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Once the lifetime of a carpet has expired, removing it is the best idea to eliminate a contaminant from your home. However, carpets on wooden floors are installed in such a way that they cannot move from their place, so removing them is not as easy as grabbing it from a corner and rolling it up. The good thing is that you can do this job yourself. If you want to know how to remove carpet from hardwood floors, you came to the right guide.
Generally, people who know how to remove carpet glue will charge something to do this job. It is not about the difficult, but the exhausting of the process. The average of these jobs is between $250 and $500, although a friend of yours could do it for free.
Chances are you want to change your old rug if it has started to lose threads, which could spread through the air causing breathing problems. You may also be making this change because the time has come to remodel your home.
Whatever the case, you cannot install a new carpet over the old one. You’ll be happy to know that you can eliminate the uninstall job from your budget by doing it yourself.
Reasons to remove a carpet
Although it may not seem logical, there are many reasons why you would remove a carpet from your home. Once it stops being warm and becomes a worn-out mess, the only way to fix your floor is to replace it. Cleaning it will only work up to a point, but after that, the stains won’t come out.
Another common cause for removing a carpet is that the wood floor has started to rot or is cracking, and the only way to fix it is without the carpet.
Finally, there is the standard decision by which people remove a carpet: for aesthetics. There are those who after a while get tired of seeing a carpet in their home, and prefer that the wood be the one that decorates it. This desire is understandable, after all, hardwood looks great on its own.
Besides, in modern styles, there are no spaces for certain types of full-size carpets.
If you are convinced that this is the right decision, then read on to find out how to do it by yourself.
How to remove carpet from hardwood floors – A great project
Tools needed to remove carpets
Do not start without being prepared with all the necessary tools and materials. This will save you a lot of time and you can focus only on the work ahead. Prepare a budget of at least $100 to purchase the following:
- For your safety: dust mask, kneepads, safety glasses, and leather gloves.
- To remove the carpet: Locking pliers and a multipurpose knife.
- To remove filler and tack strips: a pry bar, hammer, floor scraper, and carpet glue remover if the fill is glued.
Is it worth doing it yourself?
The best way to know if it is worth removing the carpet on your own is to see if the money you save will justify the effort. This can be done by asking installers and friends the price of the project.
You can also express to them your wish that you want to uninstall the carpet on your own, so you can ask them for some advice. Contractors, masons, and decorators also know what to do with the old carpet.
The latter is important to consider, as not all garbage collectors accept carpet rolls. In other cities, however, it is common for the urban cleaning service to take charge of this.
When it comes to preparation, you should remove the doors that open onto the carpet to make it easier to remove.
Before removing carpet from hardwood floors, be prepared with standard safety implements, such as gloves and glasses. Gloves are essential, as these will prevent you from hurting your hands when removing the carpet. We also recommend that you wear a dust mask because the carpets accumulate a lot of dirt.
Remove all the furniture from the room, if necessary ask for help with this task. You are now ready to start rolling the carpet.
Start at the corners
The easiest way to start removing a carpet is from the corners. Rugs are usually installed over baseboards or sockets (the wood or ceramic strips found at the bottom of the wall), so you should have no problem finding a loose corner. If this is not the case, then you must remove the socket to work.
To make the job easier, use a pair locking pliers to grab an edge and insert them between the open spaces. Gradually remove the carpet to avoid damaging the wood.
Strips are easier to remove
If you don’t plan on reusing the carpet then you can cut it without a problem. It is easier to remove long strips than a carpet that covers your entire room.
To trim it, use a utility knife or razor. Using both hands, hold the knife, and cut lengthwise. Long narrow strips can be easily rolled up, and they are lighter.
The thickness of the strips will depend on how much weight you can carry. Thick strips will be much heavier.
Raise the Tack Strips if necessary
A tack strip is, as the name implies, a metallic tape on which multiple tacks or sharp elements are placed that will cross the carpet to be able to keep it firm.
Installing a new carpet will require these strips, so if you are removing an old carpet, and the tacks are in good condition, you can reuse them.
In case you need to install new strips then you should remove the old ones using a pry bar and hammer.
Place the pry bar on one end of the strip and press to release it. Be very careful in this process to avoid accidents. It is recommended that you wear leather gloves so that the iron does not cut you. To get rid of the strips, place them inside the carpet rolls so they don’t break the bags.
You have to remove the filling
How to remove carpet from hardwood floors includes knowing how to remove the padding under the carpet. This is perhaps the part that carpets owners are most concerned about since the way to make this filling firm on many occasions is with glue on the wood.
For these situations, a carpet glue remover will likely be required to remove all adhesive residue.
Another option installers have is to use staples in the different filler patches. This method is much easier to remove since it will be enough to grab one of the seams and pull it so that all the staples come out.
Do not do any of the removal processes without wearing gloves. Even staples can be dangerous to remove since depending on the force they could get up and hit your hands.
In the same way, you must roll the filling to get rid of it. This does not need to be trimmed because it is very light. Once you have removed the glue for hardwood floor, or the staples, you can proceed to the next step.
The stairs are somewhat more complex
To remove the mat stuck to a ladder, it will not be enough to lift it from a corner. An opening must be created by cutting at the top edge of one of the risers (the sections that give height to each step).
Some stairs have metal edges at the top of the steps, especially the last one. In these cases, you will not need to make additional cuts in the carpet to start removing it, since you can remove it from here.
The stair mat is also supported by staples and tacks. Here you will also use the pry bar and hammer to remove the strips, but in this case, they will be one by one to prevent them from causing disasters.
If any section refuses to be removed, cut it into a small strip. Remember that the carpet will be heavy if you roll it into very large strips.
With this, you already know everything you need about how to remove carpet from hardwood floors. The time this project will take will depend on the size of your carpet and your dedication, but it may be worth doing it yourself to save a few hundred dollars.
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