Nail Pullers

mattmia2 · 6:17PM

I am going to be working on a project where I need to remove some plywood panels and trim boards that are all attached with nails about twice the size of what is needed. I am thinking of buying a slide hammer type nail puller. Do any of you have experience with this or something else that you'd recommend? This seems both easier and less tendinitis inducing than a hammer and a cat's paw. Is there an air hammer version that works well?

https://www.crescenttool.com/all-tools/striking-struck/pry-wrecking/56np-19-sliding-nail-puller

109A_5 · 6:29PM

Are the plywood panels and trim boards going to be reused ?

JUGHNE · 6:30PM

What type of nails…..how big are the heads?

How thick is the plywood?

mattmia2 · 7:03PM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1901361#Comment_1901361

some of it but it will get covered over.

they are around 7d common nails.

the plywood is probably 3/8" but there also some trim boards involved too.

i need to remove some of my porch ceiling to move the posts a bit to give me room to pad them out with trim boards to make them look bigger. i also need to remove some rotting t-111 board to replace it with sheathing and fiber cement shingles. i want to essentially wrap/replace the 1969 "modern" style porch with fiber cement products in a way that is more appropriate to a 1924 house.

HydronicMike · 7:13PM

I've always used a Japanese cat's paw or end cutting pliers, depending on the surface of the nail I'm pulling. If I needed to protect the surface, pry off a wood shim or a putty knife.

mattmia2 · 7:14PM

it is also overhead which makes holding the cat's paw and swinging the hammer more challenging

Grallert · 8:22PM

I think that tool will work and unless the sheets are glued in some form you might be able to pull the nails out with the sheets avoiding pulling every last nail, which sounds like torture.

mattmia2 · 8:30PM

a lot of nails are in awkward places were it is hard to pry the sheet down. the piece i pulled down to see how it was structured, one post went through a notch in the sheet and the other post was underneath the post. took me a while to figure that out. the post underneath isn't really structural, it is just there to support the railing.

HVACNUT · 9:17PM

If the work is overhead and you're by yourself, get a couple of Superbars and keep prying from a seam. Maybe a long wedge.

It might leave some nails behind, but they'll be easy to remove.

Jamie Hall · 10:02PM

I use something like that tool — only about a hundred years old… and it works well. But if I'm just pulling something apart, my go to is the Superbar which @HVACNUT showed. Oddly enough — particularly on trim pieces which I might want to reuse — it actually does less damage to get it under the wood — between the wood and whatever it's attached to — and pulling that way, rather than trying to get under the nail head. Any mark left is on the back of the wood that way, and you can pound the nail out from the back once you get the whole mess off.

mattmia2 · 10:05PM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1901397#Comment_1901397

i'm not surprised that you can still buy one new but i am surprised that it comes from cooper rather than some obscure small manufacturer.

AlaskaDick · 10:38PM

I have one that my dad bought 70 years ago when we were salvaging lumber from an undending supply of packing crates. It's all cast iron. I still break it out occasionally as it is sometimes the best tool for the job. I use it in combination with a cats claw, wonder bar, reciprocating saw, and oscillating saw. They all have their place, sometimes in the same project. One warning - they are famous for catching one's skin where the two parts of the handle slide together and will bite and give a nasty blister. I've done it many times over the years.

mattmia2 · 10:47PM

so then gloves…

Nail Pullers

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