I have a 150 year old schoolhouse with maple floors. The nails are impossible to countersink and I want to refinish the floor. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Only 23 degrees below zero C today!

Franklyn writes:

Dang! You sure the nails aren't just frozen? I haven't seen 23 degrees below zero since I left upstate New York.

I have two suggestions. Very often when I get really old floors with cut nails that refuse to move I use a 1/4" by 18 inch long nail set and a sledge hammer to convince them.

I guessing you have already tried that so another option you might try is drilling the nails out with an electric drill. It will be hard to keep the bit on ****** so what I would do is drill thru a 2 foot 2x4 in the center. Put the drill thru the 2x4 and align it with the nail. Lower the 2x4 to the floor and stand on both sides of the two by and drill away. I'm guessing that you are dealing with cut nails so be patient as it might be some tough drilling.

Franklyn
http://woodfloorist.com/1/repairs.html
BTW this is an old schoolhouse with a maple floor too.

Franklyn,
http://woodfloorist.com/1/borders.html