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Old Cedar Flooring on former porch.

 
Posts: 72
Location: Berkshire County, Ma. 6b/4a. Approx. 50" rain
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Hello everyone! I have a query I'd like to put in front of the forum. Cue the obligatory "where does this actually belong" sentence/question.

My partner and I just moved into our new to us starter home. Definitely in need of some elbow grease. And I'm currently in need of some advice.

In an upstairs bedroom, a former porch turned into "inside space" has  tongue and groove cedar flooring, nailed to the (wiiide-plank cedar) flooring beneath. It's pretty old. Like original to our 1890s house old. It could stay in its place, and I'm inclined to look past the dip, sand and oil the floor. Future buyers might not to be so forgiving/appreciative; and directly beneath the floor we have to run wiring for downstairs lights.


If, and right now it is a big if, I wanted to remove the tongue and groove cedar flooring does anyone have tips/tricks/advice?
Foolishly I attempted to pry up a couple pieces with a crowbar. Should I just suck it up and remove the nails individually?
(Preliminary thinking is the cedar could find a new occupation as a beadboard accent wall in a bathroom.)

 
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Could you post a picture or two of the flooring?  That would likely help us with some suggestions.

And when you say the wiring is running directly beneath the floor, you mean beneath the wide plank subfloor, correct?  If so, I'm not sure why that's a problem for the tongue and groove removal.  I'm probably missing something though...
 
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If you don't want to preserve the flooring, take a crowbar and start prying.
 
steward
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Tongue and groove gets installed in one direction, with the groove of the new piece being inserted into the tongue of the previously installed piece, then nails are generally set at an angle in the tongue of each piece. If you can identify the last piece installed, it is possible to remove it in the reverse order of how it was installed. It will likely take gentle prying with flat bar/pry bar of some sort to remove it in one piece if it can be done. You ought to know with the first few pieces if they can be removed successfully or if the pieces are being damaged in such a way that they're not reusable for another flooring/siding/ceiling project.
 
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Now that James has given you the how to remove it. The wide plank floor is going to be more desirable but you also need to try and figure out why that second floor was installed over the wide planks first.
Some times the sub floor is made from similar wood as the actual flooring but usually it isn't, since your floor is the same wood. You need to see if that sub floor was simply a sub floor or if it had been the original floor wood.
The more you can keep an old house true to its original components the better the value down the road.

Redhawk
 
Kamaar Taliaferro
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Mike, yes, that's what I mean. I was just giving a little unnecessary context.

Thanks James. I'm pretty positive I initially started at the wrong end. I'll give it a go from the other side. For this advice I think you deserve an apple, I don't have any--please take this virtual, virtual apple with my thanks.

Redhawk; Generally anything that has been discovered in the same layer as the plaster and lathing I call original. Definitely not conclusive or anything. Eventually I'll get around to the library and see if anything comes up for this place.
 
Mike Haasl
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Kamaar Taliaferro wrote:For this advice I think you deserve an apple, I don't have any--please take this virtual, virtual apple with my thanks.



An apple fairy just made your wish come true
 
James Freyr
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You're welcome Kamaar. Happy to help.

Thanks apple fairy! I wonder who that was.....
 
Of course, I found a very beautiful couch. Definitely. And this tiny ad:
Unlock Free Wood Plans! Download free projects and create unique pieces now!
https:/the-art-of-regenerative-wood-working/
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