How to Remove Threshold Before Installing Floor

This is a neat little trick that can save heartache.  How do you remove a threshold when you want to install flooring?  More importantly, you may wonder why you need to remove the threshold prior to floor installation…

The fact is, you do need to remove that threshold; there is no way to get around it. Even if you are not installing flooring, there may be times when you just want to remove the threshold so that you can put in a new one.  Thresholds get a lot of traffic and thus they get damaged.  Thresholds that no longer do their job are not effective.

The reason thresholds are terrible to remove is because the ends are trapped under the door casing.  One way to remove the threshold is (obviously) to knock out the door casing.  Good luck there.  That opens up a host of other problems.

Cut Threshold to Remove It

So, what you need to do is cut the threshold into two or more pieces with a miter saw.  This allows you to use a prybar to pry up an edge of the now-cut threshold.  Keep in mind that you’ll still have the end trapped under the casing, so you need to wiggle it to remove it.

What if there is a nail directly under the door casing?  I would recommend cutting the threshold once again, as near to the bottom of the door casing as you can get.