As someone who has been hammering nails and pulling out nails for the past 8 weeks, I can assure you that hitting them with the side of the hammer is a very, ve

As someone who has been hammering nails and pulling out nails for the past 8 weeks, I can assure you that hitting them with the side of the hammer is a very, very bad idea. Also, you never find yourself in a situation where you're just pulling out nails. A large number are too difficult to pull out, or will damage the structure you're pulling them from, so you hammer them down.