Carpet removal and disposal is often a cost that homeowners overlook when calculating the total cost of installing new flooring. One way to avoid these costs is by removing your carpet yourself. But if you decide to tackle this job yourself there are a few things you may want to know first.

Get The Right Tools

The first thing to keep in mind is to make sure to have the right equipment. Having proper tools will make removing your carpet a lot less time consuming. Some things you will need include

• Dust mask- protect yourself from dust, mold or anything else you may find under an old carpet with a dust mask
• Knee pads- You will be on your knees a lot. Good knee pads will help prevent pain and injury.
• Utility Knife – A knife will help you cut through the old carpet to remove it piece by piece.
• Pry Bar- A pry bar will be used to pull up tack strip and remove baseboard trim.
• Floor Scraper: This tool is used to remove all the carpet pad staples in the subfloor.

Prepare the Carpet for Removal

Prepare your carpet and room for carpet removal. Remove all furniture from the room. Next, remove the baseboard molding. If you plan to reuse the baseboard use the pry bar at every nail used to hold it in place and go slowly and carefully to help prevent broken baseboard. Finally, before you begin you may want to contact your local recycling center to find out if they take carpet – If you are unable to recycle your old carpet figure out how you will be disposing of it after it is removed.

Remove Carpet

Now you are ready to get started

• Step 1: With your utility knife make a cut in the carpet & cut the entire length of the room. Make sure to lift up the carpet as you cut it so the blade tip doesn’t contact the subfloor beneath.
•  Step 2: Cut the long strip you’ve created into shorter strips typically in 6 to 12 foot in length. This will keep the rolls small enough for one person to carry.
• Step 3: Next pull the carpet off the tack strips and roll it up as tightly as possible. Secure the rolled up carpet with rope, twine or duct tape.

Remove Tack Strip & Carpet Padding

One the carpet itself is removed you can now remove the tack strip. To do so wedge the pry bar beneath the tack strip near each nail in the subfloor. Lift up to remove the strip. The carpet padding is removed the same way as the carpet & the staples can be removed with a floor scraper.