Removing Cork and underlay

[Stuart Hanson]

My wife and I are talking about pulling up the cork floor and the underlay and refinishing the subfloor which is cypress pine.

The main question is what will be the condition of subfloor after pulling up the underlay and all the nails that I used to put it down with in the first place, has anyone done this and would it cause more issues than its worth.

We have pulled up the carpet in the rest of the hallways and lounge room and just want to go back to polished floor boards and rugs, the cork is in the entry foyer, kitchen & family/dining room.

Stuart

[echnidna]

The cypress floor should be as it was when you laid the cork except for nail holes.
The right color filler should make them virtually invisible.

[Stuart Hanson]

The cypress floor should be as it was when you laid the cork except for nail holes.
The right color filler should make them virtually invisible.

Hello Bob,

The main concern was how well the nails come out of the cypress pine flooring from memory when I laid the underlay I put in around 90 nails per sheet as per the specs from the supplier, my worry is that they won't come out clean and it will cause a lot of damage when they come out ie cause chipping around the holes.

Stuart

[echnidna]

They usually pull out reasonably cleanly but the key really is the right color filler.

[soundman]

Well if the nails don't come out clean you could opt for a distressed finish.

[Pulse]

The holes shouldn't be very noticeable, the problem I've had after pulling up underlay is the nails breaking, leaving a small piece sticking out. The ring shank can corrode a bit making it very hard to get out. Invest in a good pair of pincers to remove the rest of the nail.

Cheers
Pulse

[rose]

Hi there, just a suggestion: if you underlay is "vinyl & cork underlay: from Hardies, I would check when it was originally laid. I have recently removed the stuff from my kitchen and have found out that it contained asbestos. Be very careful. It did't have any warning labels etc and when I checked the website, the product was there but blacked out. Aparently the product is now safe if it has a serial type number printed on it.