looking for carpet staple removing tool

[celticshrt]

Not sure I am in the right forum, In the near future I will be pulling up old carpet and pad and having the existing hardwood floors refinished, does anyone know of something that will remove the staples? The last time I did this many years ago in a different house it was time consuming and back breaking on my hands and knees any help would be greatly appreciated. ...

 

[nehog]

I use a pair of diagonal cutters to pull them. But that requires you get on hands and knees and is a bit back breaking!

IOW--I know of no magic way to get them out.

 

[JJThrasher]

Narrow prybar.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[celticshrt]

Thanks for the replies I am going to keep searching for something out there. .. if anyone has a better way please post and if I find something better I will be sure to post it myself

 

[Shawn S]

Make sure it has staples. I assume you are talking about the pad right? Usually the carpet is stretched in. Sometimes they glue the pad instead of staple it.
I try to remove the staples before I pull the pad up. I use a vise grip which allows me to "rock" the pliers to pull the staples. The pad protects the floor. Then I roll the pad up (careful not to stab the loose staples into my hand) and throw it all out.

 

[saba007]

I use one of those big scrapers that one will use to scrape paint off cement. It is a little dull from use, which is good. I place it at an angle and slide it the width of the stapler, it pushes it right out. The last 10 percent or so, I use what nehog uses. Must be a NH thing.

 

[polexican23]

Yup, wire cutter pliers. Only way to get them ALL. Just did it this weekend, 5 rooms of carpent and pad.

Just ignore the Warden when she asks why you are just laying on the ground.

 

[Jim B]

I removed old carpet in preparation for installing new carpet. The intaller told me to use a flat blade shovel and run it over the floor to get most of the staples up. Worked pretty well. You still need to remove a few staples with side cutters though. It's not a fun job and requires a bit of effort.

 

[slickgt1]

I was going to say shovel, especially if the floor will get refinished.

 

[workhurts]

Flat shovel or scraper. I finally decided I just liked popping them out with a large screwdriver and hammer. Did 1,000 sq feet this year and it wasn't horrible. Not fun by any stretch of the imagination and not something I'd want to do in one day since it's boring. Couple of hundred feet a day is about as much as I'd be willing to do.

 

[mtwaterguy]

I usually use my upholstery staple puller.

 

[Zeke]

When using dikes often times you will inadvertently snip the staple. This kind of a tool works well. Put in under the staple and press a gloved finger over the staple as you first lift and then roll it out. If one breaks, grab the dikes.

Get a wide, wide scraper and go over the entire floor. Unreal how many staples you will miss the first and 2nd time through.

 

[srode]

Just got done doing this - we replaced carpet upstairs in the house we just moved into and one room smelled like dog, so we decided to pull up the carpet put Kills down on the subfloor before the new stuff arrived today. A GOOD pair of needle nose worked fine. The staples that hold the pad down aren't that strong or long, and they pull out pretty easily.

 

[jameswood]

Thanks for the replies I am going to keep searching for something out there. .. if anyone has a better way please post and if I find something better I will be sure to post it myself

No easier way except pulling with the hand tools mentioned.
Problem with scraping is that some staple's may break off in wood and since you will be sanding to finish may be an issue.

Def get a pair of knee pads.

 

[pauls_workshop]

For those who have to remove carpet staples from cement floors, like in a carpeted basement, I can tell you, don't try to pry these out like all the above methods for wood floors if you are planning to later epoxy the floor. You end up pulling out big chunks of the concrete that then has to be patched before epoxy. That is really difficult and time consuming to do well. Much better for this type of case to cut/grind off the staple and not pull it out of the cement floor. I learned this one after the fact the hard way! - Paul

 

[Joe B.]

I just did a 2000 sq ft of carpeting. The vast majority of the staples i pulled out where in very tight which is often not the case. The first and most important thing is to try to pull them up with the pad. For me what worked best was running a paint scraper underneath the pad and giving it a little twist to help the staples pop out with when I pulled up the pad. This is a lot less work than trying to remove them before or after and it is less messy because the stay stuck in the carpet instead of your shoes. Specicaly I used a 5-in-1 painters tool with a pointy end that could get under the tougher staples.

For the staples that did not come up with the pad, I used one of these with a large hammer. I could get 80% out with just one swing of the hammer which was a lot faster for me than grabbing them with any kind of pliers because they were so tight to the floor. Only problem was that the staples would go flying all over the place. (use eye protection) I think there are fancier versions of this too but this exact one worked fine for me.
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-10-1-2-in-claw-bar/p-00937344000P