Carpet may seem like one of the easiest floor coverings to take up, but it is also a bit intimidating. I’ll let you know how we do it, and how we make it simple.

1. Remove any furniture

First, you’ll have to take everything off of the floor. Furniture, baskets, anything and even long items in your closet. It is also wise to tie up your curtains or remove them entirely. You want to have the room completely clear.

2. Remove the doors from their hinges

Removing the doors from their hinges can protect them from any possible damage and make moving around a bit easier. This includes closet doors as well, especially if they are the bi-fold ones. Make sure to mark where the hinges attach on the closet door frames, and which side the doors come from.

3. Cut the carpet into strips of manageable widths

Some people may think to just start tearing up the carpet from the corner, but to make it simpler, we cut it up. You want to use a carpet knife, or utility knife, to cut your carpet into strips that won’t be too big for you to roll up and carry. This means something different to everyone, but the average size is about 3-4 feet wide. It can be a bit dirty, getting that up close, but it’ll be easier than taking it up in one large piece.

4. Roll up the carpet and remove it from the room

Once the carpet is in strips, you’ll be able to roll it up and take it out of the room to dispose of. It’ll be easier to work with the old carpet out of the way.

5. Cut the underpad into manageable-width strips

Depending on how the underpad was installed, you may be able to tear the underpad up in chunks, but if it is in full sheets, it’s simpler to cut and roll it like carpet. This is where you’ll find the most dust and dirt, so be careful to pull the underpad up gently, maybe even wearing some form of eye protection.

6. Remove Underpad from the room

We usually roll it up and toss it with the carpet, but you may be able to put the underpad into heavy-duty garbage bags to make the transport easier. Another trick we use is to save a piece of underpad to wrap up any removed tack strip to protect our hands from the nails.

7. Take up tack strip using a hammer and lifter

Around the outside of the room, there will be tack strip, or smooth edge, which is a length of wood with small nails pointing upwards at an angle so that the carpet has something to hook onto and nails that pound into the subfloor. If you are installing carpet again, you should be able to leave the tack strip in place, only removing any damaged pieces. If you don’t plan on installing more carpet, you will want to take up all of the tack strip. You will likely need a hammer and nail puller or a small crowbar to pull it up. It can be a bit of a chore, but you can’t install any new hard surface flooring until it’s gone.

8. Wrap up old tack strip and dispose of it

As I mentioned above, we usually leave a strip of underpad behind to wrap the tack strip in. Many little nails are sticking out of both sides of a piece of tack strip, so it’s safer and more comfortable to wrap it all up in some leftover underpad. Less splinters and puncture wounds means a more pleasant renovation experience.

9. Clear the subfloor of staples or glue

All carpet underpad will be attached to the subfloor, either with staples or glue, and no matter what flooring you are installing after you pull up your carpet, you will need to remove the existing staples or glue. When taking up staples, we use a metal floor scraper, but you can use a nail puller, or pliers to pull the nails out individually, or even a flat headed metal shovel. If you are dealing with glue, you may need to rent a floor scraper or even a carpet stripper, depending on how well that glue is stuck. This part can be tedious, but it’s one of the last steps in the tear out process!

10. Sweep up and get ready for your new flooring

The final step in your carpet tear out is to clean up the floor and get ready for the new flooring. You can sweep, but in most cases, a shopvac can work even better. Just make sure that you’re aware of the staples when cleaning up. Once the floor is clean, you can lay new flooring!

If you have any DIY questions, or think that maybe you’d like us to do the project for you, reach out to us, or come visit us! We can help you upgrade, “what’s under your feet”.