Taking Up Carpet Grippers

To detach the carpet from the tack strip that holds the carpet in place along walls start in a corner.

Taking up carpet grippers.

A carpet gripper also referred to as a tack strip is a long strip of wood about 1 4 inch thick and 1 inch wide that contains several sharp pins or tacks. It depends on how much of the carpet you re going to pull up. In most cases glue down carpet cannot be lifted up without damaging the backing or tearing the carpet. Roll or fold the strip secure with duct tape and remove it from the room.

I used a smaller chisel but i could have used anything of similar size and solid such as a screwdriver or piece of wood or metal. A chisel with a fine sharp end that could get under the carpet gripper. Here is how i removed the carpet grippers in one room. One way to do this is to lift the carpet away from the floor as you cut.

Pull up a few feet of carpet and fold it over. If you are trying to salvage the floor underneath make sure you do not cut grooves in the floor with the knife. Pulling up the carpet and scraping underneath with a paint scraper to beak the glue bond is tedious work and wetting the carpet to loosen the adhesive may cause it to break into pieces. How to install carpet grippers.

A lot of. Of carpet and cut it into easy to handle strips photo 1. Keep both hands on the knife to avoid cutting a free hand. Carpet is installed using glue or tack strips.

You can pull carpet up off the tacking strip to do some work. Continue pulling up carpet a few feet at a time and cutting it into easy to handle strips. Use a utility knife with a sharp new blade to cut through the carpet backing. Carpet is stretched over tack strips using a kick stretcher or a power stretcher so if you pull the whole carpet it you risk losing that stretch.

Carpet installers use strong mastic that doesn t deteriorate when they glue down carpets and they often use more than is really needed both of which spell bad news for you when you want to remove the carpet. Then grab the carpet by hand and continue to pull it up along an entire wall. How to lift a carpet up without damaging it. Just grab the carpet with pliers and pull.

Another item to use as a fulcrum under the first chisel.