I have a plywood exterior board that I wish to remove from the outside.How can I remove the nails?
Answers:
if your trashing the wood then use the cats claw and hit it into the wood to grab the nail head.
Other answers:
drill the nail heads, then just pull the plywood off, then pull the nails
drill the nail heads, then just pull the plywood off, then pull the nails
Use a punch or nail set and drive the nails through. I've done this countless times for various different reasons.
Always use screws on ply!
Drills will not center on the nail head well. But its' worth a try. Use a centering punch first and drill bit slighly larger than the diameter of the nail shaft, not the head.
To pull the entire ply off the wall use a flat crow bar, removing depends on the size of the nail and ply thickness and condition of the plywood, and the hardness of the wood the nails are sunk into behind the ply.
Redwood gives easily, but aged douglas fir holds the nails well and large nails can not be pulled easily by prying the ply board without damaging the ply.
If the heads are at the surface a good cat claw is your best bet of not destroying the ply. A little damage to the wood can be filled later.
If the wood is old pulling the ply off may pull the nails through anyway.
Here's another idea. Use a hand grinder on the nail head.
A cobblers nail puller can get a bite on the head to pull or cut the head, then pry the ply.
Use a ball pin hammer and a large punch, drive the entire head of the nail through the ply. This may be destrucive if the nail head is large, not recommended for large 16d.
I would take a small diameter section of pipe and hold it over the nail head and hit it hard .This should crush the wood fibers around the nail ,thus giving you room to use the cats paw.If you can not find a small piece of pipe you can try a small socket, basically anything with a hollow center and thin edge wall.