Pulling Up Old and Installing New: Life Cycles of Flooring

Carpet installation is already one of the most cost effective home remodels you can invest in. When you consider the price per square foot, carpet is usually more affordable than tile, hardwood, and most laminate products. Usually, linoleum floors are still a bit cheaper. However, carpet installation can be more affordable if you do a few simple things. This article shows how you can easily remove your existing carpet and carpet grippers to get a better price on the installation of your new product.

Removing the Carpet and Pads

Getting carpet off the floor is surprisingly very simple. Even though carpet can be heavy, you can manage the job if you have the right tools. First of all, you need to find the edge of the carpet where you can pull it up from. If you can't find an edge you can pull up along the walls, use a utility knife to cut a slit into the carpet a few inches out from the wall. Then, use a hammer, inserting the claw end into the slit, and lift up. This should lift the carpet right off of the ground, and then make it easier for you to lift up the rest of it by hand.

You will need to kind of rip the carpet because it will be attached to the side of the wall. If you have carpet pads underneath your carpet, they should be even easier to remove, unless they are stapled down to a wooden subfloor. If this is the case, you should rip the carpet up without worrying about the staples at first. Once all the carpet pads are out of the room, you can pull up the leftover staples.

The next step is to remove all the carpet grippers along the side of the wall. Some people mistakenly think that they can leave the old carpet grippers on the floor to make the installation of a new product easier. However, new carpet will always be installed with new grippers or tack strips.

The best way to remove carpet grippers is with just a hammer and a flathead screwdriver. Just hammer the screwdriver underneath the wood and then pry up, away from the floor. This part of the process might be a little more physically demanding than the rest of the carpet removal. When it is done, you should sweep your floor and get ready for installation of your new product. Make sure that you inform the carpet installers that you have already removed all of your carpet, and that your floor is completely ready for the installation of the new product.