"aemeijers" wrote in message
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snip
Drill the head off the nail, then pull the board off the top of it. Once
you have a half-inch of nail showing, vise-grips will pull it right out.

The nails were sunk into the wood. I ended up getting a nail puller with a
wide end; that didn't damage the wood underneed too bad.

But I also did get a vice grips, which I used for a nail or two, and for one
screw which someone had mangled badly.

A small stanley wonder bar, with a piece of cardboard as a scuff guard,
will protect the paneling the batten is nailed to. Yeah, I've done
non-destructive demo before a few times. And you are right- furnaces and
water heaters should never be trapped- if you must put a wall in the
access path, put it on quick releases of some kind. And even then, you
should leave plenty of air space around them for proper functioning.

They did put in those metal slat vent thing-ees, so the circulation doesn't
seem to be a problem.

--
aem sends...