floorboard removal

[Gaz TFA]

can't you tell i've just bought a house that needs stuff doing to it!
After much thought over the following I come a croper! dumbfounded i am
How on earth do you take up floor boards that go from one end of the room to another, obviously you need some sort of cutting tool to cut them at the joists as i see that someone has done this on my floor in some areas. But what tool ?

i will be fitting radiators downstairs and new puiping you see but after today when i was trying to trace the wiring under the floor upstairs i decided that getting such a tool would be a monumental investment!

cheers for any replies

Gaz

 

[breezer]

believe it or not it is called a floorboard saw, don't believe me? see this

 

[steptoeandson]

you can also use a circular saw, i saw a plumber using one to do the same job as you mentioned.

 

[breezer]

trouble with a cicular saw is it cuts through anything, cables, pipes...... you must set its maximum depth to that of the floorboard

 

[Gaz TFA]

lol, the missus says shed kill me if i bought one of those things! flick back and cut your ear off she says! lol
best to leave that option

 

[MANDATE]

If you use a floorboard saw,which means using the curved side only,dont be tempted after breaking through to invert the saw.
There may well be cables or pipes directly beneath.
You can of course use mallet and chisels (sharp ones) over the joist,but it does spoil one side of the board.
It is always best to first take up one board where there is a joint, this may give access to the board you want to cut. With a lamp you may be able to ensure that where you want to cut is clear, in which case you could drill a hole large enough for a pad saw.
Getting through a tongue on the side of a board is easy with floorboard saw.
The difficult part is pulling out the nails and you really need a nail puller and I havn't seen one for sale for ages but should be available

 

[Alcopup]

Can get get nail pullers from B&Q, not too cheap (around £15 for domestic size)

Alco

 

[MANDATE]

The nail puller I was referring to has two pincer claws with a hammer action (weighted sliding handle) and the handle being a good 18in long giving good leverage to grip and pull the strongest of nails without too much damage.
They are still available and cost is approx £35 to £45 but not at B & Q.

 

[breezer]

i know its not what MANDATE means (couldn't find one at screwfix) but one of these will help

 

[Gaz TFA]

to add another query to this conversation, can anyone tell me what my skirting boards may be attached to? 1930's property.

i dont really want to find out by pulling one off, just incase they dont go back on easily.

cheers

 

[MANDATE]

Your skirting board will be nailed into wooden plugs about every 4ft.
The plugs will be about 3in by 1/2 in tapered then hammered in and the excess sawn off.If you decide to remove the boards, then be prepared to replace the plugs, they usually split and dry out and come easily if you don't want them to, but if you do want them to then they probabley won't.
Of course you can use adhesive "forget nails" but I prefer frame fixers with screws

 

[Gaz TFA]

you mean like 1930's picture rail might be held up ?, i ripped one of them down! big holes i had to fill ! lol

 

[breezer]

its only a guess, but they probablty did it that way because you couldn't get (not yet invented) plastic rawl plugs