or bridging silicone along floors.

What to do with MDF, softwood and varnished finishes

MDF drinks water at cut edges. Prime any exposed fibreboard before filler. Softwood dents more easily; pick a slightly firmer two-part filler for sharper edges. For varnished or stained skirting, choose a stainable filler and glaze to tone, or mask a small section and refinish from corner to corner for a seamless look.

Safety notes many people miss

• Wear a dust mask when sanding. Vacuum dust at the source.
• Homes painted before the early 1990s can contain legacy coatings. Avoid dry-sanding unknown, very old layers. Use a wet-sand method or test packs.
• Ventilate during painting. Low-odour paints still release vapours while drying.

A quick checklist you can screenshot

• Clean, dry, and remove loose paint.
• Key the area with 180–240 grit.
• Prime bare MDF or stained wood.
• Press in filler slightly proud.
• Sand to the original profile.
• Feather thin paint coats beyond the repair.
• Keep humidity steady and fit felt pads.

Useful extras for keen improvers

Want a stronger edge in high-traffic corridors? A narrow bead of clear, paintable acrylic along the bottom of the skirting can absorb light knocks. It flexes with the seasons and wipes clean. For families, small corner guards near doorways spare regular impact points without altering the room’s look.

Planning materials helps avoid waste. One 250 ml tub of ready-mix filler covers dozens of chips on standard 70 mm skirting. A tester pot, 125 ml, typically gives four to six touch-up sessions. Keep a note of paint brand, finish and batch number for the next mini repair, and your future self will thank you.