No worries, I just went to b and q, bought the large sheets of MDF and got them to cut it in store to 12 inches and 10inches, used filler to hide the joins as it only comes in 2400mm lengths. I'm sure your contractor could do something similar, or if you wanted wood he could use that but I just went with MDF because it was going to be painted white anyway. Google skirting boards for ideas but I would go high so it ties in with your original windows, good luck.

It really depends what look you're after. Classically the rule of thumb is the skirting should be 1/17th the height of the ceiling. This is just a pleasant ratio from a visual perspective. I'm not keen on stubby low skirting because it often looks like the 'cheap' option (as if the architrave was used for skirting). It does depend on the style of house to some extent but there's not many instances low skirting really adds anything to a space. Do consider things like: the abuse skirting takes from vacuum cleaners, what height you have/want power outlets to be. What style of architrave you want (a nice thick architrave helps 'frame' doors and tricks the eye into thinking the doorway is larger than it is - I've attached a before and after showing how this works on window casing but it's the same principle) and other wood work nearby - how will it all look together? Also upkeep - complex profiles mean more dusting! I would also recommend buying pre-primed skirting where possible - it's so much easier when you only need to do one coat of paint!

As part of our initial house renovation 3 years ago we used mdf skirting and architraves. It is one of my biggest regrets. It can go a bit fluffy when sanded, if it gets wet it's ruined and if you knock into a corner bits chip off very easily. I find mine seems to be more prone to chipping than denting like pine would. In my opinion the only upside is that it you don't have any knots to treat and you won't ever have them showing through. I'd rather the knots all day long than mdf. We are just extending and any new woodwork will definitely be pine. If the price difference isn't a factor then I'd steer towards pine. Lou x

The Edwardian period was such a short timeframe it's no surprise that skirting fashions didn't change much from the Victorian period. We installed MDF versions of the original skirting in our 1908 house a few years ago as part of a renovation which included removing rotten floorboards (and therefore skirting). Builder said it was easier to use than pine and less chance of it bowing. I prefer the original skirting upstairs as it just looks older and has more soul somehow, probably from the many years of paint. The MDF is a bit too perfect, but honestly nobody else would even look twice at it. For me, the important thing was to get the right proportions i.e. deep skirting, rather than short modern skirting which isn't high enough in a period property with high ceilings.