Removing Old, Thin Staples from Floorboards

Hard to grip?

Don't use pliers or a screwdriver. Do this instead.

Full disclosure: you will mark the floorboards with this method. No two ways around it.

But you want to balance time spent against damage, which will hopefully be unnoticeable after sanding and sealing.

So small, even the camera can't pick it up!

Tools

• Hammer
• Nail. See picture. Not too big a head. If it's slightly bent, the head won't contribute to the marking.
• Flathead screwdriver
• Needle-nose pliers
• Staple remover

Background

Surprise! Underneath the 40-year-old carpet tack strips were even older staples. The carpeters in 1984 didn't bother to pull them up before laying new carpet down.

These ancient staples were from the days of stapling carpet directly down, no underlay. They were too thin for the staple remover to grip, brittle, and often rusty.

Unfortunately, they would interfere with the sanding and sealing if just left in the wood, so they had to come out.

Step: Try Staple Remover

If you're lucky enough for the staple remover to catch, then use that. Otherwise, expose as much of the staple you can. The more you lift it, the less the floor gets marked.

Step: Hammer nail through staple

Not gonna lie. This part hurts because it means digging into your beautiful floorboard. But honestly, it's not that much worse than tack strip nail holes. So harden up.

A small nail head and slight bend in the shaft will help avoid the nail hend marking the floorboards. Don't worry about bending the nail deliberately. It'll develop one, especially if you're as unco as me.

Step: Pry up Staple

Use needle nose pliers and screwdriver to lift nail and staple up. Not too much, just enough so that the staple remover can...

Step: Finish the Job

Once the staple remover can grip the staple it's game over, on to the next one.

Uh-oh: Broken Staple

F%&K.

Damage control time. Try to get it out with staple remover and needle nose pliers. If less than 1mm is sticking out, maybe just hammer that sucker down and hope it's too brittle to wreck the sander.

Result