I would use a razor knife to cut the paint seals then pry the wood out carefully. I would not try to drive the nails in the trim back out. I would clip them off on the back side.

I have both sizes of this "Restorer's Cat's Paw" which work pretty well for getting things like trim off with minimal damage. It works better than the typical flat bar pry bar.

Cat's Paw


Lee Valley also has this trim puller, which might have a little more finesse, Trim puller

This is assuming your trim is fastened with finish nails, these pull the wood off the nail, leaving the nail in place in the substrate. Then you use the "paw" end of the cat's paw or similar tool to remove the nail.
I've had mixed results in re-using trim, on my house the original builder also used glue in a lot of places, so the trim can't be removed intact.

Thanks! Looks like a great tool the job.

Anybody, Lee Valley dealer in Europe?


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Lee Valley also has this trim puller, which might have a little more finesse, Trim puller

I'd vote for the Lee Valley item, that looks quite useful. The 2 best features is that it's thin and it's wide.

I've pulled a lot of trim and most of the pullers out there are relatively narrow and have a thick, sharp bevel to the blade. Unfortunately that combination leaves small indents in the top edge of the trim strips. I've resorted to scoring the trim first and then sliding in a couple of wide drywall knives behind the trim and try to leverage the trim from the wall a little bit at a time.

As others have said, don't try to force the nails back through the surface of the trim, pull them through the back or cut them off.

When cutting the nails, I prefer a RA grinder with a .040" thick abrasive disc because you can trim the nail flush with the wood surface. Using nippers will always leave a little nub left hanging out the back.

Estwing makes that same or a very similar tool.
https://www.estwing.com/collections/pry-bars

Once you remove the trim if the nails are finish nails with no head you can pull them out the back side of the trim and do no damage to the face side. Then just fill the nail hole before you paint.

If the trim is installed correctly, the nails will be in solid framing and a total pita to remove. If light prying doesn’t work, rather than risk denting or splintering the wood, I use a good size nail punch and drive the nails through. Then you can fill the holes with epoxy or another good wood filler and avoid catastrophic damage which often happens if you pry on top of or under the wood. If using a pry bar I like to slip a putty knife under where the pry bar makes contact with the wood, then you won’t hurt the woods surface.

"If using a pry bar I like to slip a putty knife under where the pry bar makes contact with the wood, then you won’t hurt the woods surface"

Yes, that's a trick I use too that works very well, forgot to mention it.