Taking Up Carpet Grippers

Use a utility knife with a sharp new blade to cut through the carpet backing.

Taking up carpet grippers.

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. Keep both hands on the knife to avoid cutting a free hand. One way to do this is to lift the carpet away from the floor as you cut. Of carpet and cut it into easy to handle strips photo 1.

Another item to use as a fulcrum under the first chisel. 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. Continue pulling up carpet a few feet at a time and cutting it into easy to handle strips. Here is how i removed the carpet grippers in one room.

I did some work under our carpet and wound up pulling up too much and had to. In most cases glue down carpet cannot be lifted up without damaging the backing or tearing the carpet. Use a utility knife or carpet knife to slice the carpet into manageable strips and roll the strips up as you go. Just grab the carpet with pliers and pull.

It depends on how much of the carpet you re going to pull up. A lot of. Pull up a few feet of carpet and fold it over. Roll or fold the strip secure with duct tape and remove it from the room.

Then grab the carpet by hand and continue to pull it up along an entire wall. Fold back about 3 ft. A chisel with a fine sharp end that could get under the carpet gripper. You can pull carpet up off the tacking strip to do some work.

How to lift a carpet up without damaging it. How to install carpet grippers. 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.

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.