CONVENIENCE IS KEY
After discussing the basics of building your own baseboards in last month’s Skills Station, we can now shed light on one of the most welcome innovations of recent years: the laser-cut baseboard kit. These are becoming more widespread, with a number of manufacturers offering a range of off-the-shelf or bespoke products to suit a vast array of layout needs.
Most often supplied in flat-pack form and rendered in Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF) or plywood, they’re designed like any other decent kit, with the parts slotting together and being secured with regular wood glue, plus a few nails and/or screws.
The various boards featured here, from the Tim Horn range (www.tim-horn.co.uk), are perfect examples of the genre. Cut from high-quality materials, the framework uses a tab and slot arrangement to provide strong joints, while large diameter holes in the internal cross-members reduce weight and allow cables to pass freely along the underside of the baseboard top. Many different sizes are available, with or without backscenes, while there’s also the choice of curved sections and fiddleyard boards. As they’re all precision-cut, multiple boards can be connected with ease, especially as pre-formed recesses are provided for alignment dowels and bolts.
Kits definitely take the fear out of building baseboards. There’s no need for any fancy tools, nor is there any stress regarding
Above: All-plywood or MDF baseboards can be extremely robust if designed correctly. Large holes in the internal cross-members greatly reduce the overall weight. CHRIS NEVARD
Inset: A typical laser-cut plywood baseboard kit consists of individual frame members, plus a top and all necessary fixings. This is a Tim Horn 3ft by 1ft board kit in birch plywood. PETER MARRIOTT
accurate saw cuts and perfectly-aligned corner joints. A typical 4ft by 3ft board can be assembled in an evening, with little dust or mess to clear up afterwards. The cost is surprisingly low too, especially when compared to the cost of good quality raw materials from your average DIY store.
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