This is the first of two posts on working with salvage lumber.
Work Table
De-nailing boards can be boring and tedious if the work area
is not efficient, particularly when the volume of de-nailing is great. Most of my salvaged lumber came from tearing down three
old houses, two garages and several farm
outbuildings. The amount of de-nailing
was substantial and seemed daunting at first but, once I got set up with an
efficient work area, turned the radio on to PBS and settled into a routine, I
rather enjoyed it.
The shanty for the work bench, provided mid-day shade and support for the work table. The latter had several two-by-
four arms extending outward from under the table as well as several blocks on top of
the table (click on photo for closer look at the work table arrangement). It also had a trough at the back of the work surface into which the
nails could be tossed. Because the boards
usually had nails protruding from more than one side or edge, the table
top was seldom useful. However, the naily boards could be suspended between the 2x arms or between the blocks on top of the table and de-nailed without the boards wobbling around. The working height of the table was lower than
might be expected in order to gain plenty of leverage with less effort.
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| Shanty-covered work area constructed from salvage |
Tools
Four tools were most effective for pulling nails -- a claw
hammer, a flat
tool, a wrecking bar
and an end cutter long enough to have leverage but no so long
as to be unwieldy with one hand. A short
piece of 2 x 4 for a pivot under the claw hammer or end cutter, and sometimes
the wrecking bar, was necessary for pulling long nails. A circular saw was also mandatory.
De-nail or Cut-off?
During deconstruction, when a wall could be laid down for dismantlng, the top and bottom plates could be driven off of the studs
with a sledge hammer without damaging the ends of the studs. However, when walls were dismantled
while still standing, the more usual case, the
studs had to be driven sideways off of the plates which invariably
damaged the ends of the studs. Rather
than wasting time removing the nails from the damaged ends, it made sense
simply to cut off the studs, nails and all, with a circular saw. Such was necessary more often than not when
the stud was toenailed with four nails even when the wall was laid down for
dismantling. Unfortunately, the shorter boards are not suitable for reuse in a typical 8' wall without being spliced.
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| A naily stud suspended on 2 x 4 arms; notice the toenailing |
The lumber brought in from the tear-downs was piled
randomly in the open for several months without deterioration even in our hot, humid summers. The randomness and the protruding nails
provided plenty of air space between boards to keep them air-dried. After de-nailing however, the need for proper stacking became critical, which is covered in the next post on salvaged lumber.
