Removing Luan Board

Put on safety goggles, heavy work gloves, knee pads and a dust mask.

Remove shoe, base and door moldings from the room carefully with a flat pry bar. Set the moldings aside for future installation.

Examine the lauan panels to determine the type of fasteners that hold them to the subfloor. Typically, installers use screws, nails or staples to secure lauan panels to subflooring. The method used to remove the lauan panels depends on the type of fasteners.

Remove screws from lauan underlayment by backing them out with a power drill or power screwdriver. Insert a flat pry bar under the lauan, lift a section and remove that section. Continue to lift and remove underlayment panels in that way until no lauan remains.

If nails or staples hold the lauan to the subfloor, then, beginning in a doorway or near a heating vent, position a flat crowbar under the lauan, and pry a section of lauan off the subfloor. Place a floor scraper on top of the subfloor in the section from which the lauan is free of the floor, push the floor scraper forcefully under the lauan and lift to pry it off the subfloor. Continue prying the underlayment until no lauan remains on the subfloor.

Align the V end of a cat's paw with a nail head that remains in the subfloor, and strike the opposite end of the tool with a hammer to wedge it under the nail head. Press down on the shank to pop the nail out of the subflooring. Remove all remaining nail heads using that technique.

If staples held the lauan to the subfloor, pry the remaining staples out of the subfloor with a flat-blade screwdriver, grip the staples with channel lock pliers and pull them out.