July 9, 2006
Drunk Guy with Staple Gun Threatens Entire House Flipping Industry
Okay, my title may be a little over-dramatic, but I’ve committed myself to preserving all the original woodwork on/around the stairway and the 
task of removing all the staples has eaten up a lot of time that would have otherwise been spent on the million other projects waiting to be attacked. I swear the carpet installers must have been drinking when they laid the rug on these stairs because there is no semblance of order or logic behind their use of staples. It’s amazing how nice the wood looks after all the staples and stray nails have been removed, but it’s extremely tedious labor. However, it does provide a nice break between more back-breaking tasks like ripping the kitchen floor up and taking out the bathroom tile.
Question… as fun as pulling staples sounds… why did you decide to pull up the carpet now, rather then as the last thing to do? I would think having the carpet down to protect the floors during the reno would be ideal.
Very good question. I have left the carpet on the floor and stairs throughout the house to protect the wood underneath during the renovation. I’ve been pulling 95% of the staples out on each step and leaving a few to keep the carpet in place until the renovation is complete (except for the bottom stair which I fully exposed to get a sense of how it will look when I’m done). The same is true for the carpet in each of the rooms.