Posted: 6/11/2016 12:07:54 AM EDT
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Prepping to head over to the new house tmr and do some more "Making it our own!" work. MrsCheShirt has been going through with Simple Green and wiping down and defunking everything. Previous owners weren't dirty, but being in the same place for 35 years leaves a layer of previous resident on everything...
So far we've ripped out all the first floor carpet, wiped down walls in all the rooms, masked almost everything for priming the walls and spent a lot of time going "Huh. What will we do with X/Y/Z?" Saturday morning should be ripping out all the tack strips from the gone carpet and all the carpet pad staples (holy hell there are a lot. Someone was NOT frucking around 20 years ago) and pulling up the plywood in the living room to see what's underneath (foundation? elves?). Home Depot's particularly evil in this. I'll build shopping lists based on what we're doing on each round and the suggestions for additional gear are killing me. Hell yeah Home Depot! I clearly need a 34 oz dead blow hammer! Add that to the cart and I'll pick it up in the morning!! It is amazingly fun though. Nice doing work on something that is mine. If anyone has tips for getting three decade old tack strips off of original hardwood, please send them my way. Hardwood! 
Garage filled with stanky old carpet! 
Handy spousal helper! 
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I've never pulled tack strips out hardwood. Only concrete which requires a little less finesse than out the wood but with that said I think I'd go at it gently with one or both of these. Have a small claw hammer handy for light application of force where necessary. Paint stir sticks or the shims used for doors are handy for protecting the area you pry against with the hammer or pry bar.
Painter's tool Trim bar Think knee pads or a foam rubber pad too. Jester |
| Duct tape on a shovel to pull up tack strips. You can stand and not break your back. You'll get the hang of it but you jam the shovel not all the way in between the nails and pry it it attempting to not completely break the strips. Try to get as long of a run going as possible before completely pulling up. Breaking them into little bits will wear you out. |
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beautiful wood floors...
how anyone can cover them with wall to wall carpet is beyone me.. get a floor buffer and some bowling ally wax on those floors once a year and you will love them use "flying carpets" in seating areas to cut noise for conversation or TV watching..beyond that.. wife's not bad either!! 
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