Charlie S. wrote:

Live in an old house where the nails rise up from time to time from out of
the pine floor.

Years ago I went around pulling some of them up and replacing them with long
screws. (The Phillip heads don't look nearly as nice as the old rustic
nails... I should cover the screws with some wood-filler type stuff.

The tops of the nails are rectangular. The problem is that some of them
don't rise up very much and it's difficult to remove them without
occasionally damaging the surrounding wood.

I used a screwdriver type tool that has a curved v-shaped claw to it.
Crowbars and hammer claws are too thick to fit beneath the nails.
Sometimes, I couldn't grab the nail and damaged the wood slightly to get at
it. Anyone recommend a less damaging method? And, any cosmetic substitute
to using long screws other than covering them up?


How much area needs repair? This Old House dot com probably has
articles, but I didn't want to sign in or pay. I would not try to pull
the old nails if possible. I would try new nail at each end of board...
drill pilot hole, put in new nail on a slant, counter sink it, put in
wood filler. Then, with a template to protect the floor, drive the old
nails so they are flush or barely lower than surface of the board. I
would not want to put phillips screws into a good floor. There is
probably a better way, but I don't know what it is )