i've levered up some floorboards,turned them over,hammered at the oblong nails:but nine out of ten bend over and snap off.Why can't I hammer them out of the wood?Is there a knack to it?[g]

I've done that quite a lot on my boards and can't say I had muchbother ...just make sure you straighten them first and gently hammerthem out .If you hit them while they are still bent then they won'tcome out easily . If you can get the head out at all then try a clawhammer on the head.

how to get oblong nails out of old floorboards?

Feb 04, 2010 22 Replies

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geraldthehamster 16 years ago

Or try hammering them into a really hard, juicy pitch pine board, and they bend anyway ;-)

Cheers Richard

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george [dicegeorge] 16 years ago

Thanks everyone for the tips, I'm using a smaller hammer with lighter hits, and a combination of your techniques.

The one thing that didnt work was hammering the nails down before lifting a board, the board split halfway down where the head of the nail had got to.

[g]

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Usenet Nutter 16 years ago

Given the head shape of these sort of nails that's what I would expect as part of the head has to force it's own way through the wood ...hence the splitting . It's not like a normal nail where the head follows the shank

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