We are often asked our advice on this subject so this article runs through all the things that you need to consider when choosing these items. Architrave is the frame that surrounds the door and lining, and skirting runs around the room at floor level. With our prehung door sets we can provide certain designs of architrave and skirting that are veneered so these items match what ever finish you have chosen for the doors. Your first choice is to decide if you want your architrave to match the colour of the door or have it painted.
We usually advise that painted architrave it is made of HDF, a type of water resistant MDF. This is cheaper and more stable than hardwood and can be pinned and glued rather than screwed to the wall, making installation costs less. Hardwood architrave and skirting comes in a more limited number of woods, these are commonly Oak, Walnut, Sapele, Cherry, Beech, Ash and Maple. With solid wood or MDF the range of different mouldings are many, please see PDF for some of the choices.
What size should my skirting and architrave be?Our veenered architrave comes in widths of 70,80,90mm as standard and from 10-20mm thick. We have some architrave that is 120mm but this is a stepped design. For the size of your architrave, you need to consider 2 things:The size of the door – The taller the door a wider architrave may suit best.The space around the frame – sometimes depending on where the openings are, i.e. close to a corner, this may determine the maximum thickness of your architrave.
The next consideration is the height of the skirting and the thickness of it. We would normally recommend that the skirting is approximately double the width of the architrave. For example if your architrave is 90mm wide the skirting should be at least 180mm high. Darker skirting will be more noticeable than white painted so this should be considered when choosing the height. You can go a little higher with white skirting.Do I need Plinth blocks?Plinth blocks are required if the skirting is the same size or thicker than the architrave. These are fitted between where the architrave meets the skirting. We normally recommend that the plinth blocks are 5mm thicker and 10mm higher than the skirting and 5mm wider than the architrave. On a traditional model of door you may want to have plinth blocks just for the aesthetics. You can avoid plinth blocks if you make your architrave slightly thicker than your skirting. As shown in the images below.
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