# Forum Home Renovation Flooring  Undercutting skirting boards?

## dclayw

I'm going to lay a floating floor in a hallway. With all the doors and cupboards coming off this hallway I have about 18 door jambs to undercut. I'm not looking forward to doing that by hand so thought I would hire one of those power jamb saws with the circular blade. 
I've heard that a lot of people rip up the skirting boards before laying the floor so they end up with a more professional looking job. Well I don't want to do that as I just finished painting this whole area a few months back. I was going to put scotia along all the skirting boards to cover the expansion gap, then it occured to me, why not just undercut the skirting boards. There's probably a very good reason why this shouldn't be done, is there? I imagine it would be very easy to do with a proper jamb saw.

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## seriph1

I reckon mainly because getting a totally straight and accurately cut line along a skirting board is near impossible by hand, on the floor and with a tool meant for cutting short distances only.  
Also the time it would take would be huge compared to removing them all, ripping them perfectly accurately on a table saw and repainting them while off and refitting them  .... I recognize it is a pain, but it is a far lower pain than forever seeing/knowing all the skirts are wobbly.

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## Andy T

Remove the skirtings. Much easier in the long run. If done carefully you should not damage the wall and paint. As the skirtings will be replaced on top of the new floating floor the additional height should extend above the painted walls anyway. It looks much better than running quad around the edge of the skirtings. The floating floor will have expansion gaps of around 12mm - just make sure the installer leaves gaps no bigger than say 2mm wider than the thickness of the skirting.

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## seriph1

It's a good idea to run a knife along the tops of all skirts too  -  this breaks the seal made between the plaster and skirts when they were painted  -  don't be too worried about marking the walls at the junction because it will be covered by the raised skirts ..... also, on what ANDY T said: wouldn't it be OK to finish the flooring so it ends well under the skirting as it is around 16 - 22 mm thick, depending on what it's made from...?

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## drewm

and last but not least - you actually can't get boards under both sides while the skirts are still on even if you undercut them ......................... 
take them off - its a far better look in the long run

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## dclayw

You've all given very good reasons as to why undercutting the skirtings is not a good idea. 
Many thanks for the info.

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