Decks and Railings: Replace popped nails

Replace Loose, Popped Nails
Decking swells and shrinks as it goes through repeated cycles of wet and dry seasons. This frequently causes nails to loosen and pop up above the deck boards. You can drive them down again, but chances are that's only a short-term solution. They'll probably pop up again after a few years. The long-term solution is to remove the popped nails and replace them with deck screws.

The trick is to pull the old nails without marring the decking. Always use a block under your prying tool (Photos 1 and 2). And work on tough-to-get-out nails using several steps.

1. Grab slightly protruding nails directly under the head with a diagonal cutter. Roll the cutter back onto thin blocking to pry the nail up slightly. A diagonal cutter works well for nails that only protrude slightly. The slim jaws can slip under the head. You'll only raise the nail a slight amount, so you may have to repeat this process two or three times.