Lucky you! They are steel cut nails. This floor will be relatively easy to get up. Use utility pry bars, sometimes called 'wonder bars'...to get under the flooring and work it free from the subfloor. Once you get the hang of it, you will have little problem loosening the stuff. You can construct large wedges from 2 X 4 stock to drive between the flooring and subfloor to help initially lift the flooring from the subfloor, but you can do it all with wonder bars. You want to lift from the tongue and pull the stuff towards you. The nails will slip out of the pocket it created in the subfloor when it was driven in. Your floor was topnailed through only the first few boards at the wall edge. You will find that the rest are nailed through the tongue at the correct angle. You will split or destroy a few tongues in the process, but don't worry about that. Solid wood flooring with less than perfect tongues is still almost totally installable, but figure about 5% waste when you reinstall. You will have to cut off damaged ends here and there, but most of it will be in good shape. You can purchase an EZ groove router bit (about $30) at a floor materials supply outfit to restore the groove in board ends where you've cut it off, but it is not necessary. You may be able to get the whole thing up and out in a day or two. If you want advice about reinstallation or refinishing, search these archives or post back your questions. Best of luck.

Hey Polka! I have been so very blessed with all my contractors, they have come highly recommended and have all been hard workers and so considerate...when I see what others are being charged I get very thankful very quick! I bought the #1 common white oak for $2 per sq. foot (3.25 inch wide) and paid $1.50 per sq. ft to have it laid (they did an amazing job cutting in my flushmount registers and doorways...I would have no problem paying this great floor refinisher to do it all for $2.50 per sq. foot if I knew our home had sold...we're carrying 2 mortgage payments so if I can save the $1500 to do these steps, it will save my poor husband from having to work overtime to pay for it (I mean double overtime, he's already working overtime!) I guess with seeing him work so hard I'm trying to do everything I can to reduce the burden. Plus, we homeschool our kids and I think the hard labor is a good lesson...one it teaches them how hard it is to earn a dollar and makes them appreciate how hard manual labor is and respect those who do it with talent and care. Now, they're not doing too much labor but they do help me paint and enjoy pulling out carpet tacks! :) I'll post the pictures as we get them! Here's a shot of the main living space..we openend up the wall there and it makes it very homey! :)

Now you got me started. I was going to comment that the molding and the floors look wonderful and should stay the colors they are. In many older houses with stained ww, the floor is lighter, giving some interest to the room. Then you got me started on base shoe, my FAVORITE topic. IMHO, you must put the base shoe up. It's the finishing touch on fine woodwork. I've always wondered why it is called base shoe and finally determined that it's like putting on your best clothing and then going barefoot. It just looks unfinished. My former house had all natural molding, what I wouldn't give to have it now. I love my house, but the white moldings can go...and the upkeep. My guess is if you're using the original baseshoe and it's held up all these years, it'll will hold up for many more. New stuff, unless you buy oak, not so much. Have fun. The house is beautiful.

OK, I'll admit to a bias here, but ever since I got into woodworking and found about the various types of woods and so forth, along with stains, I have been adamantly opposed to staining wood. Birch stained to look like walnutÂto use just one exampleÂdoes NOT look like walnut. The actual walnut has a much richer color. Stained wood looks like stained wood, i.e. cheap. Cherry should be left natural, but it rarely is. The reason is that manufacturers are not willing to take the time to explain to the public that this is a wood that naturally darkens over the years and takes on a marvelous patina. What that means, though, is that the cherry you buy today will not match the cherry you bought several years ago. To get around that, many manufacturers of furniture and cabinets simply stain it so it all looks the same. So, you have a uniform product that has been striped of all that makes it unique, because cherry, if you simply leave it alone, has a wonderful hue. In your circumstance, I would not stain the fir door. I would leave it natural. In our home we now have walnut, maple, birch, Douglas Fir, and mahogany. And I have designs on some nice cherry for kitchen cabinets, which I will leave natural. That may sound like a hodgepodge, but what it really is, is a smorgasbord of woods that bring a wonderful look to our home. And natural finished woods will enhance your home as well. Here is a link that might be useful: Cabinet & Furniture Trends & Information