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Should loose underlayment nails be driven in or removed?

Home Improvement Asked on May 5, 2021

When installing vinyl sheet you should not allow nails etc to be sticking out because these will show in the floor.

When taking up the old floor you will often find nails are sticking out. How did this happen and if one was to hammer them in, wouldn’t they come back out with time, in which case, isn’t it better to remove and fill them up?

3 Answers

Depends how thin the vinyl is. They probably are proud due to wood shrinkage over time/humidity etc. Removing them may not even be followed by filling holes - depends how wide they are. Nails used for floorboarding are usually lost head, so hammering them level would be all that's needed.

If you wanted, you could remove the proud ones and fill, or drift them just below surface and fill, but with decent thickness vinyl there should be no need.

Answered by Tim on May 5, 2021

If they worked their way out now (due to shrinkage in lumber, nails too short, deflection of joists, etc.) they could work their way out again.

I’d remove them, fill in the holes and re-nail or screw the underlayment down.

Answered by Lee Sam on May 5, 2021

Are they ring shank nails? If so you should be ok hitting them back in. If not, I would remove and use deck screws to fasten the subfloor back down.

Answered by Hank's Dad on May 5, 2021

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