How to dismantle an old floor: step by step instructions. Video

Dismantling of wooden floors, reasons and options for removing the coating, technology of work: preparation, removal of skirting boards and old timber structures.

Reasons for removing a wooden floor

Wood floors are very popular with ordinary consumers due to a number of their positive characteristics. Among them are high quality, environmental friendliness, long service life and aesthetic appearance of this building material. However, under the influence of time and the influence of external factors, the wooden flooring becomes unusable, and it needs to be replaced.

There are several types of wood floors: regular plank floor, wood laminate, parquet board. Each of these coatings has its own characteristics, pros and cons.

But the nature of the origin of all types of wooden floors has endowed them with such common characteristics as lack of resistance to moisture, instability to temperature changes, the risk of deformation, a tendency to mold and mildew formation if the coating is not properly maintained.

If fungus and rotten, deformed areas appear on the floor elements, they must be dismantled and partially or completely replaced. Otherwise, not only the appearance of the interior decoration of the room may suffer. Since mold and mildew are known to cause allergies, their presence in a living space can pose a serious health hazard to the occupants. Especially for children and people with weakened immunity.

Wooden floors need special care, for example, coating with special compounds that increase their water-repellent or antiseptic properties. Neglecting these measures can lead to a reduction in their service life and early failure. Ultimately, it will be necessary to dismantle the old wooden floor and replace it with a fresh coating.

In addition to the above reasons, for work on replacing the floor covering, you can also highlight:

Severe mechanical damage;
Errors during work and incorrect installation of the old wooden covering;
Low quality material;
Destruction of structural elements as a result of the vital activity of insect pests;
Obsolete wood flooring.

Important! When carrying out work to remove old wood flooring, you should take into account which type of floor you are dealing with - parquet or board.

The main methods for dismantling a wood floor

To find the answer to the question of how to dismantle a wooden floor, first of all, you should decide on how you would like to see the end result. The method of waste disposal will depend on this.

If the work is not done carefully, without preserving the original shape of the boards, with a large number of small elements, it will be somewhat problematic to remove the debris from the room. Sharp edges and chips can cause splinters and wounds on the hands, even if all manipulations are carried out with gloves.

If the parts of the wooden floor are carefully removed during dismantling and sawn into several small parts, it will be quite easy to remove them from the premises and deliver them to the disposal site.

In addition, labor costs depend on the chosen method of removing the flooring. Much less effort and energy will be required to carry out the work in the event that the dismantling is done not simply with the use of brute physical force, but by carefully separating each board.

Thus, depending on the condition of the old coating, plans for the disposal of debris, as well as the construction of a new floor, the following methods of dismantling the structure are distinguished:

Removing the old coating with maximum preservation of the shape and structure of its constituent parts... This may be necessary in situations where you plan to reuse the floorboards. For example, when partially replacing the floor covering or for using them in another room. With this option for dismantling the wooden floor, the work must be done very carefully and with great care.
Quick removal of the coating without maintaining the shape of the boards... This method is most often used in cases where the floors are severely damaged and deformed, as well as if all the component parts are attached using construction glue or large nails. Then it is almost impossible to dismantle the wooden floor while maintaining the integrity of the parts.

Advice! Accuracy during work is required not only to preserve the elements of the old floor, but also to avoid serious damage to the base of the coating and difficulties in installing new floors.

Preparatory work before removing the wooden floor

Before proceeding with the removal of old wood floors, there are a number of factors to consider that will accompany the work process:

Removing floors is accompanied by high noise levels. Therefore, it is necessary to more responsibly choose the time for the work, especially if they will be carried out in an apartment building. It is advisable to dismantle the wooden floor during working hours from Monday to Friday, so as not to create unnecessary difficulties for neighbors and your loved ones.
When the old coating is removed, a large amount of dust and small particles of debris rises into the air. This is due not only to the mechanical effect on the structural elements, but also due to the dirt accumulated under the floorboards during the period of operation of the floor. For this reason, work clothing, a respirator mask, goggles, gloves and a hat should be prepared before starting dismantling work. In addition, it is necessary to create conditions that prevent the penetration of dirt into neighboring rooms, and limit the access of unauthorized people to the work site.
Dismantling wood flooring creates a lot of debris. In order to reduce the time of the procedure, you need to think in advance and prepare the place, the method of placing and transporting old boards and debris.
Removing wooden floors is a laborious process that requires physical force. For this reason, it is not advisable to carry out dismantling alone. Working in pairs, the task will be completed much easier and faster.
Any piece of furniture and decorative elements will complicate and slow down the work of removing the old wooden floor. Therefore, it is advisable to free the room as much as possible from unnecessary things.

Before starting to dismantle the wooden floor, prepare all the necessary tools. Most likely you will need: a crowbar, a hammer, a nail puller, pliers, a chisel, an ax, screwdrivers, a jigsaw or a hacksaw, polyurethane foam to eliminate cracks after work is completed.

If you plan to re-lay boards after removing the wood floor, you must first number each element. This is necessary in order to preserve their previous order during installation.

Dismantling technology for wooden floors

To have an idea of \u200b\u200bhow to remove wood floors, you need to find out what steps this process consists of. After preparing the premises and all the necessary tools, it is worth determining whether any communications have been laid under the covering, and their location. This must be done in order to protect yourself and avoid damaging them. You can start removing the old coating only after that.

How to remove the skirting board

Disassemble the construction of the skirting board from the end. This avoids damage to it. The dismantling process consists of the following steps:

The location of the first hammered nail is determined. At this point, carefully lift the skirting board with a nailer (max. 3 cm).
The same should be done at the rest of the fastening points of the structure until the entire plinth is removed around the perimeter of the room. When carrying out work, it is advisable to place the nailer as close as possible to the place of fixation. This will prevent splitting of the skirting board and maintain its integrity.

In cases where it is impossible to pull the nail out of the plinth without damage, you should slightly clean its surface with a chisel from the wood layer. After that, the nail must be removed by prying it by the cap using a nail puller. In this case, to protect the coating from damage, it is necessary to place a small wooden block or a piece of plywood under the tool.

There are times when the plinth is so thickly covered with paint that it is impossible to visually determine the location of the nails. In such a situation, work should be started, stepping back about 10-20 cm from its beginning.

If the structure is attached not to the flooring, but to the wall, the position of the nailer should be changed. In this case, the point of support should be the surface into which the fastener element enters. If the fixing of the skirting board is carried out with screws, then dismantling is carried out with a screwdriver or an electric screwdriver.

The specifics of dismantling a wooden floor

After removing the plinth, proceed to disassembling the floorboards. If the floor structure is equipped with ventilation openings, remove all protective grilles from them first.

The dismantling of wooden floors in a house or apartment begins with the floorboard farthest from the entrance. If for some reason this cannot be done, as an alternative, you can start with any other narrow board located against the wall.

The technology for dismantling a wooden floor may differ depending on the method of fastening the structural elements. If the fixation was carried out with screws, they should simply be unscrewed with an ordinary screwdriver or a special power tool. And then sequentially separate the boards from each other.

If nails were used as fasteners, the wooden floors are removed using a nail puller. To do this, it is inserted into the gap between the farthest wall and the first board. Further, the process of removing the floor looks like this:

The floorboard is carefully raised by 2-3 cm. It is undesirable to raise the boards by more than 3 cm, and sharp jerks should also be avoided.
Using a hammer, the board is tapped into its original place so that the head of the nail remains raised. To do this, you can put a small piece of plywood under it. If the work is done correctly, then after the board is returned to its place, the heads of the nails will rise 1-2 cm above it. Just as in the case of removing the plinth, a small block must be placed under the nail puller. This is necessary in order to protect the coating surface.
After all the nails have been lifted, and the board is returned to its place, a chisel must be carefully inserted into the gap between the floorboards, gradually widening the gap. Thus, the spike of the removed board is separated from the groove of the adjacent one. The first floorboard can then be removed.
Next, you should repeat all the steps in sequence, gradually separating each board and disassembling the floor.

When dismantling a wooden floor, remember that the most vulnerable point of the entire structure is the junction of the spike of the removed floorboard and the groove of the board adjacent to it. Therefore, when separating one element of a wooden floor from another, you should work extremely carefully.

If it was not possible to separate the boards from each other without damage, and a crack has formed on the spike or groove, this can cause the floor to squeak when the floorboards are reused. However, this can be avoided if, before installation, the damaged part is glued with PVA glue or fixed with a small nail. Damaged floorboards will need to be laid as tightly as possible.

Dismantling the wooden floor on the joists is carried out in the same way. The only difference is that after parsing the coating, it is necessary to remove the base beams themselves. To do this, they need to be unscrewed or beaten off from the foundation using a sledgehammer.

How to remove a wooden floor - watch the video:

One of the most important conditions for the successful implementation of repair work, in particular the replacement of flooring, is the preparation of surfaces. Whatever the finish coat, you need to understand that it must be laid on the most even and durable surface. Installing a new coating over the old is unacceptable, as this will reduce its strength, aesthetic and other operational characteristics, which means that you need to know how to remove the old floor, and not only know, but also do it correctly.

For a professional person in this matter, dismantling any old flooring is unlikely to cause difficulties, but those who are first faced with the need to carry out work of this type should familiarize themselves with some rules.

Work rules

Dismantling the old flooring will vary somewhat depending on the type of flooring itself. Therefore, for a better understanding of the issue, it is better to divide the description of these works into several separate paragraphs.

First of all, you need to understand that work related to the dismantling of indoor coatings will lead to the formation of dust and pollution, therefore, before starting, you need to prepare personal protective equipment. You will need protective goggles or a mask, gloves, a respirator, and trash and dust bags. In addition, you will not be able to do without an auxiliary tool such as a pry bar, a hammer drill, a screwdriver and a hammer. Then furniture must be removed from the room. After the preparation is completed, you can start the work itself.

If roll materials such as linoleum, carpet and the like were used as flooring, then work should be started by removing the baseboards. This structural element must be removed around the entire perimeter of the room. It should be noted that it often happens that the nails with which the skirting board is attached rust and their dismantling becomes possible only when the skirting board itself is completely destroyed. In this case, the remaining nails must be cut off with a chisel. After removing the plinth, the coating simply comes off the surface, and you need to know that it is best to start from the corner of the room.

In the case when parquet or laminate is used as a floor covering, the floor should be dismantled depending on what type of installation was chosen. If the coating was installed in a floating way, then first, as in the previous case, the skirting board is removed, and then the coating is disassembled into separate elements. In addition, if there is a lock connection, then these elements can be reused.

If the coating is fixed with an adhesive method, then the situation is somewhat more complicated. In this case, after removing the plinth, it is necessary to beat off each element separately using a perforator. To do this, you need to install a special nozzle on the perforator. If there is no puncher, then you can do the work with a crowbar, prying the element from below and tearing it off.

If a wooden floor was installed in the room on logs, then such a covering is removed quite simply. If the boards were attached to the logs with self-tapping screws, then they just need to be unscrewed, and the boards can be easily removed. If nails were used, then the boards in the place of fastening are pry off with a crowbar and come off. If the boards do not need to be saved, then you can do it easier. With the help of a jigsaw, the boards are sawed across and simply torn off. Lags are also dismantled depending on the method of fastening. If attached with anchor bolts, then unscrew them. Or you can just beat off the lags from the base with a sledgehammer.

When it comes to dismantling a tiled floor, for example, a tiled floor, you should know that the work is dusty and quite labor-intensive. The tiles are removed using a perforator with a nozzle or a hammer and chisel. It is important to note that the main difficulty with this type of work is removing glue residues and leveling the base. For these purposes, you can use the same punch.

It may also happen that a plywood leveling base can be placed under the topcoat. Sheets of this material must also be removed, since a new coating laid on top of an old base may begin to creak after a while. If the plywood is screwed on with self-tapping screws, then they just need to be unscrewed, and if the plywood is glued to the screed, then it is removed using a puncher. It should be remembered that it must be placed at an acute angle to the surface.

Dismantling the old flooring is not too difficult from the technological side, and it does not matter whether it is about removing wooden floors or disassembling a tile floor. It only takes some knowledge and diligence. But, it is important to follow the safety rules.

Competent dismantling of the old floor or floor covering is, as you know, a prerequisite for the successful implementation of work related to their renovation.

Today we will try to tell you how to remove the old floor without resorting to the help of third-party specialists, while significantly saving on repair work.

It is known that the floors in modern apartments are most often equipped as follows:

Pure concrete bases with synthetic carpet, laminate or linoleum known to all of us;

Wooden floors, made from individual boards or from inlaid parquet;

Tiled floors.

Preparatory activities

Note! Before you start dismantling the floor, you should prepare the most necessary tool, the choice of which is determined by the type of floor covering. But in any case, you will need special protective equipment for the body and respiratory organs, which are mandatory when carrying out work of this class (respirator, cotton gloves and a hat).

In order to avoid the spread of dust throughout the apartment, it is advisable to fix a piece of damp cloth in the doorways, and lay rugs soaked in water at the thresholds. In addition, you will definitely need:

Ordinary nail puller;

Assembly hammer or sledgehammer;

Screwdriver, pliers and pliers;

Electric jigsaw or long board saw.

Note that for disassembling a tile floor (porcelain stoneware), you will additionally need to prepare a chisel and a perforator. Floor coverings laid with carpet, laminate or linoleum, are much easier to dismantle, especially if they are simply laid on a concrete base (no glue).

Removing skirting boards

It is customary to start dismantling the floor covering with the removal of the baseboards, which can be plastic (with a built-in cable channel) or wooden. We begin the disassembly of plastic blanks by removing the decorative strip and removing the fasteners of the product to the wall. We remove wooden plinths sewn to the floor using a nail puller, and dismantling should start from the corner of the room.

In the event that the skirting board is thoroughly painted over with several layers of paint, you first need to find a place where it can be easily “pushed off” with a flat screwdriver, after which you can use a nail puller. To avoid damage to the decorative wall covering and for the convenience of fixing the position of the instrument, a small wooden plank (bar) is usually placed under it.

How to dismantle a wooden floor

Before removing old wooden floors, you should familiarize yourself with the procedure for placing them on logs laid on a concrete base. When carrying out these works, certain difficulties may arise with the removal of the first board, after the dismantling of which it will go much faster. To facilitate this operation, you should free the gap between the floor and the wall and pry off the edge board with a nailer in this place.

All other floorboards are easy to remove and can be removed with a hammer or large flat screwdriver. You can use the pliers prepared earlier to remove the nails driven into the boards.

Note! With a circular saw, all operations for dismantling wooden floors are greatly simplified. With its help, it will be possible to cut individual "floorboards" into smaller pieces, which will be much easier to remove from the place of disassembly.

For the case when the floorboards are fastened with self-tapping screws, you need a screwdriver that allows you to quickly remove the fastening elements.

How to remove a concrete screed

To remove a concrete screed, you will first need to remove the decorative coating used to cover the floor. And only after that you can proceed to dismantling it, which is usually done by a shock method. For these purposes, you may need the following tool:

Classic jackhammer;

Perforator with a special attachment;

A sledgehammer, chisel, or scrap metal.

Note that the use of a special percussion power tool significantly reduces the time required to dismantle concrete foundations in rooms of any category. But when carrying out it, personal protective equipment must be used to protect the respiratory tract of a person and his eyes from dust generated during work.

When preparing for dismantling, do not forget to prepare bags of durable material in which you can take out the broken pieces of cement-concrete screed and the garbage accompanying any dismantling.

If you have a skirting board:

Painted wooden, nailed to the floor, the heads of the nails are simply sunk into the wood (sometimes sticking out above the surface of the plinth) and painted (rusty) - 55%.

Here, too, everything is simple. Drive the nail puller (1) with a pointed blade under the plinth (2) at the point where the plinth is attached to the floor and tear off the plinth. According to the above theory, at the point of support of the nailer on the floorboard, there will be pressure 5 times greater than the force you applied. Simply put, you are pushing a hole in the floorboard. To increase the area of \u200b\u200bthe nailer's support on the floorboard and thereby reduce the pressure, plywood or a thin board (4) is placed under the nailer at the support point (3):

Figure 1141.1... Institution of a crowbar under the plinth, nailed to the floor.

If the plinth broke during dismantling or the nails pushed through the plinth and remained in the floor, or turned out to be so long that the short arm of the nailer lever is not enough to completely pull the nail out, then a wooden block is additionally placed on the floorboard at the nailer support point:

Figure 1141.2... Removing the skirting board nailed to the floor.

In order not to break the plinth, start dismantling from the edge. Lift the skirting board 1-3 cm from the floorboard at the first attachment point, then on the second nail and on all the others, repeat the manipulations in this order until you remove the skirting board. The farther from the attachment point you drive the nailer under the skirting board, the more likely the skirting board will break.

If you are going to change the skirting boards for new ones or you are unable to pull the nails out without damaging the surface of the floorboard, you can use a chisel to remove the layer of wood around the nail head and then pull the nails out, clinging them to the caps with a nail puller. In this case, the point of support of the nail puller is on the plinth or on a substituted wooden block.

Painted wooden, nailed to the floor, nail heads sunk into the wood, putty (clogged with chops) and painted - 33%

Usually the skirting boards are fastened after 50-70 cm, the extreme fixings are 10-20 cm from the wall. If you cannot find the nail heads, use a pointed spatula to drive the nailer under the baseboard 10-20 cm from the wall and try to gradually lift the baseboard. Thus, the first nail will be exposed, and in the place where the plinth bent and begins to move away from the floor, there is most likely a second nail. Otherwise, the dismantling technology is the same as in the first case.

Painted wooden, screwed to the floor, screw heads are sunk into the wood (sometimes sticking out above the surface) and painted (rusty), covered with plastic plugs - 3%.

Wooden covered with colorless or tinted varnish, no nail heads or screws are visible, there are only some knots - 2%

Most likely these are not knots, but wooden plugs, they are usually used for skirting boards painted with colorless or tinted varnish. They are easy enough to find by their characteristic dark rim or, in extreme cases, by the texture of the tree:

Photo 1141.1... View of a wooden plug on an oak plank

The surface of the plug is a cross section of the wood, the surface of the plinth is a longitudinal section of the wood. Usually, the plugs are drilled out or knocked out with a narrow chisel.

Usually the skirting boards are fastened after 40-70 cm, the extreme fixings are 10-20 cm from the wall. If you cannot find the screw heads, drive the nailer with a pointed blade under the baseboard 10-20 cm from the wall and try to shake the baseboard a little. Usually the putty cracks at the attachment points.

Painted wooden, nailed to the wall - 2%

The dismantling technology is the same as in the first case, only the nailer blade is driven between the plinth and the wall:

Figure 1141.3... Removing the skirting board nailed to the wall plug.

Painted wooden, screwed to the wall - 1%

Just unscrew the screws with a screwdriver.

Wooden veneer with fine wood veneer with a snap in mounting fasteners - 0.5%

There are 2 types of mounting fixtures for skirting boards: with fitting the skirting board from above and with snapping the skirting board onto the wall. It is better to use a wide trowel to remove these skirting boards. Try to drive the trowel from below and lift the skirting board, if the skirting board does not rise, try to snap off the skirting board by driving the trowel between the skirting board and the wall.

Plastic (paper made of MDF), with a latch in the mounting fasteners - 1%

Plastic, if you look closely, you can see two stripes in the middle - 1%

Such skirting boards with a cable channel are gaining more and more popularity. They have the most secure mount. Such skirting boards are screwed in and even nailed with self-tapping screws for quick installation, and the attachment points are closed with a special strip. Theoretically, such skirting boards can be removed and put in place very, very many times. A spatula is usually used to reach the mountings:

Other options - 1.5%

2. Remove the boards

When laying a wooden floor, the first board is laid with a spike against the wall (or a quarter up), respectively, the dismantling of the floor should be started from a board that has a groove for a spike (or laid a quarter down) or from a board that is narrower than all the others, therefore it was cut in width.

If the boards were screwed on, just unscrew the screws and remove one board at a time.

If the boards were nailed, then everything is a little more complicated:

When dismantling the first board into the gap between the board and the wall, drive a nail puller between the log and the board and undermine the board so that the edge of the board rises by 1-3 cm.Using a hammer and a piece of plywood, set the board in place, while the plywood should not overlap the nail head ... If you did everything correctly, after you have planted the board in place, a nail head (2 or even 3 heads) will stick out above its surface to a height of 0.5 -1.5 cm.Place a piece of plywood or thin board at the place of the nailer support on the floorboard and pull out the nail (s):

Figure 1141.4... Dismantling the first floor board.

Repeat the manipulations at the attachment points of the floorboard to the rest of the logs. If you do everything carefully, i.e. do not undermine the board higher, then the spike of the board is usually not damaged and this will allow the later removed boards to be used for laying a new coating. After the nails are pulled out, a crowbar or chisel is carefully driven into the gap between the first and second boards and the first spike of the first board being removed is pushed out of the groove of the second board, which is still nailed. Although usually you can even push the first board out of the groove of the second board with your hands. After the cleat is pulled out of the groove, the first plank can be removed. The rest of the boards come off easier, since it is more convenient to insert the nailer. The algorithm is the same.

Note: the spike of the board being dismantled and the groove of the adjacent board are the weakest points when dismantling the floor for quite objective reasons, therefore, the lower the height of the board undermining, the less likely the spike or the top of the groove on the board will crack. Nevertheless, this cannot be ruled out. Wood is an anisotropic material, knots, rot and other defects may well occur. Therefore, when a board on a spike or groove cracks (not often, but I have had this too, one or two boards per room is in my opinion a perfectly acceptable result), I treat this with understanding. If a spike is cracked, there is nothing fatal in this, spikes and grooves in the floorboard are needed not so much to dock the boards at the same level, but for a more even distribution of the concentrated load acting on the board. Therefore, the worst thing that can happen in the absence of one or two spikes is the creak of the boards, and if the distance between the lags is relatively small, then there will be no creak. Details of the calculation of wooden boards for deflection can be found. The same can be said about the breakage of the bottom of the groove. If the upper part of the groove is cracked or broken off, then the problem becomes more aesthetic than functional. A cracked or chipped part can be glued with PVA glue or nailed with small nails when laying a new coating. But if the aesthetic requirements are very high, then the board will have to be changed.

If the gap between the wall and the floorboard is very small and does not allow you to pry the board with a nailer, or there is almost none at all, try knocking down the plaster in the place where the lag is adjacent to the wall.

If there is no plaster, or the lag does not adjoin the wall, then it is necessary to cut out (drill, knock out with a chisel) a piece of floorboard near the wall so that a nailer can be driven into the resulting opening, while it is desirable that the resulting opening is subsequently covered with a plinth.

If all else fails, use a hammer and chisel to knock down the layer of wood around the nails and pull the nails out with a nailer. When you put the board back in place after the repair, the pits from the chisel can be filled with acrylic sealant, and if you make a new coating, then there is nothing to worry about at all.

Cut along the length of the board. Use a circular saw to cut the entire length of one board. The cut is made as close as possible to the center of the longitudinal part.

It is best to choose a plank that runs along one of the outer sides of the floor. Dismantling the first plank in such a location will make it easier to remove the remaining planks in the room.
You can also use a pry bar to pry the first few planks off one of the outside of the floor. This is the easiest option if you have clean edged boards and have at least one open edge.

Blow up the floorboard. Insert the flat part of the bar into the kerf and pry off both halves of the board. After removing the floorboard, move it out from under your feet.

The easiest way is to wedge a pry bar into the created cut and undermine both halves of the board in one motion.
When the flat part of the mount is under the board, push down on the edge of the long handle. The leverage should be sufficient to lift the board, but usually several tries are required as the board is held in place by a few nails and staples.
If your mount is too big and you can't use it right now, then you can use a wide chisel. Dismantling the first board is carried out in the same way as with a mount.

You can cut the rest of the boards. If you do not need to maintain the shape of the floorboards, it is easiest to saw each board before removing it.

Use the circular saw to make cross cuts across the rows of floorboards. Each cut must divide the boards into sections 30-60 cm long. The cuts must be perpendicular to the direction in which the boards are laid.
To maintain the existing length of the boards, the boards can be dismantled without cutting them into smaller pieces. The decision is yours, and the dismantling process will be about the same.

Do not hurry. You will pry on each board or each sawn piece separately. Dismantle one board completely before moving on to the next.

Start with the board that is directly adjacent to the first board removed. The point of undermining the first board is precisely to open the edges of the surrounding boards and work with them.

Pry the board with a pry bar. Press the flat side of the pry bar under the next board you want to remove. Press down on the edge of the pry bar handle to raise the floorboard.

If you are not going to throw the tree away, then you should work very carefully.
Place the pry bar with the flat end near the first nail holding the board.
It is best to lift the board in the direction of the nail rather than the opposite.

Move along the length of each board. Lift one edge of the board and move the pry bar along the length of the boards, moving on to the next nails. Raise the board in these areas in exactly the same way as before.

Continue prying the board near the nails until you can remove it completely.
If you need to keep the boards, then dismantle them gradually in the order described above. If you only need to rip off small sections of wood that has already been damaged, you can try to remove the floorboard in one stroke, rather than working gradually.