Wood & Engineered Wood

Removing Nail-Down Hardwood and Staples

Pulling nailed and stapled hardwood by hand or with a scraper shank, cutting boards out, clearing fasteners from the subfloor, and the lead rules for older homes.

Updated · 3 min read

Nail-down hardwood comes up by prying, by cutting boards into pieces, or with a scraper running a wood shank. However it comes up, the subfloor has to be cleared of every nail and staple before anything new goes down.

Lead in homes built before 1978

When renovating homes built before 1978, you must test for lead if you'll disturb more than 6 square feet of painted surface, baseboards included. Test the floor finish too if you don't know what it is, since some pre-1978 wood floor finishes contained lead.[1] EPA's rule covers any painted or coated surface in pre-1978 housing, and firms must be EPA-certified before doing this work.[1][2][3]

Before you start

Sort out trim, safety gear and anything hiding under the wood before the first board comes up.

  • Pull base and shoe first. The Crain No. 157 molding lifter gets behind base and molding and pries it off with little damage.[5]
  • Wear safety glasses, hearing protection, and work boots with slip-resistant, puncture-resistant soles.[1] Tear-outs leave nails everywhere.
  • If anything under the wood is old resilient flooring or black adhesive, test it before disturbing it. See Cutback adhesive and asbestos ID.
  • Removing subfloor is a different job. Altering the structure, including removing subfloor to reach joists, can require a permit.[1]

Choose a method

Room size and what's under the wood decide the approach.

Method Best for Tools
Pry by hand Small rooms, saving boards Pry bars, molding lifters
Cut and pry Tight floors, starting a row Circular or track saw set to board depth, then pry bars
Scraper with a wood shank Larger areas Walk-behind or ride-on scraper with a tapered wood shank

Cutting boards out

The standard board-replacement method is the cleanest way to open up a floor or free a stuck row.[1]

  1. Set a circular or track saw to the thickness of the board you're removing.[1]
  2. Cut along the board about 3/8" in from the groove side, stopping about 1/8" from the ends.
  3. On older floors, move the cuts about 1/2" in from the edges. Older floors may have cut nails, which a circular saw blade won't cut through.[1]
  4. Make one or two angled relief cuts across the board between the long cuts.
  5. Cut through the ends with a chisel or oscillating saw and lift out the center, then the edge pieces.

This method is published for removing single boards.[1] For a whole room, it's the way to get the first rows up; after that, prying or a scraper is faster.

Prying

Work along the fastener line, not the middle of the board.

  • Pry near the nails, which run through the tongue edge, and lift the board rather than twisting it.
  • For leverage on long runs, Marshalltown fulcrum bars are built for prying up base molding, tile, carpet and other flooring.[6]
  • The Crain No. 159 Vaughan Superbar has a rocker end for leverage and a flat end for getting under nails.[7]

With a scraper

Tapered wood shanks for scrapers handle hardwood whether it's glued or nailed.[4]

Clearing the subfloor

Every fastener has to come out or go below the surface.

  1. Pull nails and staples, or set them below the surface.
  2. If the subfloor will be sanded, countersink every nail with a hammer and punch first. A sander that hits a nail can throw sparks and start a fire.[9]
  3. Check flatness and fasten down loose subfloor panels. See Subfloor flatness.
  4. Vacuum. Wood dust is a respiratory hazard; wear a particulate respirator.[1]

Common mistakes

These damage the subfloor or the crew.

  • Saw set too deep. Set it to the board thickness.
  • Running a saw into cut nails. Offset the cuts on older floors.
  • Leaving staples behind. They telegraph through thin flooring and damage sanders.
  • Skipping the lead check on older homes.

Tools we carry

These cover prying, machine removal and dust.

Regulations and references

  1. NWFA: Wood Flooring Installation Guidelines
  2. EPA Lead RRP rule, 40 CFR 745.83 (definitions)
  3. 40 CFR 745.103 (target housing)
  4. National Flooring Equipment: Tapered wood floor shanks
  5. Crain No. 157 molding lifter (product page)
  6. Marshalltown fulcrum pry bars (product page)
  7. Crain No. 159 Vaughan Superbar (product page)
  8. National Flooring Equipment: 7082-8GV wood floor shank for Rogue
  9. American Sanders EZ-8 manual

Linked PDF documents are archived copies saved by PreFloor Tools so they stay available if the publisher moves or removes them. Check the publisher's website for the latest revision.

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