How do I remove these masonry nails attached to basement concrete floor? It would be great if the nail can be removed fully since I plan to hang a door over that. Thanks in advance.
Here is the picture of the masonry nail.
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Sign up to join this communityHow do I remove these masonry nails attached to basement concrete floor? It would be great if the nail can be removed fully since I plan to hang a door over that. Thanks in advance.
Here is the picture of the masonry nail.
Loosen it by tapping it lightly to moderately hard, back and forth--side to side, then when it is sufficiently loose pull it out. Tap parallel to the longer dimension of the rectangular cross section.
AFIK this type of nail (cut nail) is a not a hardened steel nail for driving into concrete. It may be hardly into the concrete and you might be able to pull it out without any tapping. Try a pry bar or channel locks without hammering.
If you have an angle grinder and the proper personal protection equipment (PPE) it can be used to grind off the nail level with the concrete surface.
I would prefer this solution because other methods to pry, pull or pound on the nail risk blistering out the adjoining concrete. Now a cracked out pit in the concrete may not be a problem in many cases but may in others. For example if you were putting down a vinyl type floor covering you would have to take on the extra task of filling the small pit.
Have you tried Boot Pinch pliers on the nail? They bite into the shaft of the nail and the fulcrum is the curved surface beside the jaws, so there's a lot of leverage.
As the nail rises, you will want to reposition the bite. Sometimes helps to have a small block of scrap wood to lever off as well.
There is a possibility that a firm squeeze can bite through the shaft of a thin/weak nail - this is easy with panel pins. I can't gauge the quality of the metal in your photo, so it might be soft and cut under the forces. Moderate your grip strength to match.
The other good thing about bootpinch pliers is that if the end is missing, you can still bite into the shaft of the nail. You're not dependent on having a head for a hammer's claw to hook under.
Similarly, a long crowbar might work fine, as long as it can straddle the wide part of the shaft and find purchase under the two lips.