How to remove the plinth from the floor

Virtually every repair of an apartment or private house begins with dismantling. When it comes to the floor, then for its dismantling it is first necessary to remove the plinth. They can be torn out so that nothing remains to be done, how to throw them in the trash. However, if you plan to use them, then it is important to know how to remove the baseboard from the floor carefully. In this article we will consider the subtleties of dismantling wooden and plastic plinth.

Wooden old plinth

Old skirting, made of wood can be dismantled by several methods. The choice will largely depend on how it was installed. For example, if it is painted with paint and nailed to the floor, nail heads can be identified by the existing pits. Also, nail heads can peek over the baseboard. In the latter case, finding the nails is easiest.

Work will be very simple. Take the crowbar and pushes the side with the pointed blade under the plinth, preferably in the place where the nail is clogged. After it remains to pull the crowbar over.

Considering the force with which you will press on the crowbar, it is very easy to push a hole in the floor. For this reason, be sure to place a thin piece of plywood under its base.

Especially great efforts will be required in cases where the nail is too rusted. In this case, you will not spoil the floor and gently dismantle the baseboard, for more details look at the diagram:

It is not necessary to hammer the crowbar under the baseboard, where there is no nail and pull it over. This may cause the baseboard to break.

In the event that the lug lever was not enough to remove the nail, then put a wooden bar under the crowbar, up to 60 mm thick:

You should not immediately try to disrupt the entire baseboard in one go. Begin dismantling it from the corner. Tear the plinth 10–30 mm from the floor. You make such an effort on every nail from beginning to end. When all the nails you have torn off, repeat the process again, until the plinth is completely removed.

If the wooden plinth is recyclable, you can use another method. To do this, cut out a chisel with a chisel near the nail and remove it with a nail puller. How to be if the nail cap comes off? Then use the method described above: drive a bow under the plinth and tear it off. When it is completely dismantled, nails without caps can be pulled out of the board with pliers.

What if there are no nails at all? In such a situation, drive the cap under the baseboard and slightly lift it up. After hammer back the plinth, after which the nail heads should appear. If the caps were puttied, then the putty will disappear. If you pull in the place where there is no nail, then the baseboard in this place just rises. You can move the pry bar to the side and continue

But not in all cases the plinth is fastened with nails. Often it is fixed with screws to the wall or floor. Therefore, it is extremely important to find all the caps of the screws. They can be closed with plugs or be drowned in the plinth. After their detection, take a screwdriver or a screwdriver with a reverse and unscrew them. Work does not take you much time.

Often there are such cases that neither nails nor self-tapping screws are visible on the surface of the plinth. The only thing that can be seen, so these are small rounders by the form of knots, located at an equal distance from each other.

This may mean that for fixing the baseboards used wooden chopik, which represent these roundels. To carry out the dismantling of such plinth also does not amount to special difficulties. These chopik can be drilled or gouged with a narrow chisel. In almost all cases, this method of attachment is performed on the wall.

In rare cases, there may be a nail under the chopik. Therefore, once again have to take a crowbar.

MDF plinth

The plinth, made of pressed paper, is fixed with the help of special mounting fasteners or latches. If attachments are used, the plinth is worn on top of them. As for the latches, the special elements are screwed to the wall, and then the baseboard snaps on them.

For their dismantling, you can do with one wide trowel. You drive it under the bottom and try to slightly raise it. If the plinth remains in place, it means that latches were used as fasteners. In this case, put a spatula on top of the wall and gently pull it towards you. With such manipulations, the baseboard should move away.

Plastic

With plastic plinths, the situation is different. In most cases, they are fastened to the wall with a dowel / screw. Some plinths have special channels for wiring. These channels are closed by a special strip. It is necessary to remove and unscrew the screws. In almost all cases, such plinths are attached to the wall.

But not always their installation is performed using dowels. In some cases, for example, when utilities pass through the wall, the baseboards are fixed to glue. Here also carry out dismantling work is not difficult. You can use a wide spatula that you drive in from above. And after that, with a careful movement towards you, you tear the plastic baseboard off the wall.

So, we looked at the basic methods of dismantling the baseboard. If you know other details of this work, be sure to write about it in the comments to this article.

Video

In the provided video, clearly shows how to dismantle the baseboard from the floor: