How to dismantle the 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 design from wood.

Reasons to remove wood flooring

Wooden 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 this building material. However, under the influence of time and influence external factors wood flooring deteriorates and needs to be replaced.

There are several types of wooden floors: ordinary plank floor, wooden laminate, parquet board. Each of these coatings has its own characteristics, positive sides and disadvantages.

But the nature of the origin of all types of wooden floors endowed them with such general characteristics, as the lack of resistance to moisture, instability to temperature changes, the risk of deformation, the tendency to form mold and mildew with improper care of the coating.

In the event of a fungus and rotten, deformed areas on the floor elements, it is necessary to dismantle them and partially or completely replace them. Otherwise, not only appearance interior decoration premises. Since mold and mildew are known to cause allergies, their presence in a home can pose a serious health hazard to home occupants. Especially for children and people with weakened immune systems.

Wooden floors need special care, for example, in the coverage special formulations that increase their water-repellent or antiseptic properties. Neglect of these measures can lead to a reduction in their service life and early failure. Eventually, the old hardwood floor will need to be removed and replaced with fresh flooring.

In addition to the above reasons, the following can also be distinguished for the replacement of the flooring:

Strong mechanical damage;
Errors during work and improper installation of the old wooden coating;
Low quality material;
Destruction of structural elements as a result of the vital activity of pests;
Aged wood flooring.

Important! When carrying out work to eliminate the old floor covering from wood, you should consider what kind of floors you are dealing with - parquet or board.

The main ways to dismantle the floor from wood

To find the answer to the question of how to dismantle a wooden floor, you first need to decide how you would like to see the end result. This will depend on how the waste is disposed of.

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

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

In addition, labor costs depend on the chosen method of removing the floor covering. Much less effort and energy will be required to carry out the work if the dismantling is carried out not simply using rough physical strength, 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 installation of a new floor, the following methods of dismantling the structure are distinguished:

Removal of the old coating with maximum preservation of its shape and structure constituent parts . This may be necessary in situations where floorboards are to be reused. For example, when partially replacing the floor covering or for applying them in another room. With this option of dismantling the wooden floor, the work must be carried out very carefully and with great care.
Fast stripping without retaining the shape of the boards. This method is most often used in cases where the floors are badly damaged and deformed, and also if all the components are attached using construction adhesive 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 when installing new floors.

Preparatory work before removing the wooden floor

Before proceeding with the removal of old wooden floors, you should consider a number of factors that will accompany the workflow:

Removal of floors is accompanied high level noise. Therefore, it is necessary to more responsibly select the time for work, especially if they will be carried out in apartment building. It is advisable to carry out the dismantling of the wooden floor during business hours from Monday to Friday, so as not to create unnecessary difficulties for neighbors and loved ones.
When removing the old coating, a large amount of dust and small debris particles are released into the air. This is due not only to the mechanical impact on the structural elements, but also due to the dirt accumulated under the floorboards during the operation of the floor. For this reason, before proceeding with dismantling work, work clothes, a respiratory mask, goggles, gloves and headgear should be prepared. In addition, it is necessary to create conditions that prevent the penetration of dirt into neighboring rooms, and restrict the access of unauthorized people to the place of work.
When dismantling a wooden floor covering, a large amount of debris is generated. In order to reduce the time of the procedure, you need to think in advance and prepare a place, a method for placing and transporting old boards and garbage.
Removing wooden floors is a rather laborious process that requires the use of physical force. For this reason, it is not advisable to carry out dismantling alone. Working in pairs, it will be much easier and faster to cope with the task.
Any piece of furniture and decorative elements will complicate and slow down the work of removing the old wooden floor. Therefore, it is desirable to free the room as much as possible from unnecessary things.

Before you start dismantling the wooden floor, you should prepare all the necessary tools. Most likely you will need: a crowbar, a hammer, a nail puller, pincers, a chisel, an ax, screwdrivers, a jigsaw or a hacksaw, polyurethane foam to eliminate gaps after completion of work.

If you plan to use boards for re-laying after removing the wooden floor, you must first number each element. This is necessary in order to maintain their previous order during installation.

Technology of dismantling wooden floors

To have an idea of how to remove wooden floors, you should 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 coating, and their location. This must be done in order to protect yourself and avoid damage to them. You can start removing the old coating only after that.

How to remove a skirting board

To disassemble the plinth design, start 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 it is necessary to carefully lift the baseboard with a nail puller (maximum 3 cm).
The same should be done at the remaining points of fastening of the structure until the entire skirting board around the perimeter of the room is removed. When carrying out work, it is desirable to place the nail puller as close as possible to the place of fixation. This will prevent splitting of the plinth and maintain its integrity.

In cases where it is not possible to pull the nail out of the plinth without damage, you should slightly clean its surface with a chisel from a layer of wood. After that, the nail must be removed by prying on the hat, 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.

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

If the structure is attached not to the floor, but to the wall, the position of the nail puller should be changed. In this case, the fulcrum should be the surface into which the fastener element enters. If the plinth is fixed with screws, then dismantling is done with a screwdriver or an electric screwdriver.

The specifics of dismantling a wooden floor

After removing the plinth, proceed to the analysis of the floorboards. If the floor structure is equipped ventilation holes, first of all, all protective grilles should be removed from them.

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 structural elements. If fixation was carried out with screws, they should simply be unscrewed with a conventional screwdriver or a special power tool. And then sequentially separate the boards from each other.

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

The floorboard is carefully lifted by 2-3 cm. It is undesirable to lift the boards by more than 3 cm, and sharp jerks should also be avoided.
Using a hammer, the board is tapped into place so that the nail head remains raised. To do this, you can put a small piece of plywood under it. If the work is done correctly, then after returning the board to its place, the nail heads will rise 1-2 cm above it. Just as in the case of removing the plinth, a small bar must be placed under the nail puller. This is necessary in order to protect the surface of the coating.
After all the nails are lifted, and the board is returned to its place, it is necessary to carefully insert a chisel into the gap between the floorboards, gradually expanding the gap. Thus, there is a separation of the spike of the removed board from the groove of the adjacent one. After that, the first floorboard can be removed.
Next, you should consistently repeat all the steps, gradually separating each board and dismantling 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 floorboard being removed and the groove of the board adjacent to it. Therefore, separating one element of a wooden floor from another, you should work very carefully.

If it is 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 creak 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. Laying damaged floorboards will need to be done as tightly as possible.

The dismantling of the wooden floor on the logs is carried out in a similar 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 with a sledgehammer.

How to remove a wooden floor - look at the video:

One of essential conditions successful repair work, in particular the replacement of flooring, is the preparation of surfaces. Whatever the finish coating, you need to understand that it is necessary to lay it on the most even and durable surface. Installation of a new coating on top of the old one is unacceptable, as this will reduce its strength, aesthetic and other performance characteristics, which means you need to know how to clean the old floor, and not only know, but also do it right.

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

Work rules

The work of dismantling the old floor covering will differ to some extent depending on the type of this very covering. Therefore, the description of these works for a better understanding of the issue, it is better to divide 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, so before starting them, you need to prepare the means personal protection. You will need goggles or a mask, gloves, a respirator, and trash and dust bags. In addition, it will not be possible to do without auxiliary tools such as a nail puller, a puncher, a screwdriver and a hammer. Then furniture must be removed from the room. After the preparation is completed, you can proceed to the work itself.

If used as flooring roll materials, such as linoleum, carpet and the like, then work should begin with the removal of skirting boards. This structural element must be removed around the perimeter of the room. It should be noted that it often happens that the nails with which the plinth is attached rust and their dismantling becomes possible only when the plinth itself is completely destroyed. In this case, the remaining nails must be cut off with a chisel. After removing the baseboard, the coating simply comes off the surface, while 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, then the floor should be dismantled depending on which type of installation was chosen. If the coating was installed in a floating way, then first, as in the previous case, the plinth 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 adhesive method, things are a bit more complicated. In this case, after removing the plinth, it is necessary to beat each element separately with a puncher. To do this, you need to install a special nozzle on the puncher. If there is no puncher, then you can do the work with the help of a crowbar, prying the element from below and tearing it off.

If a wooden floor on logs was installed in the room, then such a coating is removed quite simply. If the boards were attached to the lags 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 at the place of fasteners are hooked 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 an electric jigsaw, the boards are sawn across and simply torn off. Logs are also dismantled depending on the method of fastening. If attached anchor bolts, then they are twisted. Or you can just beat the lags off the base with a sledgehammer.

When we are talking about the dismantling of a tiled floor, for example, a tiled one, you should know that the work ahead is dusty and quite labor-intensive. The tile is removed using a perforator with a nozzle or a hammer and a chisel. It is important to note that the main difficulty in this type of work is the removal of adhesive residue and leveling the base. For these purposes, you can use the same punch.

It may also happen that top coat a plywood leveling base can be placed. Sheets of this material must also be removed, as a new coating laid on top of the old base may begin to creak after a while. If the plywood is screwed 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 perforator. At the same time, it must be remembered that it must be located under acute angle to the surface.

The work on dismantling the old flooring is not too complicated from the technological point of view, and it does not matter whether we are talking about removing wooden floors or dismantling the floor from tiles. It just 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 completion of work related to their renewal.

Today we will try to tell you about how to clean the old floor without resorting to help. outside specialists, significantly saving at the same time on repair work.

It is known that the floors modern apartments most often arranged as follows:

Pure concrete bases with laid on them synthetic coatings from carpet, laminate or linoleum known to all of us;

Wooden floors made from individual boards or from type-setting parquet;

The floors are tiled.

Preparatory activities

Note! Before you start dismantling the floor, you should prepare the most essential tool, the choice of which is determined by the type of flooring. But in any case, you need special means protection of the body and respiratory organs, mandatory when carrying out work of this class (respirator, cotton gloves and headgear).

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

Ordinary nail puller;

Mounting hammer or sledgehammer;

Screwdriver, pliers and pincers;

Electric jigsaw or saw for cutting long boards.

Note that to disassemble the floor from tiles (porcelain stoneware), you will additionally need to prepare a chisel and a puncher. Floor coverings laid using carpet, as well as from laminate or linoleum, are much easier to dismantle, especially if they are simply laid on a concrete base (without glue).

Removing baseboards

It is customary to begin dismantling the flooring with the removal of skirting boards, which can be plastic (with a cable channel built into them) 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 with a nail puller, and dismantling should begin from the corner of the room.

In the event that the plinth is thoroughly painted over with several layers of paint, you first need to find a place where it can be easily “pryed off” with a flat screwdriver, after which you can use a nail puller. In order to avoid damage to the wall decorative coating 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 things will go much faster. To facilitate this operation, you should free the gap between the floor and the wall and pry the edge board in this place with a nail puller.

All other floor boards are removed quite easily and can be dismantled with a hammer or a large flat screwdriver. To remove nails driven into the boards, you can use previously prepared tongs.

Note! In the presence of circular saw all operations for the dismantling of wooden floors are noticeably simplified. With its help, it will be possible to cut individual "floorboards" into smaller parts, 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 will need a screwdriver that allows you to quickly remove the fasteners.

How to remove concrete screed

For removing concrete screed you will need to remove it first decorative coating used for flooring. And only after that you can proceed to its dismantling, which is usually done by impact. For these purposes, you may need the following tool:

Classic jackhammer;

Perforator with a special nozzle;

Sledgehammer, chisel or scrap metal.

Note that the use of a special impact power tool significantly reduces the dismantling time. concrete foundations in rooms of any category. But during its implementation, 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 made of durable material in which you can take out broken pieces of cement-concrete screed and debris associated with any disassembly.

If you have a plinth:

Wooden painted, nailed to the floor, nail heads 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 spatula 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 fulcrum of the nail puller on the floorboard, there will be a pressure that is 5 times greater than the forces you applied. Simply put, you push a hole in the floorboard. To increase the footprint of the nail puller by floorboard and thereby reduce the pressure, plywood or a thin board (4) is placed under the nail puller at the fulcrum (3):

Figure 1141.1. The 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 nail puller lever is not enough to completely pull out the nail, then a wooden bar is additionally placed on the floorboard at the point of support of the nail puller:

Figure 1141.2. Dismantling the plinth nailed to the floor.

In order not to break the baseboard, start dismantling from the edge. Raise the plinth 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 in that order until you remove the plinth. The farther from the attachment point you drive the nail puller under the baseboard, the more likely it is that the baseboard will break.

If you are going to replace the skirting boards with new ones, or you are unable to pull out the nails 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 out the nails by catching them on the hats with a nail puller. In this case, the fulcrum of the nail puller is on the plinth or on a substituted wooden bar.

Wooden painted, nailed to the floor, nail heads sunk into the wood, puttied (clogged with chopsticks) and painted - 33%

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

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

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

Most likely these are not knots, but wooden plugs, they are usually used for baseboards painted with colorless or tinted varnish. They are quite easy to find by the 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 wood, the surface of the plinth is a longitudinal section of wood. Usually the plugs are drilled or knocked out with a narrow chisel.

Usually skirting boards are fastened after 40-70 cm, extreme fastenings are 10-20 cm from the wall. If you can't find the screw heads, drive the nail puller under the baseboard with a pointed spatula 10-20 cm from the wall and try to shake the baseboard a little. Usually the putty cracks at the attachment points.

Wooden painted, nailed to the wall - 2%

The dismantling technology is the same as in the first case, only the nail puller blade is driven between the baseboard and the wall:

Figure 1141.3. Dismantling the plinth nailed to the cork in the wall.

Wooden painted, screwed to the wall - 1%

Just unscrew the screws with a screwdriver.

Wooden with fine wood veneer finish with a latch in mounting fixtures - 0.5%

There are 2 types of mounting brackets for skirting boards: with mounting the skirting board from above and with snapping the skirting board onto the wall. To dismantle such skirting boards, it is better to use a wide spatula. Try to drive the spatula from below and lift the baseboard, if the baseboard does not rise, try to snap off the baseboard by driving the spatula between the baseboard and the wall.

Plastic (paper from MDF), with a latch in the mounting brackets - 1%

Plastic, if you look closely, then two stripes are visible approximately in the middle - 1%

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

Other options - 1.5%

2. Remove 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 begin with a board that has a groove for the 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, simply 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 the 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, put the board in place, while the plywood should not overlap the nail head . If you did everything right, then after you put 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 a thin board in the place where the nail puller is supported on the floorboard and pull out the nail(s):

Figure 1141.4. Dismantling the first floorboard.

Repeat the manipulations at the points of attachment of the floorboard to the rest of the lags. 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 you to use it later removed boards for new flooring. 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 to be removed is pulled out of the groove of the second, still nailed board. Although it is usually possible to push the first board out of the groove of the second board even with your hands. After the spike is pulled out of the groove, the first board can be removed. The rest of the boards are torn off more easily, since it is more convenient to insert a nail puller. The algorithm of actions 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 it is that the spike or the top of the groove on the board will crack. However, 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 it happened to me too, one or two boards per room, in my opinion, is quite an acceptable result), I treat this with understanding. If a spike cracked, there is nothing fatal about it, spikes and grooves in the floorboard are needed not so much to join the boards at the same level, but for more uniform distribution concentrated load acting on the board. Therefore, the worst thing that can happen in the absence of one or two spikes is the creaking of the boards, and if the distance between the lags is relatively small, then there will be no creaking. Calculation details wooden planks you can see the deflection. The same can be said about the breakage of the lower part of the groove. If the upper part of the groove cracked or broke 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 nail puller, or there is almost none at all, try knocking down the plaster in the place where the log adjoins the wall.

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

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

Make a cut along the length of the board. Using a circular saw, cut along 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 board that is located in length along one of outside parties gender. Dismantling the first board in such a place will make it easier to remove the rest of the boards in the room.
You can also use a pry bar to pry the first few boards off one of the outer sides of the floor. This is the easiest option if you have a clean edged boards and there is at least one open edge.

Break the floorboard. Insert the flat part of the pry bar into the cut and pry both halves of the board. After removing the floorboard, remove it from under your feet.

by the most in a simple way will wedge the 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 end of the long handle. The leverage force should be sufficient to lift the board, but it usually takes several tries as the board is held in place by several nails and staples.
If your pry bar is too big and you can't use it right now, you can use a wide chisel. Dismantling the first board is carried out in the same way as mounting.

You can cut the rest of the boards. If you don't need to keep the shape of the floorboards, it's easiest to saw each board before removing it.

Use a circular saw to make cross cuts across the rows of floorboards. Each cut should divide the boards into sections 30-60 cm long. The cuts should be perpendicular to the direction of laying the floorboards.
To maintain the existing length of the floorboards, you can dismantle the boards 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 each board or each sawn section individually. Completely dismantle one board before moving on to the next.

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

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

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

Move along the length of each board. With one edge of the board lifted, move the pry bar along the length of the floorboards, moving on to the next nails. Raise the board in these places in exactly the same way as before.

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