Help with skirting board issue

[benjamin163]

Hello there,
I am contemplating fitting a nice click and lock real wood floor in my living room. At the moment I have the original boards which I sanded and painted but they look a little rough and I was in B&Q and saw some of this click and lock stuff which looked really nice (real wood, slightly irregular finish etc etc).
Anyway, I'm not useless but I'm certainly no dab hand at the DIY so I got the video which explains the system and I reckon I could do it!
My biggest worry is this. I don't want to use the beading which covers the expansion gap. Ideally I would like to take off the skirting, fir the boards and replace the skirting again.
But I have to say, just looking at that, it seems like it would be a tough job. The skirting looks well and truly attached to the walls and the walls go in and out all over the place so there are lots of separate pieces of skirting.
I've been looking to see what the answer is and I found an old post from 2004 where someone was asking if you could simply cut away an inch from the bottom of the skirting to allow the boards to slip under. One person said they had used a door trimming saw, but there were a few problems, especially with damaging the blade.
But another person recommended using a biscuit saw. I looked this up but can't for the life of me see how it would work. Can anyone enlighten me? Is there a tool for someone like me which will cut an even half inch or so off the bottom of my skirting boards all around the room?

 

[stevebamford]

One of these should do the trick

http://www.bona1stopshop.co.uk/acatalog/B.html

Not cheap though - maybe you could hire one ?

 

[big-all]

a buiscut cutter will cut up to approximatly 20mm deep with a rotary capstan or other method to vary the depth

take the machine lay flat on the floor plunge the blade into the skirting measure the floor to the top of the the cut say its 10mm and you require 21mm you pack the gap out with something 11mm ply/wood/plastic/book whatever you can find
you can move them along as one unit or slide move the packing slide move the packing ect ect
just make shure there are no bumps or nails because they will give you an inaccurate line

 

[benjamin163]

thanks for the replies. it's much appreciated.
I've since realised the only trouble with doing it the way I'm thinking is that I'd be guessing with the expansion gap. I wouldn't be able to put those 10mm blocks against the wall as a measure.
Is ripping up the skirting boards as tough as it looks?
Any tips on that?

 

[Symptoms]

ben - an Arbortech Tuff-Cut Blade is designed for trimming skirtings; the blade fits in an angle-grinder and cuts to 25mm deep. Prepare for dust!!!

The angle-grinder blade guard acts as a 'height stop' (you drag the guard along the floor), doing this ensures a cut parallel to the floor. £34 from www.axminster.co.uk