Put an old plastic spatula under the head of the hammer when trying to remove a nail. It protects the wood and is easy to find in your toolbox.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My bedroom windowsills have had nails driven into them, too flush with the wood to remove them with the hammer head thingy. It looks like the previous owners might have nailed heavy plastic on the inside windows, with remnants of plastic left around some of the nails.
I've tried pulling on 1 with pliers, but only managed to bend the nail head. I'm redoing my room. Please help me remove them.
By Nica from Big Bend, WV
A flat pry bar (not crowbar) will ease out embedded nails also a tool that about the size of a pair of pliers that is several tools in one. The end of the tool can raise a nail above surface for prying out and also pulling the top of nail with a needle nose pliers upward and then use your hammer to pull out the rest of the way.
Another trick is to utilize a small vise grip to grab the nail (if there is enough to grab on to) and then pry the nail out. Use a small block of would beside the vise grip and a thick neck screw driver (or pry bar) to lift under the edge of the vise grips. The wood will help you have leverage. If you don't have wood to use you can use the handle of the hammer.
I suggest to cover them with another window sill, would be faster & easy, good luck.
I would probably use a nail set to drive the nail a little deeper into the wood. Use a little wood putty to fill the hole, let it dry, smooth with a little sandpaper and paint over it! If the wood is stained or varnished instead of painted you'd need to find some matching color wood putty to fill the little holes.
Folks! There's a new way, the new Nail Jack and Nail Hunter. They have a pliers like design and you can grab and pull nails at or below the surface. You can even tap these tool's heads to get below the surface, but usually don't need to.
Thanks, everyone. My former owners here seem to have nails & just plain holes throughout all the woodwork. Seriously!
You can also use a flat head screw driver to help loosen. Just try to get the head of the screwdriver between the nail and the wood and gently hammer the butt of the screwdriver at an angle where the nail head is going out.
Thanks again to everyone! Once I had a better picture of what I needed to do, I found the right tools among what I already had, & finally removed them all w/o too much trouble.
I drove a nail into a 2x4 on my picnic table top, but because the 2x4 was crooked it won't go in all the way. Even when I tried to sink it deeper it didn't work. So I have to pull it out to drive a deck screw.
By Rosario
