Removing Carpet and Pad: Pullers and Scrapers

Stretch-in carpet comes up by pulling; glue-down carpet comes up by scraping. On big jobs, a powered puller or a scraper with self-scoring blades clears large areas faster and with less labor than hand removal.

Stretch-in or glue-down?

The first step is figuring out how the carpet was installed, because that decides the method.

• Stretch-in: carpet over pad, held by tack strip at the walls. Lift a corner with pliers; if you see pad and tack strip, it's stretch-in. If the backing is bonded to the slab with adhesive and there is no pad or tack strip, it's glue-down.
• Glue-down: carpet or carpet tile bonded straight to the slab. Common in commercial spaces.

Stretch-in: cut, pull, roll

Cut first, then pull each strip, then deal with the pad and tack strip.

1. Cut the carpet into strips. For a powered puller, score strips 6 ft wide, or narrower for strong carpet. Pull along the length, because carpet resists tearing in that direction.^[1]
2. By hand: roll each strip and tape it for disposal. With a powered puller: loosen 12 to 18 inches at the wall, clamp the bar, and keep the rope straight into the machine.^[1]
3. Pull the pad the same way. It's usually stapled; pull it off the staples rather than tearing it.
4. Pull staples whenever the new floor is resilient or thin. Only knock them flat with a scraper under thick carpet.
5. Remove tack strip with a pry bar if the new floor needs it gone. Wear cut-resistant gloves when pulling tack strip.

Glue-down: scrape

Scraping lifts and cuts the carpet in one pass, so blade choice matters most.

1. Use a walk-behind or ride-on with self-scoring blades. They cut the carpet into strips while they lift it.^[2] Use tall 4" wings on thick carpet.^[2]
2. Run bevel up on concrete. On wood, use bevel down so you don't gouge the subfloor.
3. For heavily glued carpet or carpet tile, switch to a heavy-duty blade that cuts through the adhesive without bogging down.
4. Remove leftover adhesive to the level the new flooring manufacturer specifies, using a scraper or grinder as the job requires.

Common mistakes

Carpet removal goes wrong most often with strip width, safety around pullers, and dull blades.

• Strips too wide. Strips that are too wide tear, jam the puller, and tire the crew faster than the extra footage saves.
• Standing in the pull line. If the rope or carpet lets go, it snaps back. Never stand in the pull line.^[1]
• Dull scoring wings. The blade stops cutting strips and starts bunching carpet.
• Leaving staples. They telegraph through resilient flooring and puncture pad.

Tools we carry

These are the pullers and blades we carry for carpet removal.

• National 72 High-Powered Carpet Puller and National 71 Carpet Puller
• Shank Floor Tools Jack the Ripper
• National 6277-BU Self Scoring Blade and 6261-BU with 4" wings
• All carpet pullers and pry bars

References

1. National 72 carpet puller operating manual
2. National: Choosing the best blade for carpet removal

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