Carpet Removal And How To Easily Remove Carpet Tack Strips ...

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Carpet removal is a cinch with a few simple tools like a carpet staple remover. We’ll also show you how to remove carpet tack strips the easy way!

Pablo Picasso once said, “Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.”

He wasn’t the first to voice this sentiment, nor would he be the last.

It is as true in nature (an old forest must burn to make way for new new growth, and the ashes of the old nourish the new) as it is with modern man – newer, bigger (better?) cities rise from the rubble and rest on the foundations of buildings sacrificed in the name of progress.

So it is with our craft room makeover.

Except, you know, we’re not burning the room to the ground.

And we’re not reducing it to rubble.

Okay, so maybe my comparison is a bit dramatic, but we did have to tear out the carpet.

That’s a little bit of destruction, right?

Okay let’s get on with it.

If you believe The Internet, carpet removal ranks up there with colonoscopies and prostate exams in terms of the stress it gives people.

Folks, there’s no need to fear the shag.

Removing a carpet is simple if you do it the right way!

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Carpet Removal – The Easy Way!

Utility knife
Hammer
6-in-1 painter’s tool
Stanley Wonderbar (or other pry bar)
Carpet staple remover
Knee pads (optional)
Gloves (optional)

Step 1 – Cut the carpet into strips

The first thing you need to do is figure out how many strips you’ll need to cut. Factors that weigh into this decision:

How strong are you? Carpet can be pretty heavy, so plan your strips accordingly!
How far do you need to carry the strips? To the garage? The street? Down a narrow stairway? Plan your length accordingly.
How will you be disposing of the strips? If you’ll be bagging them, you’ll need to make the rolls small enough to fit into contractor bags. If you’ll be throwing them in a dumpster, you can have them as big as you want. We cut ours into two strips – easy enough for me to carry, and small enough to fit in the car so I could take them to the dump.

Use a utility knife to cut the carpet into manageable strips, which you will later roll up and carry away. Carpet fibers are pretty tough, so you’ll probably need to make 2 or 3 passes to cut all the way through. There’s no need for a careful touch UNLESS there is good hardwood flooring underneath that you are trying to rescue.

Step 2 – Start pulling the carpet

Most will find it easiest to start pulling from a corner. You can use your 6-in-1 tool or a screwdriver if necessary, but the carpet should come up fairly easily. We started pulling ours from a floor register that was near the wall, as it was the easiest place to start. Be careful around floor registers! They’re lined with carpet tack strips, and they’ll puncture your finger with the slightest pressure.

Ask me how I know!

removing carpet — Hey, this carpet pad is beautiful! Let’s keep it!

Step 3 – Roll up the carpet strips

It’s really so easy! Unfortunately, as I started to roll, Handan squirreled and ran into another room, leaving me to roll alone. At the time, I wasn’t thinking of writing a blog post about carpet removal, so I just carried on my merry way. Removing this carpet took all of 2 minutes. It actually took longer to remove the carpet pad!

Step 4 – Pull up the carpet pad

Blech, what a nasty thing! The carpet pad is where all the dirt and dust of decades past has gone to hide. This dirt is so deep that no amount of vacuuming could ever have cleaned it! The best way to remove the carpet pad is to fold it up. It’s usually laid in smaller sections, and it’s stapled along its edges.

Ours seemed to be stapled by someone very determined and very drunk – lots and lots of staples all over the place!

Step 5 – Remove the carpet tack strips

Some people have a hard time with this step, but I’ll show you how to remove carpet tack strips the easy way with three simple tools. Pick somewhere to start – either a corner or a break between two tack strips. Use the 6-in-1 painter’s tool and a hammer to lift one end of one of the strips.

Gently tap the painter’s tool with the hammer until it is underneath the carpet tack strip.

tapping a scraper under a carpet tack strip

Lift up. This will create a small space between the carpet tack strip and the floor.

Why not use a regular scraper or why not just use a pry bar to begin with?

Good questions! Most regular scrapers are too flexible to lift up the tack strip. The 6-in-1 tool is rigid.

Most pry bars are too thick on their prying end to easily fit between the tack strip and the floor. By creating a space with the painter’s tool, the pry bar fits right in.

By the way, I swear by Stanley’s Wonderbar not only for this job, but for all my trim and baseboard removal as well.

You will see floor nails at regular intervals along the strips. To easily remove the carpet tack strip, move the pry bar near a nail and pry up while gently lifting the end of the tack strip with your other hand.

With this method, you’ll never break a strip unless the wood is rotten. Oh, and do be careful when removing carpet tack strips. Those tacks are beyond sharp!

On a side note, I seem to be smiling too much, given the nature of the work I’m engaged in.

Never trust a man who smiles too much.

He’s selling something.

Oh, hello there! Fine day, madam! May I interest you in this delightful product? You’re going to need it for the next section, you know!

Step 6 – Remove the carpet staples

Okay, so this is the step that sends people into conniption fits. The problem is – EVERYONE IS DOING IT THE WRONG WAY!

(and that included me until my babes showed me the light)

Like most others, I started attacking those staples with a flathead screwdriver and a pair of pliers. After expending considerable energy removing three carpet staples, I looked around the room at the hundreds left and muttered a string of words that began with the letter ‘F,’ which included, but was not limited to, “farts!” “fanny!” “flubber!” “fuggedaboudit!” “fink!” “fish-heads!” and one other F-word not fit to print on this pious and wholesome blog.

My babes heard me babbling profanities and came to see what was up.

“What are you doing?” She said, looking down at me as a mother would look down on a snot-nosed 4-year-old sitting on the ground covered in mud.

I babbled and pointed at the staples and then at my screwdriver. “Hmph!” I said.

Point well made, I thought.

“My babes,” She said, and I knew right away I was doing it wrong. “My babes, I have a tool for that, you silly. Just wait.”

She left, and I continued glaring at the carpet staples.

Little metal jerks.

She returned and handed me the most wonderful tool in the universe: a carpet staple remover.

Forget about the moon landing, the personal computer or flying cars – this is mankind’s greatest achievement! Well, at least it is during the time you’re trying to pull carpet staples out of a subfloor. For most other times, I guess the moon landing would still be number one.

The staple remover not only made the job easy – it made the job (dare I say) fun!

Just shove it under the staple…

lifting carpet staples with a construction staple remover

..and push down. The carpet staple remover locks onto the staple and lifts it up!

This little gadget turned what would have been an hours-long crapfest into an easy 10-minute job.

Step 7 – Vacuum and you’re done

While vacuuming, you’ll likely encounter one or two stray staples that eluded detection. Pull them, and you’re done!

*****

Carpet removal is a simple job that’ll save you a ton of money by Doing it Yourself. There’s so much fear and mystery when it comes to carpet and flooring, but like most things in the home, once you learn how to Do it Yourself, you realize that most of the hysteria is generated by “professionals” who want nothing more than to funnel your hard-earned dollars into their own bank accounts.

So with our own carpet removed and disposed of, I turned my eye to the walls, window trim and ceiling. It was the perfect time to paint – no need for a tarp because there was no floor to mess up!

If you’re following along with the craft room makeover, here’s how we stand: