When your old carpeting manages to live past a certain age, its overall appearance starts looking far from desirable, which leaves you with only one choice – to replace the floor covering with a new piece. But before you go shopping for a new carpet or any other type of floor covering for your property, you need to think about one very important detail – how to remove the old carpet.
The job may look easy at first, even a little fun, but in reality, there is a lot that goes into removing an old floor covering. In this article, we are going to share with you the steps that you need to follow in order to successfully remove a carpet.
That said, before we get to the actual steps, there are a few things that we need to talk about, starting with…
Your carpet removal options
When it comes to carpet removal, you have three options, all of them having their specific advantages and disadvantages. The first option is to call the retailer of the carpet and ask them to come and remove the piece. Many carpet companies offer this service for a certain fee. Your second option is to call the company that installed the carpet and ask them if they offer rip up services. And your third option, the one that we are going to cover in this article, is to remove the floor covering by yourself. Needless to say, the best option is the latter one, due to the fact that you don’t need to spend a single pound.
The tools that you’ll need for the project
Consider the carpet removal task as a regular dismantling job that requires specific tools and equipment to be completed. With that in mind, here is what you are going to need in order to rip up yours:
- Clothes that you don’t love and are ready to get dirty;
- A pair of trusty pliers;
- A utility knife, in case you have a tough time with the pliers;
- A pair of heavy-duty gloves;
- A crowbar;
- A scraper of some kind.
- A roll of duct tape.
If you want to be extra safe, we suggest also getting a dust mask – there are going to be a lot of dirt particles flying around the room.
Now that you’ve got everything prepared, it’s time to proceed with the next step.
How to remove the carpet fast and easy
There is a method to the madness with carpet removing. Go to one of the corners of the room and try to lift the end of the floor covering with your pair of pliers. If you can’t manage to grab the piece with the instrument, get your utility knife and cut a small part, so you can have a better grip on the carpet. Begin pulling, and pulling, and pulling… Basically, half of the work here is to pull along the wall. Once you are done with that, you have two options – to cut the carpet into strips, by folding them and “portioning” them with your utility knife or to roll it into one big roll. The first option will take a bit more time and second – a bit more back pain later. Pick the one that you find best for your situation.
Take care of the underlay
If your underlay is attached to the floor with staples, you’ll have a far easier time removing it. However, most of the time it is glued down, which makes the whole process more time-consuming and hard. Here is what you need to do in both scenarios:
How to remove an underlay attached with staples
All you have to do is pull the underlay – a little muscle power will take it right off. Cut the pieces into little strips and roll them, so you can throw them away easier.
How to remove a glued underlay
Get the scraper that we mentioned earlier and try to lift the underlay with it. If you have trouble removing the piece, we suggest applying a bit more pressure – sooner or later the glue substance will start to give and the underlay will lift. Again, we advise that you cut the parts into small pieces once you remove them.
Pull out the gripper rods and staples
After you’ve removed both the carpet and underlay, you need to take care of the staples that are left stuck in the floor. The bad news is that this part will take a lot of time because you need to take out each staple individually. You can do this with your pliers or with a crowbar – whatever you find handier. Take your time and make sure that all staples are gone, otherwise, you risk to end up with a bumpy floor after you lay down the new floor covering or any other type of thin floor covering.
We are nearly done. Once you are done with the staples, take a look at the gripper cords – they are the little wooden parts that are attached with tacks around the outside area of the carpeting. If they are in a bad state, you need to remove them. You can pull them out by sliding your crowbar under the nails that hold the strip and carefully lifting the element.
Needless to say, if they are in a good shape, you can leave them there for the new carpeting, that is if you are planning to lay one.
Throw out the carpet
Now that you’ve successfully removed your carpeting, it’s time to dispose of it. If you’ve decided to cut the floor covering into more manageable pieces, you’ll get to load the carpet faster and easier into your car. If you’ve rolled up the piece, instead of cutting it, you’ll have to find a bigger vehicle to transport it. You also need to think about where you are going to dispose of the item. We suggest driving it to a recycling centre or, if you don’t have one near you, a landfill. Note that you are probably going to have to pay a fee for the waste disposal service of the facility.
Hire a professional carpet removal company
Removing a whole carpet by yourself is very tiring and time-consuming. On top of that, you also have to find a way to dispose of the piece. If you don’t feel like driving your old carpet to a recycling centre or a landfill, or you just don’t have a big enough vehicle for the job, why not get a professional to help you out? We, at, Rainbow Rubbish Removals, offer professional carpet removal services that are the perfect solution!
All you have to do is give us a call, tell us the size of the carpeting piece, choose a day and time for the service and you can leave the rest to us! We’ll send you a team of carpet disposal specialists, who will load the piece into their van, transport it to the nearest recycling facility and unload it there for eco-friendly processing. And do you know what the best part is? The service can be booked for any day of the week and is extremely affordable. If you want to make a service appointment, check out our website or directly contact us!
Conclusion
While carpet removal may not be the most pleasant task in the world, when the time for a new floor covering comes, you just have to spend a couple of hours removing the old piece. With that being said, we hope that our guide on how to remove a carpet made your job a little bit easier. And remember – if you need a helping hand when it comes to the disposal of the piece, you can always count on Rainbow Rubbish Removals to literally take the tedious task from your hands.