Removing carpet tack strips from a concrete slab

May 04, 2012 6 Replies

I need advice on how to remove tack boards. I ripped my carpet out which revealed lots of tack boards attached to the concrete slab underneath the carpet. The tackboards run continuously in four rooms--12 tacks per foot of board, and the tack heads seem to have been embedded into the concrete when the house was built--the pointed heads are up instead of down in the concrete.



Someone did two of the rooms by prying up the tack board, then cutting the tack heads off at the flooring with a Dremel tool. It took many hours to do.



I plan to install a combination of hardwood and tile flooring in these rooms.



Is there a more efficient way to remove the tackboards and the tacks?


I can't think  of a better way to get rid of them than to nip them off. You'd need some heavy duty nippers that can cut the nails flush with the surface, something like hoof nippers on this page here:

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The ones with 14" handles should be able to nip nails off with no problem.  

Thanks so much for sharing this problem and question! I have the same problem with my concrete weston ct. The answer Home Owner gave was really helpful for me. I don't know if it was for you but I thought it was great advice. So thank you for sharing the question and the answer! 

Thank you for the information. I love the way you explained this. If anyone has more information on concrete in Harrisburg PA, that would be a great help.

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