DIY Carpet Removal: How to Get the Job Done

Taking up old carpeting on your own isn’t the easiest household task, but it’s certainly doable! Here are a few step-by-step instructions for DIY carpet removal.

DIY Carpet Removal

• First, assemble your tools: you’ll need a dust mask, knee pads, locking pliers, a pry bar, a floor scraper, safety eye wear, a heavy-duty utility knife, a pair of gloves, a few trash bags, and a floor scraper.
• Next, detach the carpet from the tack strip. A tack strip is a length of wood glued to the floor with tacks attached to it. These tacks grab hold of the carpet and keep it in place against the wall. Beginning in a corner, grab the carpet with a pair of pliers and pull the carpet toward you. Then grab the carpet with your hands and continue to pull it up, working your way down the entire wall.
• Now, take up the padding. If stapled, use pliers or a flat-head screwdriver to pull the staples out. The padding is sometimes glued to the floor. This means you’ll have to use a scraper and some good old-fashioned elbow grease.
• You’ll need to cut up the carpet into smaller pieces that you can dispose of easily. To do this, fold the carpet back and cut it with your utility knife into strips that are manageable. Work with a new, sharp blade in your utility knife. Cut the padding into strips, as you did with the carpet.
• Now that you’ve removed the carpet and padding, you’re left with piles of strips. Resist the temptation to toss them in your curbside trash! Most carpets contain plastic fibers, making them recyclable.
• Call on a junk hauling company likeJDog Junk Removal & Hauling to have it taken to the proper recycling site. At JDog Junk Removal & Hauling, we respect the planet and strive to maintain environmentally responsible disposal practices whenever possible. Contact us today by calling 844-GET-JDOG to schedule a pickup for your old carpet—and anything else you need to have hauled away.