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FAST hardwood floor removal

Isamemon | Posted in Construction Techniques on April 15, 2005 08:04am

Never trust a person with a sawzall

that said. a local house is being demolished, cabinets, trim, usable plumbing etc and doors have already gone out

I was offered for free the hardwood floors. Look like oak. house is at least 50 years old, lenghts etc are nice. One bedroom looks like fir., another bedroom is painted,  Kitchen and bath with vinyl over it, Im not messing with as its probabally asbestos

painted one is probabally lead, so it will be the last to go, if at all

however, I have one day for my wife and I  on sunday , to get as much as we can. I cant get in until after 10 am, have to be out by 4, rest is bulldozer meat Monday morning.

about 900 sq feet

so I need to be fast , and I have never tried to salvage hardwood, let alone fast

Im thinking , bust out a couple of strips so I can get a sawzall down and between the hardwood and the subfloor and just cut through all the nails

like I said Ive never tried to salavage it, maybe this is the correct way

 

Thanks

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Replies

  1. Stuart | Apr 15, 2005 08:40pm | #1

    Once you get a couple strips torn out at the edge of the floor, you should be able to get the rest pulled up fairly easily with a couple wonderbars. If I remember correctly from when I patched the floors in my house, work from the tongue side of the strips and not the groove side to get them to come loose with minimal damage. Wiggle them up gradually to avoid splitting off the tongues.

    You'll still have to denail them and clean them up, but you can do that later.

    To get the first strip removed, make a couple passes down its length with a circular saw. Use an old blade and hold the saw in far enough from the edges so you avoid the nails. Then, you can pry out the section of the strip inbetween the two saw kerfs without much trouble.

  2. alwaysoverbudget | Apr 15, 2005 09:11pm | #2

    i had to pull up about 150' and was trying to save it so i could patch some other spots.if you can get 70% up without tearing it up your doing good. next thing to be cocerned about is if the floor has been sanded a couple times and you relay it,sand it again,i think your done ever sanding it again. i bought new 4" oak for 2.25" i'd look at doing that and having something when your done. you will sure spend more time taking it up and denailing it than it would take to nail a new floor.plus new will be much easier to sand. just my 2 cents worth. larry

    hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.

    1. Isamemon | Apr 15, 2005 09:30pm | #3

      very true points

      but how come other people always want it

      and where can you get oak at that price

      thanks

      1. User avater
        DDay | Apr 15, 2005 10:27pm | #5

        Its worth a shot to try and get it up.  If you can't get it up or find out right away that it is not good quality or not worth the effort then your only out a few hours of time.

        I would get one of those shark pry bars, they are smaller and built like heck.  You can see them on amazon.com.  Also, bring all kinds of wonder bars, pry bars, etc and maybe you could use a shingle roof rake after you get a few courses up.  Also, bring a few craftsman or other screw drivers you don't care about and Channellocks.

        The older floors are better wood than the new floor because the wood is probably older growth and thats why people want them.

         

      2. hammer | Apr 15, 2005 11:55pm | #6

        "How come other people want it"

        The older oak I've seen is much better than you can bye today. The grain is tighter and the board lengths are  usually longer.  Sure is a nice way to go if you done mind the work and denailing. You might consider getting some additional flooring from other parts of the house. as a spare if you run short. replacing or adding new oak doesn't always match the old stuff. Aging and color.

        1. Isamemon | Apr 16, 2005 04:04am | #7

          Another question, the floor looks like it ws laid before the inteior walls went up, is that possible.

          maybe just the one we looked at was added at a later time. Maybe it had been a bigger living room that had been split up later.

          I too am one who is cheap by the hour when its for me and in my "time off" And I was planing to get as much of it as I can in the time they will let me on the property

          plus its a shame to see good stuff just get eaten up at the dump. The excavation company said they will have the house and foundation off the property in one day.

          anyway I guess we will see how it goes

          1. hammer | Apr 18, 2005 06:06pm | #12

            "Another question, the floor looks like it ws laid before the inteior walls went up, is that possible"

            It is quite possible that a wall was added later, but that is not the typical way it's done. I would crosscut these pieces and work around them. Don't remove the wall. the debris will probably damage the floor your tring to save and if the wall is structural then the house demolition has started early.....

  3. jfkpdx | Apr 15, 2005 09:32pm | #4

    Isa-

    Just did the same in my own kitchen (200 sf).  I pulled everything up to re-lay it down to cover gaps where walls were removed.  I had a friend help and we were done in about an hour.  Cut up one board on the end and pried up the boards on the tounge side.  I couldn't believe how fast it went.  You should be able to get all 900 sf out.

    I spent several nights sanding down each plank with a belt sander to get all the crap (read: lead paint, asbestos, etc) off.  I placed it and rented a drum sander and it looks incredible.  And best of all - it was essentially free.  I definitely have more time than I do money and this project fit right into that budget.  By the way - the floor was 'found' under old vinyl sheet flooring.  If you have the time - I'd take a peek under that vinyl while you're there.  The sheeting came up in about 30 minutes and I removed all the mastic from the boards with a belt sander using a hepa vacuum and hepa respirator in a detached garage - it's doable.

    Good luck.

    Jason

  4. HeavyDuty | Apr 16, 2005 06:15am | #8

    A shingle roof rake is the way to go. Unless you have a good back it's always easier standing up.

  5. User avater
    fishdog | Apr 16, 2005 07:50am | #9

    cut a bunch of 2x wedges,two inches to zero ,mabye 8 to ten inches long.good for demo.watch your thumb.

  6. User avater
    fishdog | Apr 16, 2005 07:59am | #10

    how about those demo shovels the roofers use.its a flat square shovel with a little angle iron on the bottom to pry off.asses and elbows all day.

  7. User avater
    hammer1 | Apr 16, 2005 03:09pm | #11

    Chances are the nails are hardened. You won't be able to cut them off. I think you'll find taking them up in a row will go pretty fast. Once you start prying a bit, just step on the board and the nails that aren't on a joist will come up. Pull them with a hammer and block. It's much easier to get the nails out while you are stripping instead of loading a bunch of porcupines in the truck. It will reduce the breakage on the T&G.

    Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

  8. JohnT8 | Apr 18, 2005 07:08pm | #13

    So was your floor fest yesterday?  How much did you get?

     

    jt8

    I was gratified to be able to answer promptly. I said, "I don't know." -- Mark Twain

    1. Isamemon | Apr 19, 2005 07:50am | #14

      Owners wer not ready. we get to start next thursday night and work thursday adn friday night  from about 5 to 9:30 or so , but the electricity has already been shut off.

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