Removing Skirting Board in a laminate floor room

[BenW]

Hi, want to remove some skirting board in the lounge. We've got some laminate flooring with the small border around the edge.

I've removed the small border and started to pull away the skirting board. I can't get the board off because the laminate flooring prevents me pulling the bottom out (Loads of lovely long nails holding the board to the wall)

So i think i need to lift some of the flooring but have no idea how to, can someone help please?

Thanks
Ben

[clockworks]

Are you going to re-use the skirting, or fit new?

I'd be tempted to leave the flooring alone, and just remove the skirting. If you damage the flooring, will you be able to replace individual panels with exactly the same type?

Try chiselling around the nails to make the holes bigger through the skirting, then pull the boards off. Remove the nails with a claw hammer once the boards are out of the way. Alternatively pull the boards as far as you can, and cut though the nails with a hacksaw blade. Pull the cut nails out with molegrips.

When you fit the new skirting, use screws instead of nails.

[BenW]

We do have some spare floor boards so a few could be replaced.

The skirting board won't be going back down (Putting in some bookcases) but would like to keep it so it could be replaced at some time.

Its not really an option to pull nails out of the board as they're nailed in below the surface, fillered then painted. This makes it so hard to tell where the nails are and near impossible to pull out!

Might have to try the hacksaw route if i can fit it in (I doubt this)

Is there really no way of lifting the floor without causing damage?

[clockworks]

If it's tongue and groove or "cliklok" board, you need to work out which way the boards were laid. They're removed the opposite way - last board down is the first to be removed. If that means lifting too many boards, you can cut through the tongue with a Stanley knife.

Check the spares, you should be able to work out how they lock together.

[BenW]

I'll have a look later, if i need to cut with a stanley knife how do i put the boards back down?

Thanks

[avanzato]

To get the skirting off you can sometimes hammer the nails all the way through the boards rather than pull them out and unless the skirting is a special pattern it's as cheap to buy new when you need to.

[Jon Boy]

Theres no easy way to be honest mate , if its the click together flooring then its more than likely that the last board that went in was near a doorway. It may not be but to get the boards up it would proably mean removing even more skirting to get it up!

Hard to tell without actually seeing it but like clockworks said , pull the skirting forward from the top as far as you can , then , if you cant fit a hacksaw behind there just get ( i know it sounds rough but it may just work) a big hefty crow bar and lumb hammer and hit down hard onto the nail! It will either snap or start to bend down removing it from the wall!

Hope this helps

Jon

[1080 jawbreaker]

if your not bothered damagingthe shirting then i would suggest using a Hammer and a Bolster (its basically a broad chisel for cracking bricks). Just hammer your way down the back and lever the skirting away from the wall, a crow bar may also come in handy.

[Jon Boy]

Basically what i said then hehehe

Jon

[BenW]

Thanks for all the suggestions, got it off at last!

What i did was pulled it out as far as i could, drilled through a few of the nails a few nights ago but still had the bottom ones to deal with. Got a Stanley pipe hacksaw (This has the blade sticking out further than the handle buy about 3-4 inches making it good for tight gaps) and cut 2/3 of the nails

Got fed up so got hold of one end and just pulled it up, rest of the nails happily came out

Now i've got a section to remove from another wall....the joys! Will cut it whilst its on the wall then pull away