How to Remove Flooring, Steps and Trim

Remove trim before flooring so that baseboards won't interfere with lifting the ends of finish flooring. Cut the paint and putty joint between the top of the baseboards and the face of the wall using a sharp utility knife. Slide the end of a wide putty knife into the gap between the baseboard and the wall to create a prying surface for a pry bar. Put the end of the pry bar behind the baseboard so that the angle of the pry bar presses against the face of the putty knife. This keeps it from denting the wall. Pry the baseboard off the wall by working your way down the length of the baseboard with the pry bar and putty knife.

Examine the finish flooring -- if you have access to it -- to see which side the tongues are on. Start at the side of the room that the tongues are pointing toward. Pry the flooring board up off the floor with a crowbar just enough to loosen the nails that are holding it, then tap the board back down. The nails will stay up and you can pull them out with a pry bar, crowbar or hammer. After you have pulled all the nails out of the tongue, you will be able to pull the board out because its other side won't be nailed; it's held down by the tongue of the next board. Continue pulling boards like this all the way across the room.

Remove a step by tapping upward on the underside of the overhang with a hammer. If the step is inset into the side stringers, you may have to disassemble the stairway to remove the step in one piece. If the step is sitting on top of the stringers, you should be able to remove it by knocking it upward, then prying it off the underside of the riser behind it.