DIY - Getting rid of nasty carpet
So this house had carpet EVERYWHERE. They also had 2 big dogs that lived there, who blessed the carpets regularly. Great. When we got our quotes from our flooring guys and GC, it was about $1,000 to remove carpet (anywhere from .30-.50/sq ft). Me and the hubs are admittedly lazy people, but we are also cheap. As we were speaking to contractors, they made it pretty clear that its not that hard to remove carpet... so we figured, why the heck not, lets do it.Here's some photos of the beautiful hot pink carpet (you know you had this when you were younger) and off white berber that went throughout the entire house.
Here we go...
Step #1: Buy your supplies
Supplies Needed:
- Gloves - $5
- Pliers - had these!
- Knife - $10
- Mask - $5
- Duct Tape - $20
- Hammer - had this woot!
- Floor Scraper - $20
- Shop Vac - $99
- Blood, Sweat & Tears - Free.99
Total Cost = $160 (with a brand new shop vac, which you'll use for a lot of other things later like washing your car and dealing with garage messes) vs. $1000+, that's worth it in our book.
Step #2: Tell your Husband (or whoever is doing the dirty work) he is awesome
Yup, butter that guy/girl up, because some hard work is about to be done. It's not complicated, but it does take a lot of lifting, squatting, pulling, cutting, sweating, swearing, etc.
Step #3: Rip that ish out!
All you need to do is pull up a corner (use your pliers), tug at the carpet, pull it up, fold it over, cut a manageable piece, roll it up, tape it, then toss it over the banister, and repeat... dozens and dozens of times.
Make sure you are wearing long sleeves, good shoes, gloves and your mask!! The mask can be a pain in the butt, but think about decades of someone else's body flakes and who knows what embedded into that carpet, kicking up into your face. You'll be thankful later you wore the mask :).
Make sure you are wearing long sleeves, good shoes, gloves and your mask!! The mask can be a pain in the butt, but think about decades of someone else's body flakes and who knows what embedded into that carpet, kicking up into your face. You'll be thankful later you wore the mask :).
Step #4: Repeat for the padding
Do the same thing for the padding. This is even easier since it is not as heavy and easy to rip by hand. This part doesn't need to be perfect. Some of the padding will get stuck in the staples in the floor, which is ok, it doesn't need to be perfect!
Step #5: Scrape and Suck it Up!
What you'll see left is rows of staples that held the padding down and tack strips along the edges of the wall.
If you are putting carpet into that room, leave the tack strips there for the installers to reuse. If you are doing wood or another flooring, you can pull this out with a hammer, flathead or pliers.
For the staples in the ground, instead of pulling those suckers out one by one with pliers, grab your floor scraper and ram into them. Those babies will pop out super easily. For the stubborn ones, use your pliers to pull them out.
Once you've finished, grab your handy dandy shop vac and vacuum it all up!! Voila!
If you are putting carpet into that room, leave the tack strips there for the installers to reuse. If you are doing wood or another flooring, you can pull this out with a hammer, flathead or pliers.
For the staples in the ground, instead of pulling those suckers out one by one with pliers, grab your floor scraper and ram into them. Those babies will pop out super easily. For the stubborn ones, use your pliers to pull them out.
Once you've finished, grab your handy dandy shop vac and vacuum it all up!! Voila!
 |
| Don't do what I did and wear no sleeves and crappy shoes!! |
Step #6: Get rid of that old carpet
To be honest, I'm stuck on this step. There are a few options of disposing of your old carpet and padding:
Landfill it:
Landfill it:
- Contact your garbage company for a special pick up or dumpster rental
- Throw it out little by little, most curbside pick up will pick up rolls that are 4ft/5ft in length, rolled up and not more than 25 lbs. each.
- Throw your garbage man a few bucks and say pretty please can I throw this all away today?
Recycle it: (this is what I've been trying to do with no luck!) There are several resources you can find online, now getting them to call back or finding a place to pick up is a whole other story.
Step #7: Celebrate!!
Some Other Tips:
- Now is a great time to paint the walls and trim!! With no floors, less thought needs to go into protecting the ground!
- Before your flooring is put in, look for loose boards and squeaks and get those fixed!
- I didn't talk about the stairs, because they were the bane of my existence. Carpet removal on stairs is the hell on earth. If you can't pay someone to do this, get your crowbar, good pliers, and many hours of swearing ready.
No comments:
Post a Comment