I recently completed CalFlor Professionals Pull and Pry Bar at 1550 sq ft laminate flooring project in a portion of my home. Years ago, I made a tool similar to this for prior install. This tool is faultless in function, sturdy, and easy to use. I placed a single wrap of duct tape around magnets for proper spacing and used until the end of project. I know CalFlor Professional Pry Bar would last me a long time if I were using it daily. I would suggest the manufacture fabricate a smaller model of this tool and offer as a "kit." I had to invent a smaller one for small pieces in closets and against multi-angle areas. Great tool-worth the money!
The calfFor heavy-duty professional pull bar made by metal off that develop for the professional floor installer in mind. Blue or Gray – two Designed comes withstand a lifetime of installations, this pull bar has a massive steel core and durable powder-coated finish. PB71302 tool perfect for you. It likes robust angled head that gives the ideal amount of friction need to pull on floor together. By pry bar, it fills up gaps with less power. By adding bar functionality, pull and pry bar tool has a pry bar end. So it becomes ideal for any aspect of your DIY job, from demolition to floor install.
From the CalFlor Manufacturer
CalFlor is a Professional Grade pull bar for all flooring applications needed one. CalFlor PB71302 has Industrial Strength, do not carry this on an airplane, check it with your luggage. It will give you many years of exceptional performance.
Top Features of CalFlor PB71308 Heavy Duty Professional Pull and Pry Bar
- CalFlor Professional Pull and Pry Bar floor express comes adjustable instruction for wood and laminate flooring installations
- Pull bar instruction for Magnetic shims that how to adjust the height to match floor thickness
- Heavy-duty pry bar – for join end for flooring and molding removal
- Suitable for 8 mm to 3/4 inch floor thickness
- Solid steel constructions, built sturdy for heavy daily use
Professional Heavy Duty Pry Bar: It does not bend or break like the ones from the "kits" you can buy. Where those bend after just a few blows this one kept its shape. The only drawback for this product is the advertised "adjustable" feature. It adjusts by using one, two, or three magnets attached to the bottom of the bar to hold it level. The only problem is that what they call magnets are cheap pieces of material that cannot adhere to the metal bar. To keep these place I had to tape them on the bar. The attractions need to be much stronger — overall a right product without the adjustable "magnets."
Lounge and Groove: This is much, much better than the cheap pull bar sold in kits at the box store. I had a challenging install, and this made it much more manageable. I could close gaps across long stretches from either wall. I managed a very snug install across all joints.
I still, however, found the small cheap bars helpful for tight spots. Pull and pry bar is too big once you get up against walls. The trick for using Pull and pry with laminate is to ensure you're setting the bar above the groove. If you apply force to the groove area, it will crush the composite wood and won't mate correctly.
Plastic Cap: The black rubber bumper for the mallet strike is a good example - anyone else would have repurposed a readily available bumper-like thing - like the foot to grandma’s walker. Wouldn’t last. The CalFlor engineered nearly do impossible task - a piece of hard rubber plastic that is heavy-duty enough last a lifetime of mallet strikes. Anyone can weld together some tank armor - which is what the frame feels like it made of - but the attention to the black cap is what astonished me.
Install Laminate: Bought a couple of pull bars from the local big box store, and after thoroughly destroying them I decided on Pull and pry pull bar. After using Pull and pry to install laminate in my living room and another bedroom it is holding up like a champ, although like some of the other reviews say the plastic piece does break off after some beating, I did not see that as a big enough issue to ding a star. If you are attempting to install laminate flooring yourself in your home, save yourself the money and buy Pull and pry one first, you won't regret it.
100% Absolutely the Best Pull Bar: I have ever used for laminate, floating tongue & groove wood. I have installed flooring, LITERALLY MY ENTIRE LIFE! My Grandfather, my Father, Great Uncle's, Cousins, etc. all install flooring. I am the 3rd generation of flooring installers. I was on every job with my Father growing up; after school, weekends, I've even had to skip school when his help didn't show up.
- Angled tip creates a high-leverage fulcrum for prying or lifting
- Sharpened chisel end wedges into tight spaces
- Generously sized textured poly handle offers a comfortable, nonslip grip
- Steel striking cap allows pry bar tip to be driven into place with a hammer
- Made from stout 3/8 inch square bar stock that won't easily flex or twist
- Pry bars have rolling-head/hook end and pointed end design
- Includes: 6", 12", 16" and 20"
- Machined and hardened tips
- All bars have curved ends which provide greater prying leverage when working in tight areas; set includes: Dominator 8-C (8" oal), 12-C (12" oal), 17-C (17" oal), 25-C (25" oal), and 31-C (31" oal)
- Patented, two-composite, ergonomically designed handle provides a comfortable and secure grip and is oil, solvent, and temperature resistant
- Metal striking cap at the end of the handle is in direct contact with the shaft allowing the user to strike the tool without damaging the handle
- Black oxide finish for additional rust protection
- Made in the USA with a Lifetime Warranty
- 4 piece pry bar set - 8" 12" 18" and 24"
- Comfortable and long handle with build-in strike cap allows pry bar to be hit with a hammer
- Hardened and tempered for strength and durability
- Blackened finish chrome vanadium steel shafts that won't easily flex
- Heavy duty design
- FORGED IN ONE PIECE – The most durable, longest lasting striking tools available
- HIGH LEVERAGE DESIGN – Engineered to produce maximum torque when pulling nails & prying boards
- CHISEL END – Use angled chisel end for prying and lifting
- SLOTTED NAIL PULLER – Maximum leverage for extracting the toughest nails and spikes
- MADE IN THE USA – Our tools are proudly crafted in Rockford, IL using the finest American steel
- Able to reach areas inaccessible to a fixed head tool for improved access
- Heads rotate 180° through 14 locking positions for unparalleled access and leverage
- Compact design allows for work in tight spaces
- Smooth head profile fits into low access areas, making quick work of pry jobs in cramped areas
- Designed for demolition, repositioning equipment, industrial work, aligning steel components, or moving engines
- Set Contents: (1) 7-1/4" and (1) 9-1/4" Stainless Steel Pry Bar Scraper
- Feature a nail puller, razor sharp scraper edge, and an angled edge for pulling and prying
- Angled edge is ideal for pulling apart walls, prying off moldings, tiles, wood slats, and removing baseboards and trims; angled end is designed with a chiseled edge so it can wedge into tight spaces
- Razor-sharp scraper edge is perfect for removing caulk, adhesives, paint and residue from glass, metal, and hard surfaces
- Constructed with high quality stainless steel that will prevent corrosion and rusting, sturdy stem won’t bend or crack during use
- Head indexes over 180 Degrees and locks in 16 positions
- Head has raised striking surface allows for striking to loosen and penetrate
- Angled head with nail slot for prying and pulling nails and boards
- Durable two-tone grip provides comfort, control, and safety while applying force
- Narrow Jab end for extreme prying and leverage
I don't think I will ever have to buy another one due to failure. However going to buy another one very soon for my helper. All the ones at any hardware store, ie. Lowe's, Home Depot, bend almost immediately. They're just a flat piece of metal bent at opposite 90deg. Angles on each end, and cost 40% what Pull and pry one does. Similar pull bars at any of my wholesale flooring distribution suppliers in Houston cost 2 to 3 times as much, which is why I've never bought one from them. Any installer knows you have to be cheap and bust, or you'll never make any money being a floor whore.
I threw the Magnets it came within the trash the day it arrived, useless. I guess that's what's adjustable about Pull and pry bar, cause nothing on it moves. Pull and pry bar is solid! As it should be. They included three magnets to "adjust" the depth of the pull end to different material. If you've never installed before, maybe Pull and pry is a good idea. It does just seem pointless to me, Pull and pry is a professional pull bar, and any professional can "adjust" without the magnets much faster.
If you're a do it yourself, please give Pull and pry to any professional installer you meet after the job is done. I've honestly given two tools I use very often in Pull and pry manner. It isn't offensive, and it's very appreciated. We cheap installers hate the price of quality tools, and love looking at a job upon completion thinking, "I got that done, with PULL AND PRY!?"
Good Sides:
- Great Design, worth money bring improvement over cheap models with kits
- I've been using Pull and pry to install about 1200 sq ft of laminate flooring. They must have improved the material for the hammer block cap because my orange Stanley dead blow hammer has not caused the lid to get damaged or even get loose. So glad I bought Pull and pry for my project.
- If you are installing laminate plank flooring or vinyl plank flooring, Pull and pry tool will be your new BFF. Pull and pry pull was so useful when installing the flooring in tight spaces.
Drawbacks:
- Heavy-duty made, but design is poor
- The plastic impact cap broke with the 1st strike of my rubber mallet. It shattered. Other than that it worked great had to rig up an impact pad, so I didn't chew up my hammer.
CalFlor Professional Pull and Pry Bar work great! I've put 1600+ feet in so far, and Pull and pry thing makes it so much more comfortable than another cheap model. They are suitable for typically get for DIY jobs. I bend the heck out of those, and it would chip the ends of the wood. I can hammer on Pull and pry if I need to and there's little to no chipping and boards slide into place with less effort.
I have no other issues with banging on the black cap either as some have reported, and it has not broken at all, I'm using a dead blow hammer, not a metal hammer which is another excellent investment. It needs to be better to be called "professional" if you hit the black bumper it breaks, then the metal gets deformed. I had to weld a striking metal plate on where the broken black knob was, and the magnetic shims fall off too quickly. I did my first 1200 foot laminate job with Pull and pry, and it got the job done after I fixed it! So recommend using CalFlor Professional Pry Bar for your standard lifestyle. Good Luck.