Removing staples from underlayment

naomih

I'm pulling up the underlayment from my kitchen to reveal hardwood floors. I want to keep the hardwood floors. I need to remove the THOUSANDS of thin underalyment staples that are covering the floor. I tried using a little screwdriver and pliers and prying/pulling them, but it hurts the hardwood floor and is killing my neck! What are some suggestions and/or tools I could use to make the job easier and not ruin my hardwood floor?

michigan girl

try an awl. and some aspirin : ) no easy way to remove staples. I do tons of reupholstering and pulling staples is the most time consuming thing

BigJim

Place a putty knife against the staple and use it as a base to prize on to keep the flooring from being scared. There is no magic that I know of to get the staples up, it is just a matter of doing.

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Jim

SeattleSurfaces

Try these:

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OurHouse

Between the kids room, the 2 other bedrooms, the kitchen and hall, we removed just under 11,000 (kid wanted to count, I said fine LOL). I have a few recommendations...

First, hit the clearance at your garden center for good pads for under your body, then add a simple step stool under your chest and belly so you're not killing yourself studying the floor on your hands and knees, all the while screwing up your back. Next, get yourself a pair of the priciest side cut pliers because you want ones that come together tighter than a mosquitoes rear cheeks with which to grab the offending staples and gently rock them out while maintaining grip. I also took a really offset butter knife to the edge of staples that were too flush with decent success. If you slip cheap felt under the butt of the butter knife, you minimize the scaring to the wood floor. I found the putty knife gouged worse than the thin butter knife with the pointed tip, but it has to be an offset style butter knife. Good luck. Music and team competition help, too LOL