Nail pullers

[Parish]

The squeaking and creaking of t&g chipboard floors upstairs has got that bad that it needs sorting (not least so I can sneak into bed in the wee small hours after coming home from the pub without waking SWMBO :-) ). Since we will be replacing the carpets soon it seems the ideal time to do it.

I don't want to go as far as lifting and re-laying the floor so my plan is to pull out the nails and replace them with screws. The problem is how to remove the nails. I've found these three nail pullers at Axminster

used any of them? Which one would be the best (bearing in mind that the nail heads are punched down below the surface), or has anyone any other/better suggestions for dealing with the problem? Anyone used any of them?

Thanks.

Regards,

Parish

[Dave Plowman]

It might also be the T&G joints which aren't supported by joists. Think the only easy way round this is to glue them together.

[Harry Bloomfield]

I would leave the nails in and just add screws, making sure you do not hit pipes and or cables under the boards. A sensitive cable and pipe locator will help there.

[Angela]

:-) ).

Axminster

When we rescrewed ours we could not stop the squeaking - it was driving us crazy and we got to the point where I think there was more metal in the floor than chipboard. Anyway, if this happens to you................I know the solution. The creak was in fact coming from the walls. Where the bottom of the wall was nailed to the floor, the movement in the floor was causing those nails to squeak. As it was not possible to remove the wall and sort it out we were advised to use small wooden wedges to stop the movement between the wall and floor...........worked a treat!! If only we had known that first!

Angela

[Michael McNeil]

Again buy a wire and pipe finder. (It may also find the nails holding the wall to the floor.) The small wedges you have to use may well be able to cut through pipes.

[PoP]

Dad used to buy timber from yards which had been taken out of buildings which had been knocked down. Full of nails down one side. The nail puller made the job easy.

PoP

Sending email to my published email address isn't guaranteed to reach me.

[Simon Stroud]

Hi,

I have the Priory model.

It is on my short list of "best tools I have ever bought". In our modern mid-80s house the upstairs big-sheet chipboard flooring is all held down with annular ring shank nails, which are almost impossible to remove by any other method. Several years ago I spent a whole frustrating weekend just lifting two boards.

With the priory, getting the nails out is a genuine pleasure. For any major floor lifting project (doing a bathroom or heating job etc) it would be ideal. Of course I'd use screws for fixing everything back down.

I got mine from

a couple of years ago. They no longer list the Priory but they have the Bahco one.

Regards,

Simon.

[Parish]

Thanks Simon, that's really useful.

Are the Bahco ones £25 better than the Priory? Going by your experience, I suspect not. Looks like I'll get a Priory from Axminster.

Regards,

Parish

[Parish]

I'm fairly certain it's the floor nails however once I've screwed it all down, if there's still some squeaking, I'll know where to look. Thanks for the tip.

Regards,

Parish

[Parish]

Not sure what your getting at; the joints should be at 90deg. to the joists so they would be supported. Are you suggesting they might have been laid incorrectly or that there should be noggins under the joints?

That would mean pulling the floor up, which I'm hoping to avoid. One tip I read once suggested dusting talcum powder (or powdered chalk) into the joints, but I think that was in the context of traditional floorboards - the t&g is much deeper on chipboard.

[jacob]

I'd go over the floor carefully tapping and pressing etc to work out where the boards are loosest - and whang in a few more nails, preferably 70mm or bigger 'lost head' flooring brads. I wouldn't use screws as once they have rusted in. or the heads got a bit worn they are a bugger to remove (or tighten) without damage to boards. Nails always easier. I've got a 'priory' nail puller and it does the job but not without some damage to the board. Not quite sure what the point of them is - I guess it was to remove cut flooring brads, but this is usually impossible if they are old, due to having rusted in. If you must remove nails better to prise up the boards using bolster chisels, wooden wedges, wrecking bars etc. - leaving nails behind and then remove nails from the joists with claw hammer. Claw hammer leverage much improved with wooden blocks - i.e. if 1" nail sticking up then use the clawhammer on a 1" bit of scrap Where the nails are pulled through then damage is only on the underside of the board. Similarly where nails come up with the board better to pull them through from the underside, NOT to knock them back the way they went in. This minimises visible damage on the face.

cheers

Jacob

[usenet]

Modern plated screws don't corrode indoors, old untreated steel screws with slotted heads are, I agree, a problem - but who uses those nowadays?

[Dave Plowman]

They can in a kitchen or bathroom.

With a slotted screw you can usually clean the corrosion out of the slot, if it's not too bad. Or just drill the head off then remove the shank with grips. Hardened screws aren't as easy.

[usenet]

I've not noticed any problem but if you're concerened about it use stainless steel ones, they're not expensive.

In fact I'm standardising on stainless now as the price differential between ScrewFix's Turbo Gold and their similar stainless steel ones is so small that I might as well do everything with stainless. Since I do quite a lot of work outside this means I can use the same screws everywhere rather than keeping two sorts.

[MattP]

I've just done this job 2 nights ago what a b*tch.

Tried the bolster chisel, nope - broke into the board. Tried chiselling a section to get my nail remover bar in - nope. Not deep enough to get the claw into the nail head. Tried almost everything, even using the router to cut round the nails - all labourious and a pain.

In the end I broke a section of the T&G off, so got out the circular saw cut the T&G section and broke the board up. Messy but relaxing. Problem was that the whole T&G was glued and superglued together making lifting of the boards almost impossible. I can't understand why they would want to use 5" nails on boarding which will need access at some time in the future. D*cks.

Next time I do it (next weekend) I will probably try one of these tools you recommended.

[jacob]

Modern plated screws do corrode even in apparently dry rooms, perhaps due to residual moisture in timber etc. After a year or so hardened pozis can be impossible to remove even if you can still get a screwdriver into the head - they are often seized in and simply snap . Old brass screws less problematic but heads get damaged whatever they are made of. I know this from many hours spent removing them. It often seems like a good idea to use them but more often isn't. My rule is never to use screws where nails will do - nails are much cheaper, quicker to fit, easier to remove (compared to old screws), less conspicuous appearance, make smaller hole hence easier to fill and hide, and less damage in removal/refit etc. In fact excess screws used in braced & batten doors, floor boards etc is classic sign of over enthusiastic amateur.

cheers

Jacob

[Jon M]

Stainless can cause corrosion when screwed into a dissimlar metal.

[Kris]

Bet IMM pulls his nail a lot. ATB Kris

[usenet]

Er, yes, but these are wood screws!