On 24 Feb, 12:46, Miles wrote:
Hi,

I need to take up some floorboards to get at a pipe that runs underneath.

However, I've found that the far end of the board runs under a partition
wall. *Under the partition wall is a joist, and the board is nailed to
the joist. *The bottom of the partition wall may also be nailed into the
board: I can't tell at the moment.

Any ideas how I can get the end of the board out? *Is there a specific
saw I can use to cut through the nail, and that's thin enough to get
into the (non-existent) gap between board and joist.

Thanks

Miles

Dear Miles
I do this sort of lifting for a living.
The way I do it is as follows:

Mark the two sides of the joists under the stud wall and in the next
door room using a pencil and a thin rule to poke between the boards to
get the exact location of the joists
If necessary take off a bit of or all the skirting so you can get
access to both sides of the wall
Behind the skirtings will be a bit of plaster which you can take off
up to half the height of the skirting on both sides
Using a Fein or any other multimaster cut the board down as close to
the centre of the joist on one side it avoiding any nails which you
will see from the holes as the stud wall allows
It may be necessary to cut at an angle but that all depends where the
nails are

Leave a bearing on the joist
Only in desperation cut flush and put on a scotch or batten - that is
the route of the DIY or lazy builder!

raise the rest of the board in the normal way

Go to the other side and cut a short lengh of board off to the next
nearest joist to the stud wall in the centre of the joist as
described above


If the nail heads have pulled out with the board fine - take the board
back down and take out the nails with pinchers but this is most
unlikely
in 999 /1000 it will have stuck in and you now have to use a sabre saw
with metal blade to cut them out
(absent that a pad saw with hack saw blade and lots of hand action
with a glove on!)


you now are left with a stub of wood one joist wide with the stud wall
on top
If you are lucky there wont be a nail there so just get a mallet and
tap the board out one side or the other
If there is a nail (sod's law) it will be a big 4" one and you have
to use your 300mm long sabre saw blade to cut it out
A hacksaw would be a real pain but with patience possilbe

Knock out the floor board sideways with a mallet or drift clear of the
stud wall and you are there!

once you have dealt with your pipes reverse the actions
Chris