lifting nailed T&G floorboards

[jim]

Any tips please on lifting & keeping intact T&G floorboards? Area is c4.5m x 1m on 50mm (some 70mm) joists. Boards are c.125mm wide excluding the tongues. Boards are nailed down with c.65mm losthead nails.

I can access most from below though it would be easier from above.

Will either the Bosch PMF 180 multitool or the Fein multimaster do the job of cutting through the nails with minimal damage to the boards? I should like to reuse the boards as they seem to be good quality.

Or are there alternative tools which will do the job?

TIA for advice

[jim]

/////

/////// TFT but that is the traditional method which IMHE wrecks the boards.

The Q at issue is: Can a better job be done using a Bosch PMF 180 multitool or the Fein multimaster or some similar alternative to slice the nails?

I have not seen one of these tools in the flesh - only videos on the web - and would appreciate others' experiences of their capability before ordering one blind on the web or - perish the thought - before visiting a shed.

What is the reach of these multitools? ie could one be put up against a joist for the cutting blade edge to reach under a floorboard by at least the 25mm half thickness of a joist? If not are larger diameter blades available? Or perhaps larger tools in this format which take larger blades?

Some of the boards are blind nailed on the tongue so reaching in the full 25mm may not be needed & could be done from above once the first board is released.

What life can be expected from a cutting tool used in this way?

Thanks anyway.

[John Rumm]

They may cut the nails with a bimetal cranked blade. The more usual use I find for the multimaster when lifting floors is for plunge cuts through the board over a joist, or for ripping the tongue on the first board. After that the rest are usually reasonably easy to prise up with a nail bar etc. If I were going to be cutting lots of nails, then I would be more inclined to use a long hacksaw blade in a recip saw - you can cut with enough bend in the blade to get flush to the joist tops that way.

[george [dicegeorge]]

Yes. I've just been using my Bosch PMF to slice a few nails under floorboards-

I scored into them with it then used an old chisel to snap them off. Also using crowbars, and hammers and blocks from below.

The Bosch PMF is the best tool to cut the floorboards crosswise, there's a straight down blade which can do them exactly, better than a broken off jigsaw or a circular saw.

It's also a fantastic aggresive sander.

[g]