How do you remove installed carpets?

Question

we are trying to remove the old carpets in my house. you see last year, are air conditioner broke and leaked fluid all over the hallway carpet, and now we're trying to remove them. how do you do it with out ruining the floor below.

Answer 1

Wall to wall is put down over wood nailer, that is thin pieces of wood with tacks facing up that grip the carpet. Carpet removal is easy, find a free corner and pull up.....be strong!! Chances are the wood strips may pull up or need to be replaced. No big deal, they were nailed to the floor before, new ones can be put back down.

Glued down carpets, well, that's a pain! What doesn't come up with have to be brought up with an adhesive removing chemical.

So let's hope the hall carpet is the traditional nailer installation.

Answer 2

Wear heavy duty gloves. Believe it or not, pliers, screwdriver and hammer, or rubber mallet. Use the pliers to grab a corner of the carpet. Pull hard. After the carpet is part way up, you may want to cut it to make rolling it easier. If you are removing the carpet completely, you will have the pad to deal with next. Grab a corner and pull. It probably is stapled down, for the little bits that don't come up. Grab the pad around the staple and pull, if you are lucky, the staple will come up too. If not, you will have to use the pliers again to pull the staples up. If you have to remove the tack strips, use a screwdriver under the nail head. Don't use a high angle, you will damage the floor. Tap the screwdriver and the tack strip will start to come up. It will break into pieces as you pry up. You should use a 5 gallon bucket to make clean up easier in the end.

It's a lot of work. If new carpet is going down, you may be able to reuse the pad if it isn't bad or damaged. The carpet installers will do the work for you, but they will charge you.

Take your time, put on the radio. It's a good, no brainer, chore, but takes a long time. Oh, you can get colored putty to fill in any holes if you aren't recarpeting.

Answer 3

you have a tack board runing along the bottom of your walls that hold the carpet inplace. usually all you have to do is pull up around the base of your wall , this will bring up your old carpet. I would recommend removeing the pad as well .
Oh and it is not so easy to reinstall a new carpet , you may need some help on advice from say Home Depot .

Answer 4

If the tiles are fine and well stuck down, but I would be worried about the double sided tape especially in the summer. Also be aware that the tape will not grip as well to a shiny surface, so if the floor has been treated it could come loose if children run on it. Have you thought of using a carpet spray glue. You can buy this in B&Q (UK) just spray around the boarder.

Answer 5

If they're wall to wall, it's really easy to pull them up. Glue down, you'll need a blade. If you are going to recarpet, it doesn't have to be perfect. Wear gloves and a mask. The fluid and dust kick up. Carpet is murder on your hands.

Answer 6

Simple!! Start by taking a knife & be careful not to cut too deep & cut the rug down to the pad. Then just rip away!!!! The pad should come up very easy then.

Answer 7

should be molding on top and underneath take a good look if on top unscrew should be stapled to side or to a special strip underneath just get to the molding and pull carpet should work if not glued to floor.

Answer 8

I say rip that sucker up, no matter what kind of flooring you have underneath. Unless the carpet goes underneath the baseboards, then you should be able to just rip it up easily.

Answer 9

Take a carpenters knife as close to the edge as you can and cut it all out, new carpets can be installed easily.