How to Remove Carpet Padding from a Hardwood Floor

There are times where you may want to get rid of old carpet padding in your home. Most often, this happens when we move into another home, want to update the interior, and notice that the previous home owner installed carpet over their hardwood flooring. You can get this professionally removed, (and we’re happy to provide an estimate!) but if you’re looking to have a DIY afternoon, we’ve got some tips that will help you get started.

Here’s what you’ll need to remove carpet padding:

1. Utility knife
2. Long handle scraper (can be purchased at most home improvement stores)
3. Pry Bar
4. Vacuum cleaner

Before you start, make sure to remove any furniture in the room!

Step 1:

Starting at a corner of the room, use your pliers to pull back the carpet padding and loosen it from the tack strip.

Step 2:

Cut the carpet out into small, easy to manage strips using your utility knife. You’ll want to again use your pliers to pull out any staples as well.

Step 3:

Roll the sections up and remove them. You’ll now notice the carpet padding and tack strip.

Step 4:

Time to remove the padding! It will likely be stapled to the floor, so you’ll need to use your long handle scraper to pry it free. Starting in a corner, work around the perimeter of the room. Continue working at the seams and pulling until all of the padding and staples have been removed.

You should get some of the staples to come out with the pad, but you’ll notice that most of them remain in the floor with a small bit of padding still attached. Don’t worry—this is normal! Use your knife and cut the padding into sections to make them more manageable. Just be careful that you don’t cut into the floor itself below.

Step 5:

If you plan on re-finishing your hardwood floor, you’ll need to remove the tack strip. Otherwise, if you’re simply installing new carpet, skip this step!

Using your pry bar, start at one end of the room, and lift up to remove the tack strip from the floor. Work your way around the room to ensure that all nails and sharp objects have been removed.

Step 6:

Plug in your vacuum and clean up the area. You are now ready to add new carpeting, or you can restore your hardwood floors and have them looking shiny and nice!

For a visual idea of this process, take a look at this instructional video:

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