Skirt Board - Staircase Finish Parts

There's two types of skirt boards used in the home building and construction industry. The first skirt board attaches to the outside of an open stairway and looks like a stair stringer. The picture below provides you with an excellent example of what most construction workers will be referring to, when they use the word, skirt board.

The skirt board attaches to the finished wall and is used to protect it from people and their shoes. You're probably wondering why the walls would need any protection from peoples feet, walking up and down the stairs.

Do you even remember when the last time you kicked your stairway walls, actually was? I have to agree with you and I seriously don't remember the last time I actually hit or kicked the walls with any one of my body parts or shoes.

However, that's not always going to be the case. I've seen kids playing on the stairs, ramming their toys into into the walls. I've seen people use the sides of their stairs for extra shoe storage and drop their shoes into position, as they scrape down the sides of the stair walls

But the topper is usually going to be the vacuum cleaner, while you're cleaning your stairs. I'm even guilty of running the vacuum cleaner along the edge of the stairs, as I leave my mark, every once in a while.

Skirt boards protect the walls and it's up to you, whether you choose to install one or not. If you don't have any kids or pets and take care of your possessions, you could probably do without one.


Stairs / Stair Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z