# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  Removing cement sheet/tile underlay

## Jasonl

Hi everyone, 
I am looking at removing some cement sheeting that is down over hardwood floorboards. My question is, after having had so many nails driven through, can I ever expect to be able to repair the boards again? What product would be best to fill the holes so they won't show once sanding and polishing is done? 
If I want polished boards in that area of the house, would I be better off considering a floating floor option rather than attempt to repair?

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## OBBob

Hi Jason 
I really think you would be pushing your luck to repair those boards. They would have has nails put in every 150mm, which is a lot of holes that you would see even after filling. You may also find that they have used nails with a fish scale on them, shich would make them difficult to remove and maybe do even more damage to the floor.  
You may need to think about replacing or recovering.

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## Pulse

I disagree. I did a room 20m2 and you can't see the nail holes. The floor was 1940s 4 inch wide cypress. The ring shanked nails are pretty small, don't worry about filling, just ignore them. 
Cheers
Pulse

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## OBBob

Great, I guess it depends on the install. You may be best to pull up a corner and see how it comes up. Hopefully its as per Pulses post.

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## Jasonl

Thank you both for your thoughts. Any pointers on how best to remove the sheeting to reduce the damage the ring shank nails do? 
thanks again
Jasonl

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## OBBob

Hi Jason ... I think you really need to give it a go pulling them out and see how it looks. If they do appear to do damage I guess you could take to the heads with a grinder and the punch them through ... but it would be a bit of a painful job.  
The floor I was referring to was baltic pine, so it was quite soft. Just give it a go ... if it doesn't look too good then you ave lost nothing and you go to plan 'B'.

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## scooter

Use a decent pair of pincers to pull the nails, ensure they're not too sharp (which will cut the nails off instead of gripping them).

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## Dusty

Rip the nails out with a pair of Pincer's as suggested, or with a hammer, or with a small crow bar, or whatever.
Sand the floor with a course paper, then fill the holes with timbermate putty in the appropriate colour. 
See below...    
Once filled, proceed with fine sanding and finishing. 
Have fun  :Biggrin:

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## martrix

Yep, do it! A polished timber floor beats any crappy  tile/vinyl covering thats there now. 
My brother had dark brown tiles through out half the house when he bought it. Ripped up the tile and the underlay which was loaded with nails every where. 
After some hard work and puttying, the floor looks brilliant, and you hardly notice the nail holes.....Worth doing in my opinion.

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## China

Caution do you know when the floor was covered the sheeting may be asbestos!

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## joe greiner

> Use a decent pair of pincers to pull the nails, ensure they're not too sharp (which will cut the nails off instead of gripping them).

  Use of hand pliers can be quite tedious for lots of nails. Better to use a purpose-made nail puller. Very many made circa 1870s and later. [Almost] Looks like attached pic. [Slide handle forces pincer into wood, and foot pries nail out.] 
Still available as Crescent no. 56. I also have one from late neighbor's estate; marked "Bridgeport" and "no. 64 - Rex." 
Joe

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## scooter

I think Lee Valley sell something like the tool in Joe's pic.

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## joe greiner

> I think Lee Valley sell something like the tool in Joe's pic.

  Yup. Uses a separate hammer instead of slide handle. Seems to be lower cost. 
Joe

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