Removing old carpet, pad and tack strip yourself in a Tacoma house

Carpet removal is noisy, dusty and a little sharp, but it is not complicated. In a Tacoma rambler, a North End Craftsman or a Puyallup two-story, the steps are the same: carpet out, pad out, every staple out, tack strip out, then a look at what is underneath. This guide covers how to do it safely, what to do with the debris in Pierce County, what it costs either way and when to stop and leave the rest to an installer.

Before you start

Check what is under it. Lift a corner in a closet. Pull the carpet off the tack strip with pliers, fold back the pad and look. Plywood, OSB or old fir boards are normal. Hardwood is common under carpet in older Tacoma neighborhoods and may be worth keeping. Sheet vinyl, 9-inch or 12-inch vinyl tiles or black adhesive in a house built before about 1980 means stop: that material can contain asbestos, and it should be tested before it is disturbed.

Gear. Work gloves (tack strip nails go straight through thin gloves), safety glasses, knee pads, a well-fitted N95 mask, long sleeves, a sharp utility knife with plenty of blades, a flat pry bar, a hammer, pliers or a staple puller, a floor scraper, heavy contractor bags, duct tape and a shop vacuum. Old pad sheds crumbs and dust, and in a house with pets or over a damp crawl space it can carry mold, so the mask is not optional.

Clear the room. Furniture out, doors off their hinges if they swing over the carpet, and floor registers lifted out so you do not cut around them.

Lifting. A rolled-up room of wet or heavy carpet can weigh more than you expect. Cut it into strips you can carry without twisting your back, and get help on stairs.

Step by step

1. Pull up a corner. Start at a wall. Grab the carpet with pliers right at the tack strip and pull it up off the pins. Work along the wall to loosen a few feet.
2. Cut into strips. Fold the carpet back and cut it from the back side into strips about 3 feet wide, cutting toward you only when your other hand is well clear. Smaller strips are easier to lift and fit in a vehicle.
3. Roll and tape. Roll each strip tightly, pile side in, and tape it. Stack the rolls by the door you will carry them out of.
4. Pull the pad. Pad is usually stapled to wood subfloors and sometimes glued at the seams. Peel it up in sections and bag it. Pad from a pet household or a damp room goes straight into a sealed bag.
5. Remove every staple. Go over the whole floor with a staple puller or pliers. Staples that break off flush get tapped down or ground flat. One missed staple will telegraph through vinyl plank.
6. Pry up the tack strip. Slide the pry bar under the strip next to each nail and lever it up. Work slowly near walls so you do not gouge drywall or the bottom of door casings. Bag the strips right away, nails in; they will cut through a thin bag, so wrap bundles in a scrap of carpet or cardboard.
7. Scrape and vacuum. Scrape off pad residue and glue spots, pull any remaining nails and vacuum the floor completely.
8. Inspect and photograph. Look for urine stains, black spots, soft areas when you step, loose panels and gaps. A strong ammonia smell from the subfloor means urine has soaked in, which needs to be treated or the section replaced before a new floor goes down.

Getting rid of it in Pierce County

Old carpet and pad are bulky, not hazardous, and they do not belong in a curbside cart in any quantity.

• Tacoma. The City of Tacoma runs the Recovery and Transfer Center for residents. Check the city's Environmental Services page for hours, what it accepts and current fees before you load the truck, and ask about any scheduled bulky item pickup the city offers.
• Elsewhere in Pierce County. Lakewood, University Place, Puyallup, Gig Harbor, Bonney Lake and unincorporated areas use their city's hauler and the county's solid waste system. Pierce County's solid waste pages list transfer stations and what each takes.
• Kitsap. Port Orchard and Bremerton residents use Kitsap County's facilities; check the county's solid waste page.
• Pad recycling. Clean, dry pad can sometimes be recycled. Ask local carpet retailers or recyclers; wet, soiled or moldy pad goes out as garbage.
• Tack strip. Bag it, wrapped, so nothing pokes through on the way. Transfer station staff and your own hands will thank you.

Cover the load and tie it down. Carpet rolls on an open trailer catch wind on I-5 and Highway 16.

What it costs

These are typical Tacoma and Pierce County ranges for planning. They vary with the room, the product under the carpet and current disposal fees, and the written quote after a measure is the real number.

The flooring installation cost guide for Tacoma puts these numbers next to product and prep costs. If you plan to pull the carpet yourself, tell the installer at the measure so removal comes off the quote and the schedule allows for it.

When to call a professional

Stop and hand the job over when you see any of these:

• Sheet vinyl, vinyl tile or black mastic under the carpet in a pre-1980 house. Do not scrape, sand or break it until a sample has been tested.
• Soft, spongy or broken subfloor, or a section that moves underfoot. That is a repair, not a cleanup.
• Heavy pet urine damage that has soaked into the wood. The pet-proof and waterproof flooring page explains how installers handle it.
• Mold on the subfloor or the back of the pad over a large area, or a musty smell coming up from a crawl space.
• Stairs. Carpet on stairs is held with staples and tack strip on every tread and riser, and the treads underneath may need work. It is slow and easy to get hurt on.
• A basement slab that is damp, cracked or stained. See basement and below-grade flooring.

For everything else, the floor removal and haul-away page covers what an installer does once the carpet is gone: flattening, squeak repair and moisture checks before vinyl plank or laminate goes down.