Essential Methods for Removing a Nail Without a Hammer

If you’re someone who works with wood, it’s pretty unusual to find yourself without a hammer. It can happen, though, and when it does, you’re missing what is probably the most important tool for nail extraction, especially if you have a Japanese hammer like mine that has a claw that can double as a cat’s paw. What’s a cat’s paw, you ask? It’s a pry bar with points that will sink into the wood and grip a nail head when you hit it with a hammer.

Next to a hammer, a cat’s paw is one of the most useful tools for nail extraction, along with a flat bar, a chisel or screwdriver, and a set of sturdy pliers. With these tools — minus the hammer — and a few techniques suggested by our panel of experts, you should be able to extract all but the most stubborn nails. This post offers a solution for those, too.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Whether you use a pry bar or a pair of pliers to extract a nail, our experts were unanimous that the number-one mistake people make is to try to pull it straight out. “That only damages the wood,” advises Rich Lauer, who runs a company that sells portable buildings. “Rather, people should gradually rock the nail back and forth with small movements so the nail breaks the grip of the wood fibers, making it come out much smoother.”

Another common mistake is failing to protect the wood around a nail when you use a prying tool. According to Manny Kavouklis, who runs a Florida remodeling company: “Both cat’s paw pullers and flat bars should always be placed on a piece of scrap wood before levering against the final work surface. Neglecting to buffer your tool can damage hardwood flooring, trim work, or wood cabinetry and necessitate costly repairs.”

Standard/Locking Pliers (Vise-Grips)

If the nail head is sitting proud (a little above the surface), you may be able to grip it with pliers, or even better, locking pliers (commonly known by the brand name Vise-Grips). “I’ll tightly grip the nail with locking pliers and roll the pliers over a wood block to get leverage,” says Lauer. Using a rocking motion, you can usually extract the nail little by little, repositioning the pliers lower on the shank for better leverage as it rises.

You can do the same thing with standard or adjustable pliers, but you have to grip them tightly to keep them closed, and that can take a lot of extra effort.

Flathead Screwdriver

A flathead screwdriver doesn’t seem like it will be much help when extracting a nail if you don’t have a hammer to pound it under the head, but there is a way it can be useful. If you can work it behind the wood the nail is holding, you can use it to pry the wood outward, and then release it. This usually raises the nail head just enough to grip it with pliers or a pry bar. I often use this technique to remove nails from trim and baseboards.

Pry Bar

You can use either a cat’s paw or a flat bar to extract a nail, but if the head is completely sunk, you normally need a hammer to drive the bar underneath the head. One way around this is to chip wood away from around the head with a chisel. This defaces the wood, but it might not matter if the wood is purely structural. For cosmetic wood like trim, you can always use the bar like a screwdriver to pry out the wood and raise the nail head far enough to grip it with the bar.

When I have the piece of wood in hand, and I can see the nail protruding from the other end, I often bang the nail against a hard surface that I can’t damage, like concrete or steel, to raise the head far enough to grip it with a pry bar.

Non-Traditional Tools

If the head or shaft are proud, you may be able to extract a nail with a drill, as suggested by roofer Nick Riley. “Tighten the chuck directly around the exposed nail head or shaft, then slowly reverse the drill while pulling outward.” He also has this idea: “Cut a narrow slot into the exposed end with a rotary tool, then use a flathead screwdriver to twist and work the nail loose.”

Another non-traditional way to loosen a nail that’s stuck by rust or glue is to heat it with a torch. This will hopefully expand the metal and break the bonds to make the nail easier to pull with pliers. Finally, if you can’t extract a nail that’s holding two pieces of wood together, you may be able work a reciprocating saw blade between the pieces of wood (using a flat bar to separate them), and cut it. This is a technique I commonly use in demolition projects.

Tips to Avoid Damaging Wood

• Always place a piece of scrap wood underneath nest to the nail before pulling it with a pry bar or pliers. This is the best way to avoid gouging and denting the wood.
• Use a rocking motion when pulling nails with pliers. “Rocking back and forth loosens the nail slightly with each movement,” says Kavouklis. “Pulling directly out tears the wood fibers around the nail.”

An exception to both these tips is when you’re pulling barbed flooring cleats. You should use pliers, because it’s easy to damage the fragile tongues and grooves with a pry bar, and keep the rocking motion to a minimum. Cleats break easily, and if you break one, it’s pretty much there for good.

FAQ

How do you remove a nail with no head?

Several techniques described here will work with nails with no heads, although the one recommended by most of our experts — tapping the nail through with a nail punch and pulling it from the other side — won’t work if you don’t have a hammer. You can grip the shank with pliers or a pry bar, you can pry the wood apart or you can follow Riley’s advice and use a drill.

What safety precautions should you take when removing nails?

Our experts agree that you need eye protection. “Nails can snap or send small metal fragments flying,” warns Lauer. Gloves are also a good idea. In addition, Riley recommends a good source of lighting and, when working with old, painted wood that could contain lead, a mask.

About the Experts

• Rich Lauer runs Premier Building Solutions, which sells portable buildings and makes metal roofing and siding panels.
• Manny Kavouklis is President of CMK Construction Inc., a Tampa Bay-based home remodeling company he founded with his wife Courtney in 2004.
• Nicholas Riley is the owner of Driftwood Builders Roofing, a locally owned Austin roofing and exterior remodeling company that has served Central Texas homeowners for more than 20 years.

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