Hi people,
Have been following the related thread with great interest as I’m about to re-finish an old wood floor by what I now call ‘The Frenchey Polish Method”,but before I can do that,another job must be done.
Yep,you guessed it!
The previous owners had carpet throughout but with a rubber/fabric underlay which was stapled in place.Having pulled up the underlay,there looks like a million staples that now must be removed.Judging by my success rate [not!] so far of removing them,I reckon about 30% of the staples have left their ‘side arms’ in the floor.
I figure that there is nothing that can be done about those,just progressively sand the foor and “French” it.
My method of removal is to use an old screwdriver,ground almost flat,and of a size that allows it to slide up to its shoulders between the floor and staple,then gently lift one side then the other in small amounts to try to ease the staple out evenly.
Originally I had felt it a waste of everyone’s good reading time to ask for your ideas,but as time has gone by,and having read so much good stuff here,I just had to do it!
Any of you caught in this particular trap?
Regards from “Down Under”
Robin
I had felt it
Replies
Have you tried a regular office staple remover or pliers? Might save some time and tedium.
If the underlay left lots of little chunks in the staples...the screwdriver may be it.
Loosen with tool of choice, then pull with pliers.
Larryb
I got a pair of needle-nosed pliers that are bent almost 90 degrees that have a spring to help them open. (Got them at local hardware store.) Grab the staple, rock the pliers to pull the staple and let it open. Constantly having to grip and open regular pliers will seem like a lot of work after a short while!
Edited 11/15/2008 9:37 am ET by Danno
I'm sorry, everybody else has given poor advice thus far. The tool of choice is a small pair of diagonal wire cutters.. they come to a sharp point so it's relatively easy to get the tip underneath and then you simply squeeze and lever them out.. I use snap on's but then I'm a tool adict. Go to your local radio shack and find the smallest pair you can..
Tedious but it works well.
Fence Pliers work great, they have a pointed end, flat end and a curved top to rock the staple out., nice long handle for good leverage.
Put a drywall knife under the head when rocking it out to protect the wood from the indent...if you care
I'm sorry, everybody else has given poor advice thus far.
Lol. Very nice.
Apologies for misspelling your name in my post! The [your] method of floor finishing has been discussed at length at our friday night meetings [informal] at the Office [pub] on a couple of occaisions now, and the upshot of it all is that everyone wants to see this floor finished immediately!
They are not so enthusiastic about offering help with the staple removing,however.
I will try your suggestion of small sidecutters,they being about the only tool untried as yet.In anycase,another tool in the box is always a welcome addition :) Not quite with your 'snap-ons',though.
But yes,the tedium I DO get.
R
I have had good success with Vise Grips.