Nail puller?

[Mike Berrevoets]

Anyone have a favorite, good nail puller for this situation?

Our house (late 1970's) has 1/2 inch ply over the floor joists then they covered that with 3/4ish particle board. Not OSB, particle board fastened with 2" ring shank nails. The squeaks are driving me crazy and we are doing a major remodel on the kitchen, dining and living room with everything getting torn out. So now is the time to remove the particle board and then glue and screw some 3/4 tongue and groove down to stop the squeaks. And add some screws for the 1/2" ply while I have access to it.

Tearing out the particle board is a pain. Those ring shake nails don't like to give up. I can shove a big wrecking bar between the particle board and half inch ply between the joists but the wedging action almost punches through the 1/2 ply. If I do get under the particle board on top of a joist and get some good leverage the particle board just breaks off leaving the ring shank nail with a nice little mound around it.

Ive used a small cats paw with some success but it is slow going. Looks like there is some innovative nail pulling devices but don't want to spring for one if they don't live up to the hype. I'm also open to any other creative ideas on removing this crap.

[Michael Weber]

Slide hammer nail puller? Amazon has one and eBay shows several.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I'd be real tempted to tear up the 1/2" too. You should be able to cut through both and pry up on the 1/2" & that should hold together.
QuikRip makes a super heavy duty pryer-upper thingie for tearing up roofing. I looked at buying one to tear out some old decking on the rental house we're working on.
I ended up just cutting away the old stuff instead.
They're expensive things @ about $200.

[Matt Krusen]

I have a tool called The Extractor that works extremely well. Its essentially a pair of pliers with a rolling cam to pivot on. I can't find it on Amazon but Crescent makes one very similar.

[Bill Orbine]

I have a tool called The Extractor that works extremely well. Its essentially a pair of pliers with a rolling cam to pivot on. I can't find it on Amazon but Crescent makes one very similar.

Yes, the Extractor are great pliers.
Unfortunately, the items are OOS from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/JEFFERSON-TOOL...pb_opt?ie=UTF8

Or even the source till 11/15.

http://www.nailextractor.com/

I

[Mike Berrevoets]

Slide hammer nail puller? Amazon has one and eBay shows several.

That looks like it has some promise but a few Amazon reviews indicate it doesn't work on plywood very well. But it's hard to tell if those reviewers have any experience or are just expecting too much.

do you have one of these? (Or an old version) does it work on plywood?

[Mike Berrevoets]

The real issue is getting some nail head exposed so I can get a pry bar under and wedge it out. Leverage isn't the issue, it's the darn particle board.

I thought of grinding the heads off first. Then maybe I could pry up the particle board in big pieces and go after the nails with something like extractor.

i considered cutting out both layers. More work and material to put back but it might not be as frustrating.

[Tom M King]

I doubt I'm missing any kind, including some slide hammers. You need the small one with sharp points and narrow head. I can't find a picture online, or remember who made it. On the other end of the "cat's paw" is a curved flat pry "bar". It's probably only 6 or 7 inches long, and mine is blue.

[Michael Weber]

That looks like it has some promise but a few Amazon reviews indicate it doesn't work on plywood very well. But it's hard to tell if those reviewers have any experience or are just expecting too much.

do you have one of these? (Or an old version) does it work on plywood?

Don't actually have one but used one occasionally at work a few years ago. Didn't use it on plywood though but can't imagine it would be a problem. The hammer action drives the claws below the wood surface underneath nail heads. The one I used was an antique and not sure if new ones are as "industrial" as that one was. It was about 2 feet long and really heavy.

[Art Mann]

I would adjust my circular saw to the depth of the particle board and then remove most of the material. At this point you should have ready access to the nails with a little judicious crowbar use. My experience with ring shank nails has been that the head often pulls off so that you can't get a good grip on the nail. In this case, remove the last of the wood from around the shank, pound it in to the floor joist and move on.

[Jim Mackell]

Yes, the Extractor are great pliers.
Unfortunately, the items are OOS from Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/JEFFERSON-TOOL...pb_opt?ie=UTF8

Or even the source till 11/15.

http://www.nailextractor.com/

I

I would sell you mine. But it would cost you your house, your truck, the rest of your tools and all the peanut butter in your pantry! Great tool. Bought mine 4 or 5 years back and love it. That said, ring shank nails are a *itch. As long as you're removing the article board anyway, just rip and tear it out by brute force and then cut the nails flush with a sawsall.

[Malcolm McLeod]

Not a tool, but maybe a method....

I suspect the ring shank is the root-cause; not the head or even the material. So, what about grinding the heads off (cut into the particle board, since it is trash anyway). Then pull the particle board out, drive the bare shank flush to the 1/2" plywood, screw the 1/2" down securely. Now put your T&G down and secure it as well.

Maybe....?

(Might also recruit someone for fire watch duty; much cheaper and less embarrassing than the alternatives.)

[Jerome Stanek]

Why not just rip the particle board and hammer the nails in

[Gary Yoder]

Why not just rip the particle board and hammer the nails in

What he said...

[Allan Speers]

alternative:

Cut away all the nail heads with an oscillating tool.

Then just pull the PB up, and finally pull out the nails with a pliers and piece of wood for leverage..