Old Floor Boards

Just a few questions from a newbie to all the old hands.

I have just ripped up the old carpet from my Queenslander to expose the 138mm pine boards, and not sure of a few things brfore sanding.

1. Nails: when replacing old loose nail whats the easiest way of getting the old ones out when the heads arent exposed. :confused: What sort should be put back in?

2. There are a few gaps between boards, I have been told to seal them with sixaflex black. Is this the best?

3. Replacing bad boards: I have read a few books sounds pretty easy. Any suggestions.

Cheers :)

In reply.... 1/ you will have a hard time removing the old nails. Dont bother with them, best thing to do is to punch them down. they should be still in good order. Punching down the floor reseats the boards to the joist and tightens it all up again, do this proceedure to every nail.
2/ unless you want a black striped floor then dont use the black sealant to remove the gaps. either get a colour matched flexable sealant or as i have heard one contractor do is to trowel in a resin based filler colour matched to the timber. The resin based filler goes harder than conventionial filler and lasts longer. Or simply dont fill at all. A lot of contractors wont fill a floor because of expansion and contraction in the floor over different seasons of the year, the filler loosens and is easlly removed when it is vacummed.
3/ Sourse old boards from a recycle yard . they will match better when the job is all and done. Their is a brilliant example of board replacement explaned by dusty. check out one of his latest posts and you will see what i mean.
Cheers and have fun

As Larry says I would not remove old nails.If you need to use new ones I would buy the special spiral type which seem to hold better.
Again, I would not use filler between gaps but if they let in air from sub floor either attach a piece of wood to underneath of board or cut a fine piece from an old matching board if you can source one.Can be Hard to acheive a good look with this.
Dusty sent me a good reply a few weeks ago on board replacement.Having almost completed the job now, the only comment I would make is that a Feintool is very helpful in making the cross cut and gives great accuracy and unlike a circular saw will enable you to cut right up to neighbouring boards.Much easier than using a jigsaw and better finish.