My living room floor is 2.5" hardwood (oak) flooring, about 50 years old. One board is badly damaged & I would like to replace it. It's located in a corner, about 18" from one wall and 11 board widths from the other. I think I get how these are installed (each board is held by the tongue in groove on one edge then nailed on the other edge to the subfloor, then the next bard is placed & so on) so there must be a special technique for pulling & replacing a single board. Seems I've seen them (TV home shows) basically cut the bottom "rail" on the groove side so the new board will drop down into place, then nail from the top with finishing nails & fill the holes. That part's pretty easy, but what's the best way to REMOVE the old board w/o damaging its neighbors? Also, the floor has its original finish, lacquer I would guess (definitely not polyurethane, given the age) Will I have to stain the board to match its mates? Obviously it would then be lacquered.
Thanks
Dan