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Cut skirting with a mitre saw

Updated: October 2026

The last internal corner has opened into a gap, and filler will not stay there once the heating comes on. To cut skirting with a mitre saw you treat two joints as different jobs. An external corner is a pair of mitres. An internal corner is often a scribe, because a UK wall is rarely a true 90°. Square the saw first, which is the [how to use a sliding mitre saw](/hub/power-saws/sliding-mitre-saw/sub/sliding-mitre-saw-how-to-cut) page. The listings are in the [sliding mitre saw comparison](/hub/power-saws/sliding-mitre-saw). Products Compared editorial team, 16 October 2026. The joint method follows Toolstation, Wickes, Checkatrade and Homebuilding. We did not fit a room. Amazon links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

The last internal corner has opened into a gap, and filler will not stay there once the heating comes on. To cut skirting with a mitre saw you treat two joints as different jobs. An external corner is a pair of mitres.

Our top picks

Evolution Power Tools Evolution R185SMS+

Best overall

Evolution Power Tools Evolution R185SMS+
8.8/10about £129.98
View offer
Evolution Power Tools Evolution R210SMS+

Alternative

Evolution Power Tools Evolution R210SMS+
8.2/10about £125.95
View offer
Einhell Einhell TC-SM 2131 Dual

Best value

Einhell Einhell TC-SM 2131 Dual
8.3/10about £110
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two joints, not one 45° habit
  2. 2.External corners
  3. 3.Internal corners
  4. 4.The saw and the blade underneath the joint

Two joints, not one 45° habit

An external corner, the one that sticks into the room, wants two faces that meet in a mitre. An internal corner can be mitred as well, and Toolstation says a scribe is the tighter result when the corner is out of square. Checkatrade and Homebuilding make the same split, because filler on an internal mitre cracks if the house moves. Measure the angle you have. A folding bevel beats the assumption that a Victorian terrace or a new-build bay is square. If the saw’s own 45° detent is out, you will copy that error into every corner. A 92° corner is not two cuts at 45°. Whether the board even needs rails is the sliding versus compound page.

External corners

Cut the external corner as a pair. The long point is the face that shows, and the length is to the back corner, not the tip. Toolstation’s guide is explicit about that length. Dry-fit before any adhesive. If the tip or the heel is open, change the saw by a degree and cut a fresh end. Do not shave the same mitre until it is short. On a single-bevel saw, every Evolution and JCB in this set, you turn the board for the opposite tilt. On the dual-bevel Einhells you can tilt the head instead, which helps when the board is long.
Evolution Power Tools Evolution R185SMS+

Testsieger

Evolution Power Tools Evolution R185SMS+
8.8/10about £129.98
View offer

Internal corners

Fit a square-cut piece into the corner first. The next piece is the one you cope. Toolstation’s method is to cut a 45° mitre on that second piece so the profile is revealed, then follow that line with a coping saw, the blade leaning so the back is slightly hollow. The coped face sits over the square piece and can follow a wall that is not 90°. A pure internal mitre is faster. It opens when the plaster is out. Wickes’s order still holds with a powered saw. Start at the door and work anti-clockwise, so the square piece is fixed before the scribed piece. A gap at the top of an internal mitre is the wall leaning out.

The saw and the blade underneath the joint

The joint fails when the detent is wrong, or the blade tears the face. Reviews on the £110 Einhell and the R210SMS+ include saws that would not hold 45°. Check two offcuts before you cut the measured board. If they do not make a straight line, fix the saw or return it. A multi-material blade is often 20 or 24 teeth. R185SMS+ reviewers said it was rough beside a wood blade, and that is the saw people here used for skirting. For a painted edge, fit a finer wood blade of the same diameter and bore. The R210SMS+ is a 25.4 mm bore, not the 30 mm many UK blades assume. Ordinary skirting rarely needs a slide. You need it when the board is taller than the fixed head’s crosscut.

Common questions

What if the walls are not 90°?
Measure them. Set the saw to half that angle for an external mitre, and prefer a scribe internally so a small lean does not open a gap. A bay window is the same idea with more corners, and a mitre saw can leave the 45° detent in a way a fixed box cannot. The saw’s detent still has to be true. An out-of-square saw plus an out-of-square wall is two errors added together.
Do I need a sliding saw for ordinary skirting?
Often no. Standard skirting is narrower than a fixed mitre saw’s crosscut, so a compound saw that holds an angle is enough. You need the slide when the board is too tall for that crosscut, or when you also cut decking and shelves. UK walls being out of square is a reason for an adjustable saw, not by itself a reason for rails. Tall decorative board is the exception.
What blade leaves a cleaner painted edge?
A fine wood blade, in the region of 48 to 60 teeth, of the correct diameter and bore. The 20-tooth and 24-tooth multi-material blades supplied with the Evolution saws will cut the board and leave a rougher face. Reviewers said so. Match the bore. A blade bored 30 mm does not fit a 25.4 mm Evolution arbor unless the maker says a bush is safe, and many do not.
Should I trust the saw’s 45° stop?
Only after two test offcuts form a straight edge. In this set, UK reviews describe 45° stops that were poor until adjusted, especially on the cheaper Einhell. If the stop will not hold after the manual’s adjustment, return the saw. Every external corner you cut on a bad detent will be open at the same place, and caulk will show it.
When is this a joiner’s job?
When the skirting is tall and decorative, the room is badly out of square, and the joint has to disappear. Also when the saw arrives unable to cut square, arcing, or with a bent plug pin. That is a return, not a harder afternoon. A straightforward hallway with a square saw, a fine blade and a scribe on the internal corners is ordinary DIY, if you dry-fit as you go.

Related pages

Sliding mitre saw buying guide

Sliding mitre saw

Best sliding mitre saw UK: top pick and best value

How to use a sliding mitre saw before the first cut

Sliding vs compound mitre saw: when rails are worth it

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings in this comparison. Page updated October 2026.

  1. HSE: wood dust (retrieved October 2026)
  2. HSE: WD3 cross-cut saw (retrieved October 2026)
  3. HSE: WIS23 wood dust (retrieved October 2026)
  4. IEC 62841-3-9:2020, transportable mitre saws (retrieved October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK: UKCA and CE marking in Great Britain (retrieved October 2026)
  6. Evolution UK shop: R210SMS+ (retrieved October 2026)
  7. Einhell UK: TC-SM 2534/1 Dual (retrieved October 2026)
  8. Einhell UK: TC-SM 2131 Dual (retrieved October 2026)