getting nails out of concrete

[Toller]

I am removing some carpet tack strips from a concrete floor. When I pry the nails out, they take up some concrete with them.

Someway to avoid that? I tried nailing one down to the head, but that didn't work out well.

Do I have to bother patching the damage? One is in a conspicuos place and I would like to patch it, but with what?

I haven't gotten around to removing the bottom plate of an extinct wall yet, but presume I will have the same problem there, only worse as the nails are bigger. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Don]

Grind off the nail heads?

[Joseph Meehan]

Are they going to be visible when you are finished (concrete finish floor)? You can stop by the hardware store and they will sell you the materials you need to patch surface flaws.

I like the idea of grinding them off, it they are a bother to you.

[Bob]

For nails in plaster, I made a metal plate with a slot cut in it to fit around the nail. I slip it over the nail shaft, then grab the nail shaft with a large, slightly angled, diagonal cutter I own. Then I pry the nail out. The metal plate applies the force against the plaster right around the nail, so no plaster chips out in most cases.

Bob

[Toller]

I sorta followed your suggestion. I used a rotary tool with a metal cutting disk. Worked great.

[oren]

If you intended to use vinyl over the floor later I say, yes patch the dimples. Vinyl will recess into the imperfections and show after installed. Carpet. wood. or tile flooring as a replacement I would not bother. I would patch any foundationn cracks crossing the room.

Oren

"My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."

[Toller]

There is a crack. Small, but there. What do i patch it with?

[Jack]

Run like water, thin epoxy, like the one its used for termite repair on wood so it would fill the hairline or a little wider cracks.

[maradcliff]

Remove the wood around them. Take and angle grinder and grind them off. If you are re-carpeting, I'd patch anything large to avoid pits in the carpeting. Just get some of that latex concrete patch or hydraulic cement. Just curious, if you are re-carpeting, so you have to remove those strips. You just got to put new ones down again. Unless they are damaged, re-use them.