removing carpet grip from victorian tiles

[chard]

Hi guys,
new to this forum. Looks good!! Just doing my friends hallway up and some muppet has nailed down carpet grip into original victorian tiles. Trying to get the nails out with plyers doesnt work. Any tips on how to do this without damaging the tiles (too much)?
thanks!!
Laura

[Dave]

Hi laura....

Try using a thin blade scraper and tap with a hammer underneath where each tack is and see if it pops up...can't see it having a great hold into tiles unless glued as well..

[doug boardley]

if you pull straight up 90 degress dead lift, they should pull out I'd have thought.

[timeless john]

Chard - Laura.

Carpet grip nails tend to be small and plentiful. I tend to use a wide flat head screwdriver right on the nail position. There may be glue as well which may be harder to clean off! If the wood splits leaving the nail on its own put a flat block to spread the pressure when levering with your claw hammer head.

Timeless John.

[Ajax123]

Hi guys,
new to this forum. Looks good!! Just doing my friends hallway up and some muppet has nailed down carpet grip into original victorian tiles. Trying to get the nails out with plyers doesnt work. Any tips on how to do this without damaging the tiles (too much)?
thanks!!
Laura

bleedin' heathans

As doug says - dead lift at 90 degrees to the nail (straight upwards with a gentle twist.) they will take a bit of shifting but once they move they will pop out easily. I have a pair of special nail pulling pliers for this although only ever used them on nails in wood or brick. They have a very fine edge a bit like two crow bar ends which slot under the nail head so you can grip it. If they wont budge get a pin punch and a light hammer and GENTLY TAP them a couple of times - this will often loosen them in their holes.
Problem is if they are old they may have rusted within the tile because there is often no DPM under victorian tiles. When they rust they expand and obviously weaken so will possibly break off in the tile. Not sure if you will get rusty ones out without damaging the tiles. You could get a very fine drill bit and drill them out but this is fidly and when I have done this I gone through quite a few drill bits. Might be better to trim off the tops in this case and try and make them a feature???.

[Alpha Omega]

Hi Laura
If all else fails, use an old wood chisell with a 1" blade, also great for removing tiles

[Big D]

Hi Laura

If all else fails and tiles are broken craven dunhill tiles will reproduce exact pieces and colour matches from photos and measurements.