Taking up Floorboards

Hawthorn_Pl

Hi
I am thinking of taking up tongue and groove whitedeal floorboards in upstairs bedrooms and replacing them with new red deal boards. What tools are best for removing old boards which were nailed onto joists and any tips or tricks. Many thanks.

calmur

be careful .I did the same job last year and found the f/boards run under the stud walls.caused me all kinds of probs.the studs were not sitting on the joists,so de wall sagged a bit.I suggest u pull up one board all the way across the room and have a good look....though ,maybe yours was done by someone who knew what he was doing.all u need is a hammer, bolster chisel and saw

The Hill Billy

A pinch-bar & a carpenter's pincers would be handy too, especially if you want to lift the boards intact & remove the nails without damaging the wood.

(A good long pinch-bar will give you better leverage & make it a bit easier on your back.)

Stoner

Try a black and decker scorion type saw with the large blade in it, this blade is notched allowing you to obtain nice straight 90 degree cuts on boards that run under partitions,
Run this blade between the boards to cut out the wooden tongues
when cutting 90 degrees accross ths boards make sure you do it behind the line of nails so that both the new and old boards are supported (if applicable)
check for obvious runs of cable and pipes (near sockets and rads)
make sure you know how to turn your water off before hand
Just keep the tip of the balde between the boards all you want to do is cut the debth of the board and no more, shoving lots of blade down is faster but more dangerous
this might take more time and only be allpicable in some areas but it is a safe way of doing this job and will not damage the joists.

The other advice all stands etc, I'm really talking about some of the tricky bits like near cables, pipes and where boards continue through under partition walls

GreeBo

An annoying thing is that the nails will all most never be in the correct place.
I guess it doesnt matter as much if you are taking out the boards, if you want to put them back its much easier if you made your cut directly along the joist.

When putting down your new ones, take the time to measure and mark exactly where the joist are so your nails (or screws, screws are nice) are right in the middle of the joists.

Hawthorn_Pl

Many thanks for your tips everyone. Some good advice there.