I am hoping someone can offer me soime help or insight.
I have some 100 or more year old redwood 1 by 10 channel siding fastened to redwood studs with square nails, that I need to remove and would like to reuse on another wall of my house.
The nails seem almost as if they have become one with the wood. The few that I have successfully pulled come out with a coating of redwood encasing the nail. The point is that even if I can get a cats paw to grip the nail, the process of pulling the nail requires a lot of pressure be placed on the siding and it makes a bid dent and divot in the process.
I have tried using a punch to drive the nails through the siding and into the framing with “ok” results. The resulting hole is easier to fill than the catspaw technique.
I have also tried getting a long sawsall blade behind the siding to cut the nails. It works marginally well after I have removed the first three or so courses. It is hard to get the top most nails and the channel portion of the siding ends up breaking quite frequently.
At this point I am ready to weld together two twelve inch long sawsall blades to make an extra long flexible blade. Not sure if this would work but maybe worth a try.
My latest thought is to see what the smallest holsaw is and use it to cut out a small plug around each nail. This would be great if a 1/4 or 3/8″ holsaw existed but I have never seen one.
Also I am only removing the siding. The studs and t & g interior wall covering are not changing.
To give the entire picture I should mention that the siding is on the interior of a bathroom that was built after the original house and the bathroom interior wall covering was installed over the once exterior siding.
I did have some new redwood siding milled and it is an understatement to say the difference in quality is substantial. I paid around 3.50/ft for a large custom order of the new siding and I would rather reuse the original where I need to tie in/splice into an original wall so I am willing to exspend a lot of effort to get the old stuff off the wall intact.
What techniques have you all used successfully in the past?
Thanks,
Karl
Replies
karl.... i'd work on getting under it and prying from the back to pull the nails thru the siding
my 2d approach would be the sawzall, maybe with some diamond grit teeth.. those old cut nails are usually pretty hard
if i had access to the interior , i'd beat the siding off from inside, using a sledge and blocks
ie: sounds like you're doing the best you can
You might try a shingle thief, but probably those old nails are too hard to cut/break.
http://coastal.iserver.net/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/hand_tools/dasco_pro/shingle_ripper.htm?E+coastest
You could make your own small hole saw by filing teeth on a short section of tubing and chucking it up in your drill.
Rob
Somebody does make a small hole saw like device like you desire. Maybe Leichtung? Perhaps Google under "screw removal devices". Perhaps post this on knots.
Hope this helps.
~Peter