Walnut veneer skirting

I have ordered doors and skirting (walnut pre-finished) and am a little in limbo on the price quoted to me for installing these by the builder who is doing some other work in the house at the moment.

He justifies the price by saying this type of skirting is much harder to install than normal softwood.

Another carpenter I asked quoted much less.

I am not looking for the cheapest price per se, but am looking for a great finish.

How should this type of skirting be installed to achieve best finish and what price per foot should I be looking at realistically.

i would not recommend using veneer skirting,i have seen this used in houses and after a short while from washing the floors, the mdf will soak up the water and will discolour the wood... go for solid on the skirting

I agree with jab1.
If you have solid wood you can paint or stain it any colour you want - assuming that you don't want to buy solid walnut skirting.

We have a solid oak floor in our bathroom and the skirting is the same and it looks great.

Thanks for the advice however I have ordered the skirting already and it is not MDF but solid wood with a walnut veneer. I have no intention of painting or staining it ever, as I simply wouldn't have the time for it, hence the choice of pre-finished (talking 200m of skirting).

Having said that I have done a little test on a piece of skirting and I can actually sand it slightly (it is a layer of"real wood" veneer) so should be able to touch up and varnish if required or add moisture protection on the few lengths of skirting I have where I have tiles. But I think as the veneer is wrapped around the timber I don't see how moisture would penetrate.

I have had unfinished untreated (due to fact I had no time to ever stain it) pine skirting in my kitchen and with all the floor washing I have done there I have not seen any effect on the look of the skirting, so am not really concerned.

But I would like to stay on topic and would welcome any suggestions on specific techniques for installing or any realistic estimates on the cost of installing per foot.

pointless to me when you can get the real thing

Happy Harry,nothing wrong with using engineered walnut skirting, can often be better than the "real thing"