Will be painted white, mdf will work out a reasonable amount cheaper, I’m leaning towards pine as that is what I’m replacing / trying to match with old timber. Would mdf look out of place or can’t you tell when painted?

It all looks the same when it’s painted but for some reason I can never bring myself not to go with solid wood.

I went for MDF after reading about pine doing the time warp.
Can’t tell when It’s painted of course, & it hasn’t warped.

Went for MDF here, live in an old house, so no walls are straight, and as MDF won’t warp, it made sense to go with it.

I’d always go primed MDF if being painted. Flat and easy to fit and finish.

Another vote for MDF here. I often struggle to match up the features in my 30s property with either product but MDF seems easier to deal with and gives a better finish for architrave.
For skirting I have also had some specifically planed when I needed a 4m length to make good.

Mdf it is then. Cheers all

I’m looking at MDF (rebated for cable runs) for a couple of rooms right now. Will ping a link tomo.

After working with MDF and seeing what happens if it gets a breath of damp on it I wouldn’t touch the stuff. I’ve got 107 year old pine skirting I am reusing but matched it with new pine when I needed more.

Plus it doesn’t give people respiratory problem when it’s being cut. Hateful stuff. I’ve used wood a lot and won’t have MDF in my house.

Just done my lounge in mdf, easy to fit with pink grip but the machined detailing (round pencil) is a bit furry because of the open mdf and despite giving it a quick rub down to smooth it and extra undercoat it still showed through a bit.
The hallway is still to do so I’m going to give it a coat of proper mdf sealer.
Looks good though and no knots!

MDF. No knots. No warp. No cracks. Easier to paint up.

I use pine in the kitchen and bathroom mind as MDF and water is a no no.

If you go for MDF get the ready painted stuff…not the primed but finished painted stuff, why??..because it’s painted all around to stop any damp swell issues and once on and the caulked at the top just give a light rub with 120 paper and it’ll only need one coat of finish…perfect.

Please note I would never use MDF in kitchens or bathrooms or places with high humidity

MDF – also known as that stuff made from fallaparticle.

You have the pros and cons above – easier to work with, less likely to last the years (and I mean 10’s of years if not 100’s).

Interesting comment on the finish not being great ‘furry’ this would bother me a lot. And definitely wouldn’t be using it in the bathrooms or kitchen. I’ve already pulled out some of the more modern alterations, and 4 year old mdf in the down stairs loo was knackered.

spacemonkey – why are you having the cable rebate? I see it as an option but not sure why it would be useful? I thought running flex behind skirtings was a big no no. I have one room with a solid concrete floor and running the cable behind the skirting would make life a lot lot easier than chasing up to the ceiling

I went with ready primed MDF. So glad I did. Painting was easy with them being ready primed, and they haven’t warped at all and you don’t get all the issues with wood knots and areas where the paint doesn’t take the same.

Life’s to short to make things harder for yourself.

I’m looking at MDF (rebated for cable runs) for a couple of rooms right now. Will ping a link tomo.

Hopefully for speaker cable or Cat5? Please tell me you aren’t putting power cables behind skirting??

I tend to remove most of the pre-primed finish on mdf with a 240g sanding pad. Coat up with Zinsser coverstain to seal the furry edges. The coverstain then sands down lovely with 320g or finer ready for your finishing coats