1919 A4 Forums banner

How to remove long roofing nail from wall.....

2K views 9 replies 10 participants last post by  sdk1968 
#1 ·
I made the ever so foolish move of nailing my paneling in my gun room to the studs. I want to replace a section of paneling with peg board so I can hang my pre-1910 Luger grouping. Everytime I try to remove these nails from the paneling, I get a disasterouly big ragged hole........ I will put it back with screws, providing I can save it, and everything else will go up with screws from now on.

Anyway, how do I get these out without destroying the paneling??? PJHeck
 
#2 ·
You have to remove it by using a flat pry bar, most have a notch just for that. If it's a roofing nail, you should be able to get it under the head and pull. you can find the flat pry bars in small med. and large.

Another possibility is if you have a start already, you can get the flat pry bar behind the sheet at the nail and lift it out from the insides but for this, you have to be accurate in finding the nail or you will have a big hole in the panel. If you can raise it @ 1/4 inch, you can then grab it on the outside with a claw hammer and remove it.

Another possibility is to take a small grinder and grind it down in the center and popping the head off the nail and pull the panel off the shank of the nail.

Do not use a nail puller,. it will do even more damage

Next time,. hang it with 4p finish/casing or paneling nails, this will allow you to remove the paneling by letting the nails be pulled thru the back and leave only a small hole on the back.
 
#3 ·


I think one of these would work well, I have one and will send it to you as long as you return it.:D
 
#4 ·
Center punch the head of each nail and drill the head off with a bit just larger than the shank of the nail. If you are careful the only damage will be the hole where the shank passed through the paneling. Tedious as hell (try removing several dozen rivets this way) but far less damage than any pry bar method.

When the panel is removed used a nail punch and set the remaining nail shanks below the surface of the studs.
 
#5 ·
Get a molding bar, it's a handheld bar for removing nails and pulling moulding. Make sure you have a sharp edge on her. Use a peice of cedar shingle or a decent peice of half inch lumber approximate size to a cedar shake and use it as the fulcrum to pull the nails out. The cedar is my preferred, basic point is that it allows the prying pressure to be spread out minimizing the chance of you cracking the paneling apart prying against it. By sharpening the tool with a knifes edge on it it will allow you to tap it under the head causing minimal damage to the paneling as well. Usually paneling will "give" a little allowing you to get behind the nail head. I usually polish the underside of the moulding bar so it slides without scratching the wood I am removing. I recommend against the "flat" bars that look like they are made from leaf springs.

The bar on the left is a moulding bar the one on the right is a cat's paw. I find both useful for these operations. Not a bad idea to have the cat's paw on hand to start the nail. Then if necessary switch to the flat bar. Doing some original moulding removal I have used one in one hand and the other in the other. If you need to choose which tool for this job the flat is preferred but the cat's paw is better for some tasks.


 
#6 ·
Can you get an edge??

If you can get the edge up say 1/4 inch get the trusty sawzall in there and cut the nail off proceed to the next one-- the more you get out; the looser the board paneling will come; easiest way with less damage is the(previously mentioned) drill or sawzall !
 
#9 ·
Slide hammer

Of the various handy attachments for the slide hammer you will find the needle-nosed vise-grip handy for this application. Simply weld a screw or nut compatable with your slide hammer to the adjusting screw on the vise grip.

Ryland Fleet
Acme Gadget Division

Inventor of the hammer
 
#10 ·
ok my old insulating friend...

think back to the powerhouse......

if you got the head of the nail showing put a piece of small pipe or conduit acorss that stud and the next one over and use your flat bar or mini crowbar as a lever on the pipe(fulcrum)..

it will spread the load to both studs and not let you paneling bust or make a hole in it.

(yeah im cheating cause i know excatly what this wall he refers to looks like)

s
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top