You are allowing them to cut into century old baseboards? Isn't there another way?

I'm holding off on calling that criminal until you post a photo of the baseboards.

They are telling me the wood is so hard, they're going through a ton of saw blades.

That is par for the course with oscillating multi-tools. It is a wonder tool but convenience & miracles come with a cost.

They should be mounted in the plaster ABOVE the baseboard. My 1895 house had them mounted above the baseboard when I moved into it in 1989.

The house I live in is about the same age. When it was updated in 1997 we got a modern spacing for receptacles, 12 feet between. The new stuff is done like mtvhike says, the originals are blanked. Maybe the OP wants symmetry and no blanks so they're all going to be in the baseboard.

I have the same issue with my oscillating tool. Old wood, especially pine with lots of resin, just doesn't cut well.

Boy howdy. Our first house was a 1920's era Sears four square framed out of Southern Yellow Pine. We quickly learned to not even think about driving a nail into old SYP without predrilling.

I would be very concerned if an electrician asked me to find tools better suited for work he was doing. How would you feel if a hair stylest,auto mechanic or short order cook did that?

When I have had to make precise cuts into old wood, I sometimes resorted to drilling a line of holes and then going back over it with the the oscillating tool. I used the japan tooth blades for the oscillating tool.

Puulleeez,I routinely make precise cuts in steel with my 40 year old saber saw and more modern tools in my diy shop. Anyone claiming to be a professional tradesman should be ashamed to whine about wood being too hard to cut. It is no wonder there are getting to be so many wuss pups running around with business signs painted on truck doors. I don't know which is the bigger fool,worker asking homeowner to find a tool or the homeowner that actually try's to find it instead of firing them on the spot.