Staples in my lovely tas oak floor :/

Arggg I could kill the previous owner of our reno!!

They're put some sort of composite boards (seems to be made up of layers almost like cardboard) on top of the tas oak floor, and stabled it down, then put lino on top of that. I've tried to remove the staples but they keep snapping I can get the odd one out by gently levering with a round-headed pincers, but more often than not the tops snap off and the spikes refuse to budge. There's absolutely hundreds of them too!!

Anyone got any hot tips? Someone told me I might have to tile instead but I'll bury that thought far far away for now as I can't bear to think of that.

There must be a way to get around it!

Yep get a nail punch and punch them in a bit
Everyone you do is one less that you have too
Then putty as you go.

They don't seem to take to nail punch well as they're quite flimsy and just bend, but oh well, I'll keep plugging away :/

I've had to do the same job before, gently does it and they will come out. A good pair of multi-grips is best, as the staple pulls out, grab it again at floor level and repeat. You will need to punch ones you have broken in as they will shred the sandpaper when it comes time for that

Cheers. Yes I was just reading about how any exposed metal will possibly react with the oil and leave a nasty stain in the oak.. can't let that happen

Are multi-grips the ones you can lock in place?

Bet me to it - that is exactly what I was going to say when I read the first post !
We had this problem when we stripped the carpet off our previous house, and it was full of staples.
Our neighbour loaned us one of these, it was a little time consuming going around pulling them out but was so much better than trying to push them back in.

Hope you get a good result!

I don't know about reacting, there were one or two I missed on the floor and there were no issues as such. Tassie Oak is a trade name for a mix of ash eucalypts, not actually a species of oak tree.
Multi-grips don't lock, your thinking of locking pliers

Aah. What are multigrips then?

I did a bit of googling and found a few possible solutions too. One person had managed to find an old style tool for the job as seen in this link: http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/oldhouse/msg081804475852.html

Then there's these ones: http://toolmonger.com/2007/05/09/hot-or-not-extractor-nail-puller-pliers/.

http://www.engineering-tools.com.au/category952_1.htm

Thanks. I did see some of those in K&D today. I might try that if the staple remover i got doesn't work too well.

Got some gel-filled knee pads too!

Mine are with me all the time...
...calluses
Just like kangaroos nurries, they hit the ground soo much they are callused


onc

I feel your pain, I did my floors a few months ago. It took the better part of a day with 4 of us and 1 set of pliers but it was worth it in the end!

Hmmm so much for the staple remover of the "Heavy Duty" variety! :p The end snapped off.

There's no easy way - a heavy-duty screwdriver and a pair of pliers or multigrips is about the only way. Stapling masonite over floorboards was a common way to do underlay for lino or tiles. It's a back-breaking job getting the staples out, but it can be done; we went through the same thing about 8 years ago.

I think I lost my temper at the end and hammered a few in.... But our boards were just crappy old pine and we were laying new tiles and carpet over them anyway.

I'll try the round-end multi-grips instead :/ So I assume this would be better than plain old pliers as it has a finer grip and rounder head for rolling it?

Or there's always the suggestion on one of those links - the guy got a stainless steel claw hammer and filed away one claw until it was the right size to fit. That could be an option as they're only $6 at K&D atm

These floors are in amazing condition, i'll have to put up a pic.

Okay.. better success today with the multigrip pliers. I got 2 in a row up and only left a mild depression in the wood.

I also got some bent needle-nose pliers but they were useless, the staple just snapped, even when I was trying to grip it.

What would be perfect would be a locking 3-prong tool, the middle bit goes in the staple loop, and the two sides clamp on, then you'd rock it up, but we'll see how I go with more using the multigrips.

I only got a cheapie so I might get a better one now as the grip is not very comfortable. There was a mega-sized one in there too - I assume that'd have more torque?

Never buy cheap hand tools - you get what you pay for.......

Ash eucalypts are fairly soft so expect a few dints

I finally finished

Took me probably 4-5 days all up and my knees and back are fu.... very sore! However I'm so pleased to be done!

My technique improved over time but even then I still got say 25% snaps in some bad patches. Eventually I just used my smallest nail punch (which has a rubber sheath) and drove it through until the staple was almost out. At this point almost always the top has broken and one end is loose and the other end is firmer. I then used the extractor tool from Bunnings that's been my savior and got fairly good results.

Any I couldn't get out (after cursing them for a few seconds) I ground down with the angle grinder then hole punched in.