Tom often pulls up wide pine boards originally used as subfloor, promoting them to lustrous finish flooring elsewhere. While each dismantling job is unique, Tom's rule of thumb is that an item should be removed by working in the reverse order from the way the piece was installed. In the case of a fireplace surround, for example, the baseboard trim should come off first because it was installed last. If the material will be visible when it is reinstalled, Tom likes to free it with a reciprocating saw fitted with a nail-cutting blade because prying often leads to splits and dents. For wood that needs to be cut or planed to fit its new home, Tom advises caution.
Old wood is a minefield of nails.
It's a safety issue. At the very least, hitting an old, brittle cast-iron nail really does a number on your blades. Pascal Blancon is a photographer for This Old House Magazine. This article originally appeared in Issue 24 of This Old House Magazine. This Old House and the This Old House window and This Old House Online are trademarks of WGBH Educational Foundation.