-
You've probably done this by now, but grinding off or banging your
nailscut flooring brads flat are bodges IMO because you'll leave metal in the joist.This is what the claw end of your hammer is for. If you can't do it the conventional way (by using the claw to catch the hook of the brad and opposing it by pulling the hammer towards you) put the brad at the bottom of the claw and pull the hammer side to side from the top. It will loosen the brad and ultimately pull it out. It will also bend it, but you can always buy more:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/timco-cut-flooring-brads-11mm-x-65mm-1kg-pack/663KG
Fox-
Thanks for the response. I’m aware what the claw end of a hammer is for but appreciate you taking the time to explain it just in case. I have various crowbars and hammers all of which have helped with the extraction of the old brads but the problem is that many of them are totally rusted and corroded from historic damp and some refused to budge regardless of whether I wiggled them side to side, front to back, spoke in tongues, or prayed to a higher power. The heads were far too soft and corroded to offer any resistance to the claw and just crumbled when attempted and often when wiggling they’d just snap. The damp must have been very bad as half of the boards had been removed and replaced with ply that looked to date to the 70s.
Anyway, what brads snapped and couldn’t be removed have been punched down, the joists have been reinforced where necessary, the boards have been cut and nailed down (except for a few by the consumer unit and mains water pipes that instead have been screwed to allow easy access should we need to in the future) and the floor is down and ready for next weekend’s task… sanding. I haven’t sanded floors in about fifteen years so I guess I’m due another round.
Thanks for the brad link, I’d bought a whole bunch last week already
ghostface
Reinstating some reclaimed floorboards on this lovely Friday. Some spectacularly bodged bits of carpentry which are a treat to discover. A lot of the old nails won’t come up… is the best option to grind them off?