Skirting removal - avoiding wall damage

Nobbie1967

Screw a batten securely along the top of the skirting board to hold the plaster in place while you pull off the skirting. You can lever against this to get the skirting off. You can fill behind the new skirting with something like plasterboard adhesive foam. https://www.screwfix.com/p/soudal-genius-gun-plasterboard-adhesive-pu-foam-hand-held-750ml/812cf

ThisIsWeird

Any chance of some photos, OP?
If the main issue is that the walls have been skimmed after fitting the skirting - not sure that's the case here - then a first step would be to run a Stanley knife along the top edge, with blade set to only dig in to the skim's depth. Then run it along again at a slight angle to clear away a line of skim from the skirting board, and properly separate it from the added skim. 
Of course, the skirting might still be well fixed to the wall and plaster immediately behind it.
If you have a multi tool, then you could try to remove the skirting in manageable sections by cutting vertical lines through the 'board, ideally at a slight slant. Then shove a pry bar or chisel in there, and prise away the 'cut' section from the rest. Try repeated wee pries, and watch what's happening.
If it's going wrong, still well stuck, but the 'wrong' is caused by screws that ain't budging, then you can hole-cut the screws to leave them behind. Ie, use a hole-saw to cut a circle that encloses the screw, so the screw and round wood plug is left behind. You can use a normal hole-saw for this, complete with guiding drill, if started just to the side of the screw, with the saw large enough - 40mm or so - to include the screw within its circumference.
These things are not as involved as it sounds, but you'd need to have the tools. And, it might still not work...

greenbee

FreeBear said:

Modern builds where grab adhesive has been used, again, skirting isn't going to come off without some damage.

Obviously the people who built this house were thinking ahead... most of the skirting falls when we take the carpet up as they seem to have skimped on the adhesive!

boots_babe

Just wanted to post back with an update. We took the advice of running a stanley knife between the skirting and wall, prior to removal. This did the trick brilliantly! It made a huge difference and has meant we were able to remove all of the skirtings with barely any plaster damage. Thank you so much, that has saved us a lot of time and cost.