New coving tool makes awkward job easy for the trades

As every any professional plasterer or joiner or keen DIY-er knows, installing coving or skirting board in old, irregular houses is an awkward job, especially if you’re out to get a precise, high-quality finish…

Or at least it was an awkward job before TrigJig, a world-beating, British-designed tool that makes the perfect finish quick and easy – and it fits in the palm of your hand.

Manufacturer and inventor Dan Soanes-Brown says his new tool could revolutionise the installation of coving and skirting boards, especially in older properties:

“With a TrigJig and just a handsaw, any tradesman can be sure to get a perfect fit for coving and skirting boards every time. It’s a simple solution to a complex, age-old problem.”

Taking his invention through from bright idea to promising prototype and finished product has been anything but simple for Dan, 32, but after years of determined development his new digital device has been perfected, patented and put into stockists nationwide, with Screwfix and Amazon being the first retailers to take on the coving and skirting board variants of the new tool.

The TrigJig is robust, handsomely finished in stainless steel and comes with a three-year guarantee. “It’s simple, convenient, durable and dependable – because there’s nothing more frustrating or inconvenient than a tool breaking on the job. This is built to last,” says Dan.

Explaining how he came to invent and develop the tool Dan added: “I first started working as a plasterer when I was 19 and soon realised that none of the corners we worked on ever seemed to be exactly 90 degrees – I always had to shave away at the coving joint to make it fit, or fill it with caulk, which is prone to cracking. To do it any other way took far too long, but a tool to make the job easier simply didn’t exist.”

The traditional route for a perfect fit would involve lugging a mitre saw on to the job, but professionals are often reluctant to do this, especially for a single room, while their customers dislike the noise and mess these big tools create.

Renovating his own Victorian house was the last straw for Dan. If no tool was available to help with the job of installing skirting and coving in rooms with wonky walls, he would invent one.

Much continued development and a successful crowdfunding campaign followed. Dan and his marketing expert wife Karenza raised £125,000 in nine days – 25% above their target. Now manufacturing has got under way and the first TrigJig tools have been shipped out to customers around the world, with orders coming in from America, Canada, Norway and Japan as well as from UK clients.

“We made videos demonstrating the tool and put them on Facebook (https://goo.gl/YDeKqd) The videos have been viewed by over 2.5m people so far and that is what has driven demand, especially from America,” said Dan.

“We want to get the message out there to retailers and builders’ merchants and to the trades in the UK so that professionals can save time, money and effort using our tools. Once they do, this will generate lots of reviews from people discovering the benefits for themselves.

To find out more visit www.trigjig.com