If the floor is made of concrete you are left with unsightly holes along the perimeter of the room.
Remove tack strip from concrete without damaging floor.
You must not pull out the nails.
Continue pulling up carpet a few feet at a time and cutting it into easy to handle strips.
The tack strips used to secure carpeting to a concrete slab are equipped with small hardened nails that penetrate and grip the concrete.
Removing tack strips from concrete leaves holes in the subfloor.
If you are pulling up carpet from stairs.
A lot of times i can just use the pliers to get the staples up but some staples are so close to the floor that i need to use the wonder tool to get them started.
I love using the wonder tool and these pliers for this job.
Sweep the entire floor as soon as the tack strips have all been removed.
If you decide to remove the carpet you must also pry up the tack strips which are held in place with nails.
Carpet tack strips can usually remain in place but look for rust rot or other damage.
I did remove tack strips from a terazzo concrete floor before refinishing the floor with an acid wash.
You can take the woode out from around the nails and then.
Once you have all of the tack strips up it is time to remove any staples on the floor from the carpet pad.
This will avoid damage to the hardwood floors from grit and debris trapped beneath the tack strips.
Roll or fold the strip secure with duct tape and remove it from the room.
For safety place each strip in a box or trash can as you remove it.
These small nails must be pried out as the tack strip is removed and they typically chip out the concrete gripped by them.
If your floor is concrete then you can take a pry bar or the back of a hammer and place it under the strip directly next to one of the nails in it.
Begin at the top of the stairs.