Not only is this my first time on this site, but I am a novice at building (or should I say unbuilding!), so please be gentle. What is the best way to remove for salvage poplar random width tongue and groove wainscotting from a wall? Also, when removing pre-hung doors we were told to leave the moulding on one side intact to keep the frame square. If the door is still attached to the frame, wouldn’t the door itself accomplish the same thing? We plan to reuse both in our new house.
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flat prybar, used gently.
Remove door (by removing hinge pins), then jamb, don't try to remove them together. I've salvaged & reused pre-hung door/jamb before, with new casing - sometimes you have to re-nail the jamb at the corners before re-installing. Shim hinge side plumb, hang door, then shim rest of jamb to the door. If you're real careful, sometimes you can reuse the old casing too.
Welcome to B.T. =)
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edited to add: when "un-building" (demo'ing) for salvage, the best rule of thumb is remove parts in the opposite sequence they were installed. What was installed last comes off first, what was installed first comes off last.
"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun."
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe
Edited 5/19/2007 8:27 pm by Huck
I was lway told, pull the finishing nail through the wood instead of prying out. a large wide stiff putty knife works good.
If the nail pulls through the trim piece as you're removing it, fine. If it comes out of the rough frame and remains in the trim, you can avoid enlarging the hole by using a stack of paper -- say an old magazine -- to support the wood around the nail head while you start driving it out from the back.
Of course that's time consuming, and only justified for historically significant projects.
-- J.S.
Or you can just use an end nippers* and pull it through from the back.*Calm down people.
What I've discovered works, in many cases, is to place the trim piece face-down against a piece of scrap and tap the nail through from the back. The scrap prevents the tear-out that would otherwise occur, and you don't end up with an oversized hole like you do when you pull the nail through.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Thanks for the advice. Turns out the doors are not pre-hung. Okay to remove molding from both sides if leave door inside casing?
not sure of the ques. - pre-hung or not only makes a difference when installing. Once installed pre-hung and site-hung are the same. Always best to remove door before doing demo. Hope that helps. ? - Huck"I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat and a gun."
Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe
Thanks Huck
As I said earlier, new to this (un)building business and still learning. The house is only 23 years old, but has alot moulding, 6-panel solid wood doors, custom cabinets, windows, etc. that we plan to use in the house we plan to build. Don't drink, have no life insurance, but will have a house in the country, which will be the vacation! Appreciate all the advice!!!
Valeri
Removing T&G anything can be challenging -- often the wood is too brittle to permit it without essentially destroying the tongues. But, assuming it's nailed through the tongue, you have to get the tongue side clear and then work at it with a thin, broad pry bar. Very occasionally it might pay to run a thin sawzall blade (or MultiMaster blade) behind the plank to cut the nail.
Doors remove any way that works -- you can reconstruct the frames later. Lots of different ways to attach the frames, so no general rule for removal, other than to keep the sawzall handy to cut nails.
Thanks Dan.Was able to remove wainscotting as you recommended. Came off fairly easily after removing chair rail. Was able to get wonderbar behind it. Wood is pretty thick. Hope the floor goes as easily. Valeri