How to Remove Carpeting
So many of my DIY projects require new flooring which requires getting rid of the old flooring. For so many older houses they are filled with carpeting, so I am going to teach you how to remove carpeting!
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Table of Contents
- Prepping the Space to Remove the Carpet
- Starting to Remove the Carpet
- Getting the Carpet Out of the Room
- The Hard Part
- Tools I Used
- Removing Carpeting from the Stairs
Getting Ready to Remove the Carpeting
It is easiest to take off the baseboards before you rip out the carpet, but I do not like doing that. If you do remove the baseboards, you have to number them, keep them organized, store them, and then reinstall them after you are done ripping out the carpeting. I am removing all of the vent plates and anything else that is obstructing the carpet.
Beginning To Remove the Carpet
To get this carpet removal started, I am pulling up the corner where it is a little bit loose. If it is not as loose as you would like it, which mine is not, you can use your prybar and hammer. The goal with this is to get the prybar under the tack strips at the edge of the carpet and pull those up as you go. Unfortunately, I was not so lucky to have this work. This particular carpet is tacked down onto the tack strip with staples along the edges. The underlayment is stapled into the subfloor all over the place. This means that once the carpet is all rolled up, I have to get the underlayment taken off. The underlayment pops up easily, and the staples stay where they are.
Getting the Carpet Out of the Room
Next is how to remove carpet from the room, I am going to take it in sections. Initially, I thought I could use a box cutter to cut across the top of the carpet, but this is nearly impossible, especially with the thick carpet. Instead, what I have found that works great is rolling the carpet back and then cutting the netting underneath the carpet. That cuts so much easier with the utility knife. For the underlayment, I did not really have to cut it because it rips so easily.
How to Remove Carpeting: The Hard Part
Removing the carpet and underlayment was definitely the easy part, now it’s time for the hard part! I am using my prybar on the tack strips along the edges to remove them. The tack strips were what was holding the carpet down. I thought this was going to pull up easily…I was mistaken. Not only were these installed with the regular small nails that you see on tack strips, but every 6 inches, there was a large 1-inch-long nail. This made the removal of the tack strips much more difficult than anticipated. The hundreds of staples that were holding the different pieces of underlayment to the subfloor also are making this process much more tedious.
How to Remove Carpeting: Tools I Used
The great thing about carpet removal is that anyone can do it with just a few simple hand tools! Here is a list of the tools that I used to do this project:
Yep, that is all I used for 95% of this carpet removal! This project is not for the faint of heart, but if you are up for the challenge, it does not require a lot of supplies!
Getting Rid of the Carpeting on the Stairs
The stairs are so difficult, much more than I thought they would be. This is because they carpeted all the way around the top. I first had to take the plastic runner that goes up the center of the stairs off, which was very easy. Next, I am pulling up at the bottom edge of the carpeting where it is a little bit loose. There are tack strips on every angle of the stairs, so on every corner where it turns, there is a tack strip. I tried my best to pull the carpeting off of the bullnose, but that is not working, so I am just going in with my utility knife and cutting it off.To get rid of the underlayment, tack strips, and staples, I did the same thing I did before! If you want to see how the stairs turned out, check out this blog post!
Now that all of the carpeting is removed, you have a blank canvas to work with and can install any flooring that you want! I am installing waterproof laminate flooring in this space, if you want to see how to do this, click here!
