If you have natural hardwood floors underneath your carpeting, learning how to rip up carpet is most likely on your to-do list.
Hardwood flooring is meant to be shown off, but you have to know the right removal techniques to keep from damaging your flooring.
Even though hiring a professional is always the best way to get it done, there is a way to do it on your own.
How to Remove Carpet and Replace it with Wood Floors
The first thing you need to do is figure out how your carpet was installed. Carpet is installed via the following ways:
- Adhesive (Glue)
- Nails
- Tack Strips
If your carpeting was installed by an adhesive, you have to find out which adhesive was used. If it looks like a dark brown or tan adhesive, it may be tar based. If it is yellow, it’s just a common adhesive.
Once you have figured that out, you need to know how to remove carpet glue on hardwood floors. Most adhesives can be chipped off easily, but do it gently so you don’t damage your hardwood flooring underneath.
For nails or tack strips, there are a couple tools you will need to remove the carpeting. Pulling up carpet over natural hardwood floors needs to be done carefully, or you could do some damage to the flooring.
Take a look at these guidelines when you begin to pull up the carpet:
- Get some knee pads, work gloves, and safety glasses to protect yourself
- Pick up a utility knife, needle nose pliers, hammer, and a pry bar
- Start in the corner of the room and pull the carpet loose from the tacks with the pliers
- Work your way along the walls and continue to loosen the carpet
- Cut the carpeting into sections and roll them up for easy disposal
After this, you will need to remove the carpet padding and the tack strips. This is where you’ll need to use the pliers to pull out staples. Then the tack strips can be removed using the pry bar, hammer, and the pliers.
To restore hardwood floors under carpet, you will have to find a company that specializes in refinishing and installation. If your hardwood flooring is past the option of refinishing, you’ll save a lot more money by getting new wood flooring installed.
Get New Hardwood Flooring Installed Today!
Sometimes, the old hardwood underneath your carpeting won’t look like new with a simple refinishing. This is the time where you should consider buying a new hardwood floor.
At The Carpet Guys, we carry the highest quality hardwood products on the market. With our hardwood flooring products, your rooms will scream luxury.
Not only that, but we will remove your old carpeting at no charge whatsoever. Why bother doing it on your own when we will do it for you? Believe us, you’ll be thankful that you had us do it.
Whatever hardwood stains and styles you’re looking for, we have it on our shelves. Some of the beautiful products we carry include:
- Hickory
- Maple
- Oak
- Cherry
- Much more!
All you have to do now is schedule your free hardwood flooring estimate to get started.
Your satisfaction is our number one goal.
Carpet Removal Safety Tips
Before you go, please keep these safety tips in mind if you’re going to remove the carpeting on your own:
- Make sure to wear your safety glasses during the entire process, as nails or tacks may fly up at you.
- Be careful when cutting the carpet so you don’t damage the carpet or cut yourself.
- Take your time and do everything at a steady pace.
Your safety should be the most important thing, so be careful.
