Removing T&G floorboard planks without damaging them?

[Stephen H]

Some of the flooring planks on the first floor is damaged due to alarm and plumbing and wiring being fitted. This is mainly the tongue being sawn through through to be able to lift the planks.

The plan is to strip one of the bedrooms of its T&G planks, and use these to replace the damaged ones on the rest of the first floor. (This sacrificial room will have T&G caberfloor chipboard put down as a replacement as its a 1/3 of the cost of new pine T&G floorboards)

The old floor planks are nailed down.

Now does anyone have a technique for getting the floorboards up without damaging it at all?

Stephen.

[jgharston]

You start by sacrifically destroying one of them, then lever up the one adjoining it to pull up the nails enough to get a claw hammer on them to pull them out, then slide out the floorboard. Move to n+1 and repeat.

JGH

[geraldthehamster]

Wouldn't it be easier just to buy a few floorboards to replace the damaged ones?

If your boards are fixed down in the traditional manner with flooring brads, it will be quite difficult to remove them without at least a little further damage to tongues and grooves.

Regards Richard

[Frank Erskine]

Angle grinder.

[mike]

If the damaged planks needed the tongue removed to lift them, are you planning to chop off the bottom of the groove from the replacements? Otherwise, they won't fit.

I think you'd be better off getting a few new boards and making good with them than trying to rip up a whole room with the inevitable damage that will ensue.