can anyone give me a suggestion on taking off a plywood floor?
The plywood is screwed down on seams and then wood filler put over the screws. The problem is getting at the screwheads to back them out, so I can pull the floor off.
Would it be easiest to cut around these screws and then use a reciprocating saw to cut the screws and then pry the floor off?????
Would appreciate the help.
Replies
Is this subfloor, underlayment, or finish? and why are you removing it. Understanding the scope of the project can help prevent adicec that goes too far!
Presuming it to be underlayment, I would set my Circular saw to cut just deep enough to cut it without getting into the subfloor, with an old or NFG blade, and have at it. Wear eye protection for those sparks and stuff.
Once you have made pieces, a crowbar will remove most of it, then you'll know what to do when the ply wood is gone.
Word of warning, it is possible that it is glued down too.
A carpenter, faced with a similar problem, used a small hole saw, looked to be about 1/2", and starting at an angle, he didn't use a pilot bit, he bored down around each screw. Using a 1/2" drill he was not gentle with it and was doing as much burning as cutting while leaning heavily into the drill. Lots of smoke. The hole saw was shot at the end of the job but it allowed him to pry up the flooring.
An abrasive cut off blade in a 4" angle grinder cut the screws off flush after the wood plug was pounded off with a hammer. He just burnt through the screw about 2/3 of the way and came back pinging them off with a framing hammer.
After that he thought that maybe the hole saw was overkill as the screws were not threaded where they went through the plywood. He said that he could have just cut off the heads with the grinder. Sill for the 8' by 10' area it didn't take him more than an hour.
If you have access to some left handed drill its, they might help. Just drill down into the screws with your drill in reverse. Might grab the screws and back them out.
Won't do much for the bit, though.
When I was little, my Mom used to make me stand in a closet for five minutes without moving. He said it was elevator practice.
If you have access to some left handed drill its, they might help. Just drill down into the screws with your drill in reverse. Might grab the screws and back them out.
Won't do much for the bit, though.
When I was little, my Mom used to make me stand in a closet for five minutes without moving. He said it was elevator practice.
Several vendors sell a tool called a screw extractor. It looks like a tiny hole saw, but it is designed to turn counterclockwise. Ideally it grabs the screw head and backs it out, but if that doesn't work, it cores the whole thing out. Rockler is the supplier that comes to mind, because I just saw it in their catalog last night.