On Mar 27, 12:39*pm, mike wrote:
Insulation contractor screwed up my floor. *What now?

I'm not exactly sure the proper terms to use, so I'll describe.

House was built in 1972. *The subfloor is 1-1/2" thick tongue and groove.
ON top of that is what I'm calling underlayment. *It's 5/8" of particle
board.
Padding and shag carpet are on top of that.

These are actual measurements, not the "nominal thickness numbers".

As part of a weatherization package, the contractor is insulating under
the floor in the crawl space.

The underlayment is nailed to the subfloor. *The tips of the nails protrude
about 3/8" from the bottom of the subfloor. *There's not a lot of height in
the crawl space, so the nail tips snag your clothing as you slither around.

The contractor got the bright idea to hammer the nail tips straight up level
with the subfloor. *That solved the snagging problem.

WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING??????

I discovered their "solution" when I felt lumps under the carpet as I walked
around barefoot. *If I mash on the area with my heel, I can reduce the lump.
But nails still aren't showing underneath.
I think all I did was push the nail head
up thru the carpet padding.

They didn't pound the nails everywhere, but about 2/3 of the insulation
is in,
so I don't have visibility of most of the underside of the floor. *I can't
even access about half of the underside of the house because of the
yet-uninstalled insulation bags in the crawl space. *The known target
area is only 50 nails or so.
There are additional known areas where they pounded the nail tips sideways.
Those places don't show symptoms of protruding nail heads.
There are additional areas where the floor now "squeaks" when you
walk on it. *But that's in an area I can't currently access underneath.

I won't have the opportunity to confront them on this issue until
Monday. *I anticipate
they won't want to admit anything, even if they could remember all the
places where they pounded nails. *I'm a packrat.
I've got crap piled all over the floor to give them clearance
to install windows, so I don't even have access to much of the top side
of the carpet.

This is a state subsidized weatherization program. *I didn't choose or
hire the contractor.
There's a government bureaucracy between me and the contractor.

So, what do I do??? *The Hoover is gonna cause a lot of carpet damage
when the brush
rolls over protruding nail heads.

The carpet is 38 years old.
If I demand that the contractor fix it, I expect they'll pound on the carpet
until the lumps go away. *I anticipate that will not make the
nails go down, but will break the
backing and have holes in the carpet sooner or later.
I think I'm going to have to fix it myself.
Are there any techniques I can use
to minimize the damage? *I'm thinking I might be able to use a tiny
punch or nail set poked
carefully between the weave of the carpet backing???

NO, I don't want to replace the carpet. *It's old, but it still works.

Rolling back the carpet and padding to pound the nails is really not an
option.
The affected area is in a bedroom converted to an electronic workshop.
I've got shelves, benches, etc. that were constructed inside the room
and won't
even fit through the door.

I'm willing to spend whatever time it takes to locate the nails with a
magnet
and get them pounded down without removing the carpet.

What I need is a "clever trick" to get the nails back down without
removing or damaging the carpet.

Ideas?
Thanks, mike

Seems to me you already have considered a good way to do just that as
above. Only modification I would suggest is to use a small probe to
work through the carpet and then a fairly decent sized nail set in
that opening to whap the nail back down. After you locate a couple of
the nails, the rest should be in line and can be more easily found. An
angle grinder should have been used by the contractor and would be the
best way to deal with any more protruding nails in that area.

Joe