How to Get Tack Board Off of a Floor

The first step in installing stylish, new flooring is getting rid of the old stuff. When you start with carpet, once you've rolled it back for removal, you've got to deal with the wickedly sharp tack-board strips that held your old wall-to-wall carpet in place. Installed 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the baseboard around the perimeter of the room, tack boards are narrow strips of wood with a double row of short tacks nailed points-up along their length and fixed to the floor with a nail every 6 inches. Remove the tack strips without injuring yourself or your floor as soon as possible after removing the carpet.

Leather work gloves
Knee pad
Pry bar
Hammer
Trash can
Wide metal putty knife (optional)
Utility knife

Instructions

- 1
  Put on leather work gloves, or other sturdy gloves, and position a trash can in the room. Do not use a bag, as the nails from the strips can tear the plastic. If you have just removed the carpet, cut a strip of the padding or the carpet itself with a utility knife to use as a knee pad.
- 2
  Work the flat forked end of your pry bar under the end of the first tack strip. Position the pry bar at the first nail going into the floor.
- 3
  Gently tap the pry bar with the hammer at the outside of its elbow-shaped bend, driving the tip of the pry bar more firmly under the tack strip.
- 4
  Push back on the upright portion of the pry bar. This should slightly lift the strip and loosen the nail.
- 5
  Move down to the next nail and repeat steps 2 through 4 until all the nails in the strip are loosened and you can remove the tack strip.
- 6
  Place the tack strip in the trash can. Break it into pieces if necessary.
- 7
  Repeat steps 2 through 6 until all the tack strips are removed.

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