How to Remove Carpet From Start to Finish

The easiest way to remove carpet is by picking a corner of your room and pulling up the carpet, making sure to avoid the prickly tack strips around the edges. If the carpet won’t budge with sheer force, cut a small square out of the corner with your utility knife. Then, you can pull on the larger section and begin to rip up the carpet.

As you pull up carpet from the first corner, you’ll quickly be able to see if hardwood floors lay underneath, which may influence your decision to get new flooring or simply refinish your existing hardwood.

If you are removing carpet to expose hardwood floors below, you’ll need to be extra careful during this first step. Line up your initial cut with your utility knife along the tack strips to avoid damaging the hardwoods underneath. Typically, this would be about one inch from the wall. Then, use your pliers to grip the fibers and start pulling up the carpet you’ve cut.

Start by cutting near the risers (the vertical pieces between one step and the next) at either of the top corners. Tack strips and staples hold the carpet in place, particularly on the treads and risers. So, it’s important to wear gloves and collect loose staples as you go so they don’t scatter everywhere.

If there is a metal nosing – the horizontal edge that sticks out on a stair – at the top of the stairs, pry it up and take it off. Otherwise, you can grab the cut corner and start pulling up the carpet away from the stairs. As you work your way down the stairs, cut the carpet where necessary so you can remove several large strips of carpet at a time. Then, roll them up into manageable sections. If your stairs have banisters, carefully cut around them in smaller pieces.

Whether they're used to attach carpet to your stairs or hold carpet padding in place on your main floor, you're bound to come across carpet staples. While tedious, they are easily pried out using a few handheld tools.

Carefully slide a flathead screwdriver or a 6-in-1 painter's tool under each staple to lift it away from the floor. Then, pull it out using a pair of pliers. A heavy-duty staple remover makes the job even simpler.

Carpet tack strips are typically secured to the floor with concrete nails. To remove the nails, use a pry bar. Sometimes the nails are very long and can’t be pried out. In that case, use an angle grinder to cut the nails. If part of the nail is still visible, grind it down until the nail can’t be felt.

Then, remove any adhesive with a floor scraper and adhesive removers. Wear a respirator when using adhesive removers.

Use a utility knife to slice the carpet into strips that are a manageable size to roll up and move. In an average-size living room, you should be able to work well with carpet that’s rolled into thirds.

Roll a third of your carpet back into the center of the room. Use your utility knife to cut along the fold, keeping both hands on the blade for safety. Roll up your cut section of carpet, and use duct tape to prevent it from unrolling. This will make it a lot easier to pick up and drop at the curb or in your dumpster if you rented one for your project.

Continue rolling and cutting the rest of your carpet, making sure to cut off sections in separate areas, such as a closet or entryway. Come back to those after you’ve gotten the main portion rolled up and duct taped.