Q: My recently purchased home has oak flooring underneath the carpeting in my living room. I was able to remove the carpeting, padding, and tack board easily enough. They also put down linoleum glued to plywood in the entryway of the living room. This also came up easily enough (with a little extra effort). My problem is this – They used heavy 3/4″ staples to secure the plywood to my oak floors, and every method we’ve tried to remove the staples has been mostly unsuccessful.
The staples are in so far that one of my boards nearly came out with part of the staple! For the most part, the staples just snap off leaving me with two prongs sticking out of the floor. Any suggestions on how I can get these out without ruining the floor?
A: I have seen a plier type of tool that looks like it was meant to pull teeth. I would get one of those. That is the problem with staples. Even with installing, if a guy uses a staple nailer and it misfires.. getting the staple out is a pain. I don’t like them either.
The staples that I removed left holes
Q imported from our old site, Face Lift Floors: I forgot to mention that there are staples stuck on my oak stairs, some which are very difficult to remove. Any suggestions on how to remove them? Also, the staples that I removed left holes and marks. How can I repair them? Is there a stain stick or something that I can touch up the marks with?
A: Staples can be removed, possibly with a pair of wire cutters or something similar. There are color matched wood putties that can be purchased at a hardware store or any company that sells hardwood flooring and supplies.
Original / moved link https://faceliftfloors.com/q-and-a/staples.php