Damaged garage skirting boards

Discussion in 'Repairs & Maintenance' started by Emboon, 24th Feb, 2021.

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  1. Emboon

    Emboon Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    7th Apr, 2019
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    Location:
    Nsw
    We noticed this in our garage, the three corners seem to have damaged skirting boards (luckily one corner is still good) which I assume is rot?

    Skirting boards

    Do we need to do anything about this or is it purely aesthetics?

    House is about 10-15 yrs old, can it be due to age? But its only the 3 corners so got me worried.

    Sorry for my lack of knowledge and would really appreciate all the help.

    Happy to answer any questions that might be useful information.
     
  2. jaybean

    jaybean Well-Known Member

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    No that's not purely cosmetic. That's rot - you gotta find the underlying cause otherwise whatever fix you put in will only be temporary. It's likely to be a gap somewhere, or maybe the driveway is elevated and pushing water into the garage.
     
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  3. Noobieboy

    Noobieboy Well-Known Member

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    Depends. I would investigate why the have rotted. If it’s just poor practice (like constant washing / water spills. I would make sure that doesn’t happen again and replace the rotten sections. Looks like water was pooling there. Maybe washing machine?

    However if it’s water rising from heavy rains, leakage or some other ongoing water issue, I would definitely look into that first. Ongoing water can damage further.
     
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  4. Something_Wrong

    Something_Wrong Well-Known Member

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    Sydney
    Looks to me like water gets in through your garage door and pools around the corners,

    The other thing is that also looks like cheap craft wood skirting board which doesn't require much water to swell and start to fall apart.

    I would
    1. Remove the skirting
    2. see how much water comes in through the door during and after rain.
    3. fix that issue and then replace with hardwood or timber skirting boards not the craft wood ones.

    P.s
    Depend on the water egress, you may need to remove the wall sheet to see what the timber frame is like.
     
  5. Paul@PAS

    Paul@PAS Tax, Accounting + SMSF + All things Property Tax Business Plus Member

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    MDF skirting and water dont mix. It swells and warps. Find the source (whats behind that wall ?) and it may even be a leaking shower or taps in wall. Access from the back is straight forward perhaps. Wall may also have insulation packing. Replacing lining easy enough and skirting. Repaint.
     
  6. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    Location:
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    Looks to me like the garage door is allowing water in, which is sitting and rotting the board.

    Does the driveway slope down to the garage door? Is there a drain to divert the water away?

    Not enough information to make a call.
     

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