Skirting boards and architraves: the usual jobs
Skirting runs along the foot of the walls and covers the joint with the floor; architraves frame the doors and windows. A licensed carpenter quotes from the rooms, the metres, the profile and whether the old boards come off first.
New skirting after new floors
New floorboards, tiles or a floating floor usually mean new skirting, fitted after the floor goes down so it sits on the new surface and covers the edge gap.
Replacing damaged lengths
A length dented, chewed by a dog or swollen by water is cut out and a new piece of the same height and profile joined in, so the whole room doesn’t need doing.
Architraves around doors and windows
Architraves come off when a door or frame is replaced and go back on, or new ones go up to match the skirting. See door installation.
Skirting board and architrave costs in Adelaide
Skirting and architrave prices per metre
| What’s charged | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| MDF skirting (66–140 mm), per metre fitted | $12 – $25 | The Quote Yard (SA guide) |
| Pre-primed pine (90–180 mm), per metre fitted | $15 – $30 | The Quote Yard (SA guide) |
| Heritage replica profile (lamb’s tongue, ogee), per metre fitted | $50 – $120 | The Quote Yard (SA guide) |
| Hand-run heritage profile (bespoke), per metre fitted | $120 – $280 | The Quote Yard (SA guide) |
| Skirting boards, per metre (typical $30) | $20 – $55 | What’s The Damage (national) |
| Architraves, per metre (typical $18) | $10 – $45 | What’s The Damage (national) |
Checked 28 October 2026. The Quote Yard’s South Australian guide (4 May 2026) doesn’t state GST; What’s The Damage’s national figures (October 2026) include it.
The profile and the metres set most of the price. By our arithmetic, 25 m of heritage replica skirting at The Quote Yard’s $50 – $120 per metre comes to $1,250 – $3,000 fitted (GST not stated; checked 28 October 2026). A licensed carpenter prices your job from the metres and the profile after seeing the rooms or photos of them.
Period skirting in Adelaide villas
Villas and older homes have tall skirting boards with moulded tops. Matching them starts with the height and the profile: take a photo of the end of a length, or trace its shape on paper.
Heritage replica profiles
Common period profiles, such as lamb’s tongue and ogee, are made as replica skirting in the heights older homes need.
Hand-run profiles
When no replica matches, a length is run to the original’s exact shape. It costs more per metre, as the price table shows, but the new length matches the old run.
Keeping the original skirting
Original skirting can come off in one piece, be numbered and go back after new floors are laid, with only the damaged lengths replaced.
Older homes: check for asbestos first
asbestos.sa.gov.au says to check for asbestos before repairs or renovation in a house built before the mid-1980s. Old skirting and architraves can be fixed against linings that may contain it, so ask how it’ll be checked before they’re pulled off. See asbestos before renovating in SA.
Choosing skirting for a newer home
MDF skirting
Pre-primed MDF is the low-cost choice for a painted finish. It’s stable and straight, but it swells if it stays wet, so it’s a poor fit for laundries and bathrooms.
Pre-primed pine
Pine takes knocks better than MDF and comes in taller sizes, primed ready for paint.
Solid timber
Hardwood skirting, such as Tasmanian oak or blackbutt, oiled or stained to show the grain, often to match a timber floor.
What to send us
- Which rooms, and roughly how many metres
- A photo of the existing skirting, with its height
- Whether the old skirting comes off first
- Whether architraves around doors and windows are included
- When the house was built
Questions about skirting and architraves in Adelaide
How do I work out how many metres of skirting I need?
Measure around each room along the walls and take off the width of each doorway. By our arithmetic, a 4 m × 4 m room is 16 m around, less its doorways. Add the rooms together and allow a little for cuts and joins.
Do skirting boards need a licensed carpenter in SA?
Yes. Consumer and Business Services lists architraves and skirting in its second-fix carpentry licence scope, and the Building Work Contractors Act 1995 has no dollar threshold. See how to check a licence.
How is skirting fixed to stone or brick walls?
With construction adhesive and masonry fixings into the wall. On timber-framed walls it’s nailed or screwed to the studs, and glued where the wall is uneven.
Why is there a gap under my skirting?
Often because the floor has moved or a new floor was laid without refitting the skirting. A small gap is closed with a scotia or quad moulding fixed along the floor; a bigger one means taking the skirting off and refitting it.
Can architraves be replaced without new doors?
Yes. The old architrave is eased off the frame, and new lengths are mitred at the corners and fixed around the existing door or window frame.
Where this information comes from
The rules and figures on this page come from these published pages, checked on 28 October 2026.
- The Quote Yard: skirting boards and architraves SA 2026 · Quote-comparison marketplace, South Australian price guide, published 4 May 2026
- What’s The Damage: carpenter cost Australia 2026 · National cost guide (paid by tradespeople for enquiries), updated October 2026, prices include GST
- asbestos.sa.gov.au: homeowners · SA Government asbestos information site (SafeWork SA, EPA SA, SA Health and others)
- Building Work Contractors Act 1995 (SA) · South Australian legislation: ss 3, 6, 28–36, 47A–47D, 49 and 50
- CBS: building work supervisor standard registration conditions · SA Government, Consumer and Business Services: the licence categories (carpentry, decks, fencing, windows and doors)
