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Subfloor Removal?

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HardyG

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Gents,

 

I have to remove 1000 sq ft of particleboard subfloor, which is secured with nails. What is the best tool/method for the job? How about this thing, which is called a Demo Dawg? Thanks.

 

demodawg.jpg

Just imagine how happy you would be if you lost everything you have in life and then suddenly got it back
SOL Member #101

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Yer having fun, eh!!

I cut between the joists with a circular saw and rip out the offending substrate with a wrecking bar (looks like a candy can and is usually called a crowbar). then ya pull or hammer down the rest of the nails that are left in the joists. I just did this in a kitchen I'm working on.

Have fun! rolleyes.gif

Proud to be a NERB and I have the shirts to prove it!!
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Looks like it will do the trick.

 

I've done it but used a "Mutt" I got from Home Depot. Long handled heavy duty scraper. Tons of leverage. Just slipped it under the edge and pried it up. Most of the nails stayed put and we had to pull them out one at a time.

 

Of course this was before the disc injuries redface.gif Probably part of the cause, come to think of it.

 

Even in good health, I would not want to do it again.

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They should outlaw that particle board mad.gif I've already removed two bedrooms and a kitchen using a crowbar and a hammer. I still have one bedroom and the attic to go. I'm also going to look into some of these tools - 'cause the back is not what it used to be.

America, the country so great that even its haters refuse to leave. 

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Rich, that's the tool ya want!

Also a wonderbar (flatbar)as a lever, and a piece of 2x4 material for yer fulcrum, for when ya get to the edges.

Also, buy yerself a good pair of hard capped knee pads. When ya got the large pieces of that particle crap removed yer gonna hafta get down and remove all the remaining nails/staples. Nuthin worse than kneelin on an exposed nail icon25.gifeek.gifwaaah.gif

Also a good pair of leather gloves. Cause no matter how much ya try or how good yer eyesight is, ya miss a nail or two and dont find it til ya try and lay the new floor down mad.gif So ya gotta basically run yer hands over every inch of floor to find those that ya missed. And ya cant do that barehanded eek.gif

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You have my sympathies

 

My Kitchen was screwed down mad.gif

 

You couldn't un-screw it? I just pulled some stuff out (actually, my wife did it) and was thankful for the screws. Came apart pretty easily. Biggest issue was the heads breaking off.

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You have my sympathies

 

My Kitchen was screwed down mad.gif

 

You couldn't un-screw it? I just pulled some stuff out (actually, my wife did it) and was thankful for the screws. Came apart pretty easily. Biggest issue was the heads breaking off.

 

I expect break offs was what he was refering to.

They are the worst, except for glued and screwed cwm31.gif

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I ripped just about every kinda floor up in my day an particle board especially old particle bord is a PITA.It just crumbles leven nails all over like a porkipine landmine.We got a tool thats more like a roof demo thing its one of the best tools i ever bought for floor removal.If i had to decribe it I would say its like a short flat shovel wit a 45% bend on the bottom.the blade is kinda serrated to go around nails.U shove it in an pry it up.Its Mule work its fun for about 3 hrs an then it gets to be like work.Like some one else said make some releif cuts makes the job easier especially around doorways.try not to cut into the sub floor as u can ruin plywoods integrity pretty quickly wit a cut thats to deep.

Build a Better Mantrap
and the Rats will beat a path to your Door..
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CD:

 

The situation is that the idiot that built the house put particleboard over plywood. I am installing a hardwood floor, and particleboard is not an acceptable underlayment. Yeah, I hate the stuff with a passion. Instead of being able to get moving with the floor, I have to spend weeks removing that cr@p and putting down 3/4 plywood. Oh well, old saying, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right". Got my eye on Brazilian Cherry flooring.....in the words of Flounder, "Oh boy is this great!".

Just imagine how happy you would be if you lost everything you have in life and then suddenly got it back
SOL Member #101

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You have my sympathies

 

My Kitchen was screwed down mad.gif

 

You couldn't un-screw it? I just pulled some stuff out (actually, my wife did it) and was thankful for the screws. Came apart pretty easily. Biggest issue was the heads breaking off.

 

The yoyo who put it down didnt just screw it to the joist, They screwed it every 4" square. There must have been 5000+ screws in the floor eek.gif . On top that was thin set ceramic tile so all the screw heads were filled with thin set. I criss crossed the thing with the saw set to 5/8 then ripped with a wrecking bar, flat bar anything I could find. I ruined 3 saw blades, you shoulda seen the sparks.

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Why couldn't you have just put the new 3/4 plywood floor on top of the particle board and then done the hardwood? Too much of a step up from the other rooms? It would have been a lot easier to just tell everyone to watch their step biggrin.gif

 

I would have attempted it as long as I could have been sure to screw it to the joists.

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