How to Remove Old Carpets and Pads Safely and Quickly by Yourself

It’s not particularly difficult to remove your old carpets, but you will need a bit of elbow grease. Even if you’ve hired a company to come in and install your new carpets, many home-owners like to remove their old carpets themselves and clean the underneath first, which some carpet firms do not do. This allows you to clean the subfloor and, if you’re having carpet professionally installed, it can save you money if you remove carpets on your own first.

 

Make sure you have some basic safety equipment before proceeding. When you remove your carpets, a lot of dust and debris will get thrown in the air. Have a dust mask handy to protect yourself from this. The tack strips that hold carpets to the floor have very sharp nails. Make sure you wear heavy work gloves when you handle them, and when you pull up the carpet be sure that you (and anyone else in the house at the time) wears thick boots so that if you accidentally step on a carpet tack it won;t end up in your foot.

 

First step: clear the house! Children and pets should not be allowed to run around or walk through any room that has just had its carpets pulled up. Aside from breathing in the unhealthy dust, they may step or fall on a carpet tack. So keep them out of the room before you even begin.

To remove carpets without damaging anything, first take the molding off of your walls. You can sometimes pull the carpet out from under it, but you may damage the molding in this way. Once you’re done, the carpet itself usually can then be pried loose of the tack strips. You may want to use a crowbar. When you remove your carpets, getting the first corner up is the hardest part. After you get it going, it will be fairly easy to tear it up from the floor. As you pull large pieces free, cut them off the larger body of the carpet to make them easy to fit in the trash.

 

Be sure not to step on the exposed tack strips, and cover them with pieces of boarding or thick foam. If you do step on a rusty tack or cut yourself on one, it’s usually a good idea to go to the doctor’s office afterward and get a tetanus shot, especially if you haven’t had one in a few years.

After you remove the carpets from your room, you’ll need to pull up the old carpet pad. The padding will usually just be light foam. It may be filthy, so be sure to wear clothes that you don’t care about ruining when you remove your carpets.

 

Once all this is done, thoroughly vacuum and clean the floors. If you’re going to paint your walls or skirting boards, now is a good time to do it. That way you won;t have to worry about dripping paint on your new carpets. When you’re done, you’re now ready to install your new carpets. 

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