How to Remove Carpet Flooring Yourself

Ready to remove your carpet flooring and lay down fresh new hardwood or tile? Before you do you may want to consider the best way to remove the carpet. Of course, getting someone else to do it would be the easiest, but the cost of paying someone to remove your carpet can easily cost you anywhere from $250 to $500, and that’s just for your average size living room. If you’re looking to save some cash you may want to consider removing the carpet yourself.  The process is easier than you think, just follow these steps to learn the ropes and rid yourself of that old carpet for good.

Step 1. Gather Your Tools and Supplies

Be sure you have everything you need before ripping up your carpet. Padding and tack strips are a must unless you plan on installing new carpet after, but we’ll get to that later.

Everything You Need to Remove Carpet, Padding and Tack Strips:

All of these supplies should run you no more than $100, even less if you already have a hammer, pry bar and utility knife.

Step 2: Start at One Corner

Here’s where the hard work starts. Pick a corner of your room and start tearing up the carpet, making sure to avoid those prickly tack strips around the edges. If the carpet won’t budge with sheer force, cut a small square out of the corner with a utility knife. Then, pull up on the larger section to get things moving.

Step 3: Roll Your Carpet Up in Thirds

Roll a third of your carpet back into the center of the room. Use your utility knife to cut along the fold, keeping both hands on the blade to ensure you don’t cut yourself. Roll up your cut section of carpet and use duct tape to keep it from unrolling. This will make it a whole lot easier to pick up and drop in your dumpster or on the curb. Continuing rolling and cutting the rest of your carpet, making sure to cut off sections that are in a separate area, such as a closet or entryway. Come back to those after you’ve gotten the main portion rolled up and duct taped.

Step 4: Find a Corner of Padding and Rip It Up

Unfortunately, carpet removal comes in two parts. The first part is removing the carpet, the second part is removing the padding. Fortunately, most padding is simply stapled to the subfloor in patches, so you should be able to grab a seam and start ripping it up. This is an especially satisfying step if you’re removing carpet from hardwood floors. Nothing beats ripping up a dusty old carpet to reveal beautiful woodgrain texture underneath.

If your padding is glued down, you’ll need a floor scraper to separate it from the subfloor. You can find these at any home improvement store.

TIP: Make sure you wear gloves during this process to avoid pricking a finger or two on the staples. Roll each section of padding up like you did with the carpet, duct taping each roll to keep them from unfolding.

Step 5: Check and Prepare Your Subfloor

With the padding gone, you can inspect your subfloor. This is an important step if you plan on installing hardwood floors or tiling since any problems will be much harder to fix once your new flooring is in. You’ll want to look for:

• Rusted tack strips: Could simply be a stain from a pet or spilled drink but could also be a sign of a roof leak. If more than one tack strip is rusted, you should get a roof inspection pronto.
• Squeaky subfloor panels: Walk and/or jump on each of your subfloor panels. If they squeak, hammer a couple of ring shank nails into the spot where the noise is coming from.
• Sinking floors: This could be a sign your foundation is cracking. Have an inspection done before you install any new flooring.
• Staples: There will be a bunch of these left behind by the carpet padding. Use a pair of pliers or a pry bar to take them out.

Step 6 (Optional): Remove Your Tack Strips

If you’re installing new carpet and your tack strips are in good condition, you can skip this step entirely. If not, you’ll need your handy pry bar and hammer. To remove tack strips, find the nails holding them to the floor and slide your pry bar underneath. Use the hammer to force it deeper into the gap and pull up on the pry bar to loosen the strip until free.

Once you finish the 5 (or 6) steps above, take a step back and be proud of your work! Now that you know how to remove your old carpet, you’ll save hundred of dollars every time you remodel or purchase a home. Remember, when removing your old carpet you’ll need to dispose of it somehow. For the most affordable solution contact Waste Solutions 123 to rent a dumpster!