How to Remove Furring Strips on the Ceiling

A ceiling may be covered with furring strips as a result of plaster that has been knocked off, or as a remnant of someone else's renovation. If you are planning to install a new drywall ceiling attached to the ceiling joists, you will need to remove all of the furring strips to provide a solid connection between the drywall and the joists. Removing furring strips is time consuming but not difficult.

Step ladder
Claw hammer
Small crowbar

Instructions

- 1
  Knock the furring strips down before pulling the nails by hitting them from above with a crowbar or a long hammer. A certain percentage of the nails that are holding the furring strips up will be knocked out along with the furring strips, saving you the trouble of prying them out.
- 2
  Slip the forked, curved end of the crowbar underneath the head of a nail that is holding up a piece of furring strip and pry it out. For maximum speed, work your way along the bottom of one joist before moving to the next one. This method requires less wasted motion than if you go back and forth between joists.
- 3
  Pound in stubborn nails or nails with broken heads using a hammer. If you try to pull out a nail and break its head off instead, it's easier to just pound it into the joist than to waste time trying to pry it out.

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