Can anyone offer me any advice please.
I need to cut 15mm wide vertical section out of a skirting board. I’m trying not to damage the plastered wall, floor or surrounding board if I don’t have to. Any suggestions as to how best to achieve this?
The board appears to be nailed either side so once cut through the piece of board should drop out.
Hi multitool saw sounds best option.
If you are handy, and good with a jigsaw you can also use that but it’s a bit trickier to get it started… but doable.
Good luck 
Try YouTube for “how to “. 
One possibility would be to carefully mark two vertical lines on the skirting board and then use a very small wood drill (the smallest size) to drill holes along each line. I’d make the gap between the lines slightly smaller than 15mm. Then use a fine file down each edge to get to the width you’re after.
Oscillating multi-tool with a half circular saw blade plus a very sharp chisel to get into the lower part where the skirting meets the floor.
Something like this and take your time being careful not to mark the plaster. Inevitable you may need a little plaster filler for any damage.
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I never think to look on YouTube but sure enough I found a couple of videos, both using oscillating multi-tools. They make it look very quick and easy on the videos.
I’ve had a look at multi-tools but they don’t come cheap once you include the battery and charger and I can’t think what else I would use it for, although no doubt I would find uses for it once I had one. Can anyone recommend one that is reliable but good value for money?
The hand saw may be a cost effective option given I only have to make two cuts.
The multiple hole-drilling solution was my thought about how best to go about this.
If you do not want to buy anything new (which is probably unnecessary), I would go down the drill route - use a small drill.
If you draw the lines that you need inside the edge of the piece you want to remove (do not get too close to the edge - it is easier to remove a few millimeters of additional wood than have a hole too large), then use a straight edge and a chisel to create an indentation, it will help prevent you slipping with the drill. If you are using a 3mm drill, I would draw a line 3mm inside the edge - which will leave you with 1.5mm of wood to remove - which should be easy with some rough sandpaper, or a file.
Good luck!
I think my father, who was a patternmaker and could do almost anything with wood, would have chopped the whole thing out with a chisel. It’s doable I think even for the unskilled if you take long enough over it, and have a sharp chisel. And a mallet.
I’d probably use a jig saw, fine blade, introduced at the bottom. Use tape to mark the cut line and scribe it if you can.
I just found a mains powered multi tool online for £19.95!
Or, you could use a 15mm diameter wood boring drill. Just mark a vertical line on the skirting board and drill a line of overlapping 15mm holes up it. You would still need a sharp chisel to tidy the edges.
Hand held grinder with 4" cutting disc, disc should not be more than 3mm thick… job done 5 mins…
My pay to have someone hand with hoover nozzle for dust extraction.
Problem with a circular disc is getting right down to the floor…
How thick is material your cutting ?
I presume its wood ?
A stanley knife with new blade would do the trick in a few passes
Multitool, all day
I think normally this would be ok, but if the skirting is in situ, when you get to the bottom, you would struggle to get in and if you started at the bottom and came up, you need to make sure you stop at the top, otherwise you would cause damage to the wall…
you can get handles for loose hacksaw blades.
also if you grind off the end of the blade, (or snap it) the teeth will go to the very end.
Brandon tool hire in Worcester will hire you a multi tool for a day.
Forgot to add this
https://www.hirestation.co.uk/about-us/hire-station-branches/west-midlands/brandon-hire-worcester/
That’s not a mains multi-tool.
That’s an air multi tool, needs a ruddy great compressor to run it
Oops, yes my mistake! About £40 from B&Q for an electric one.