floor boards - old house

[sachat]

I live in an old house (1880) and many of the floor boards are loose - have no carpet at all. Nails are still in boards but boards have become loose around them. Shoud I try and if so how - take old nails out? Bang new nails in? Should I drill pilot holes first? Help [/list]

[Ukwoody]

Yes! All of them.lol

Welcome to the forum. The choice is yours really. If you wish to remove the nails, you will need to lift the boards first.

However, you can either just nail alongside the orignal nails using either 2" Oval nails, or Cut nails. You shouldn't need to pilot drill.

Or you can screw the boards down which might last longer, but you may need to pilot drill first to stop baords from splitting.
HOWEVER, nail/screw only near to the edges of the board (same as original nails). You dont normally fix through in the middle of the board in case there are cables or pipes running underneath. It might also pay you to invest in a cable/ pipe locator if you're not very confident.

Woody