Judy,

What a great question. I am going to assume that you are taking up a 3/4" nail-down floor. If that is not the case please send me another email.

Wood flooring is fastened down with a process called "blind nailing". To understand how to take it up without damaging it you first need to understand how it was put down and basically reverse the process.

Typically the first board is "face nailed" which means it is nailed thru the top surface of the board near the wall. This will be the groove edge of the board. It sometimes but not always is "blind nailed" as well which means that a nail is put thru the top of the tongue at a 45 degree angle which goes thru the bottom of the board and into the subfloor.

The second board is pounded into this first board so that the bottom of the groove is driven under the nailed tongue. This holds down that edge of the board. The top of the groove covers the nail so that you don't see it thus the term "blind nailing".

Every board after that is attached the same way as the second board until you get to the last boards.

When you run out of room to nail into the tongue the last two or three boards are "face nailed".

With that said, the place to start is with the last boards intalled. You can figure this out (1) by seeing where three boards are "face nailed". Look for filled nail holes. (2)Figure out which side of the boards has the tongues on them. You can do this by removing register vents, looking at where the floor meets another floor surface or (3)taking up a board and looking. You will probably destroy the last board that was installed however you may be able to get it up without destroying it. Setting all the nails right on thru sometimes helps here.

You need a flat pry bar. "Wonder Bar" is a trade name for the type of pry bar you will need. You remove the boards by driving the short part of the flat bar under the nail and gently rocking the tongue up about a quarter inch. Move down the board and gently "rock" all of the nails up about 1/4 inch. This will work the bottom of the groove out from under the tongue. After you have lifted all the nails a little go back and rock them all up 1/2 inch. The trick here is to go easy so that you don't breadk off the bottom of the groove which will make the board not function as it should when you reinstall it.

As to sanding the floor, I would recommend you sand the floor after it is reinstalled. This is not only the easiest way but also the best as you make the floor flat in the process.

Franklyn

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On Wed, 9 Jul 2003 15:52:01 -0500, "Judy" wrote:

Just wanted to let you know that I have started the task of taking up the floor. Your help was very much appreciated and is going very smoothly. They used 2" nails to put the floor down which has been a challenge but I did it the way you suggested and is going great.

That's very good news.

On the boards it has "Louisiana Brand" printed on the back what does that tell me? Thanks again for your information.

Well I could tell you that the "Louisiana Brand" means that the wood is well seasoned or that it has a strong accent but that wouldn't be correct. (grin)

Actually the "Louisiana Brand" means that the company that milled your flooring took enough pride in their workmanship that they stamped there name on the bottom of the wood. It's the name of the mill that made your flooring. And it's very likely they were in Louisiana but that just a guess.

Take a look at:

Louisiana Flooring

I don't know if this is the same company but it could be.

Franklyn

Sincerely,

Judy

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