Replies

1. 
   andybuildz | Mar 05, 2003 12:22am | #1

   Hey Panama

                  If its screwed down......uhhhh.....unscrew it?????

   (Is there more to this story)?

   Be screwed

                      Namaste

                                      Andy

   "As long as you have certain desires about how it ought to be you can't see how it is." 
   http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM

1. 
   r_ignacki | Mar 05, 2003 12:39am | #2

   butt there is 10 years

   of

   crud

   in

   the screw heads.

   Got plan    "B" ?????????????

1. 
   Flathead | Mar 05, 2003 12:46am | #3

   What can you do to cut it into sections which can be carried by two men?

   WAHDView Image

1. 
   r_ignacki | Mar 05, 2003 12:52am | #4

   Joists and sleepers underneath need to remain.

2. 
   UncleDunc | Mar 05, 2003 01:37am | #8

   Plan B.1 Air hose with needle tip. (Probably highly illegal and have to make your own.) Wear appropriate eye and body protection. Blow the crap out of the screw heads and proceed as before.

   Plan B.2 There are screw extractors that look like tiny hole saws with theeth set up for counterclockwise rotation. If you pick the right size, they will frequently engage the screw head and back it out. If they don't, you cut a core right through the decking and can lift it off the screw.

2. 
   RichBeckman | Mar 05, 2003 01:14am | #5

   Cut it up right next to the joists, leaving 1 1/2" pieces on top of the joists. Break each piece away from the screws (should be easy enough), snap the screws off with a tap or two from the hammer.

   That's what I would do if I couldn't unscrew the screws (and probably what I should do whether I can unscrew the screws or not!).

   Rich Beckman

   Another day, another tool.

1. 
   r_ignacki | Mar 05, 2003 01:58am | #9

   that's pretty much what we settled on today, except the 1 1/2" widened up to about 4" when you swerve around where two boards were butted together. With 4000 sq. ft. to do, we not to waste much time, and I thought someone out in cyberland done ind this already. Someone was dreaming of a walk- behind saw, (like the kind the concrete people use, except for wood). Me, personally, would like to make a homemade one, hose clamp the trigger on, affix a 5-6 foot long piece of pipe to the saw, and push that sucker down the deck<G> ( the hell with safety). In the meantime, need some knee-pads. The best is yet to come, the rest is over water, I'd like to just let the pieces drop when no one is looking and let them float down the potomac.

1. 
   JohnSprung | Mar 05, 2003 02:26am | #10

   I did that once with a chain saw, the objective was to turn the old deck into firewood.  If you run a cut near every other joist and make roughly 32" pieces, you'll probably be able to find somebody or a few sombodies who'll gladly haul them away for you.  After two parallel cuts are made, you can try the stomp and bust method to get the pieces off the middle joist.  With luck, the screws will break without damaging the joist.

   Oh, I forgot -- is this stuff PT? If so, of course forget about the firewood idea.

   -- J.S.

2. 
   pm22 | Mar 05, 2003 02:29am | #11

   It is impolite to leave the pointy ends of the screws in the joists. Consider that you will eventually end up replacing with new boards and then the old screw remnants will keep getting in the way.

   You didn't say what kind of screws they are -- steel or brass? -- Phillips or [uck] slotted? Use a machinists scribe to clean out the slots and see what happens. There's an impact removal tool -- Sear's sells them in Auto parts -- that you hit with a hammer and it hopefully turns the screw [or nut or whatever] a little bit [1/4 turn?] and then, once free, you can unscrew it.

   But then just running a circular saw on either side of the screw line does seem fastest -- especially if you aren't interested in salvage. Then you have your apprentice crank the screws out with Vice Grips. But try not to leave metal in the joists that you have to use again.

   ~Peter

3. 
   CAGIV | Mar 05, 2003 01:19am | #6

   I'd do what rich said, but instead of beating them with hammer and chancing tearing any of the joist, I'd run a recip saw along the tops between the joist and the board and cut the screws flush with the top of the joist.

   View ImageGo Jayhawks
4. 
   ptnbear | Mar 05, 2003 01:22am | #7

   try a sawzall, abig pry bar ora couple of very sharp metal chisals .. and good luck