Tired of staring at that dull old carpet on your stairs? Time to pull off the ultimate stairway makeover! This post will spill all the secrets to how to ditch the carpet and unleash the fabulous potential of your stairs! Get ready to DIY your way to the fresh, stylish stair look of your dreams with this step by step guide to removing carpet from your stairs with ease!
There are so many reasons you might want to remove carpet from the stairs. Maybe you’re like me and want a stair style makeover! The carpet might have been trendy in the past, but it’s time to bring your stairs into the 21st century! Tearing that carpet out and unveiling the stunning potential underneath is a great way to update a boring staircase.
Maybe you have a funky smell you can’t get rid of, you’re dealing with allergies, or you’re looking for an easier way to clean up your stairs. You might even find a hidden treasure! You never know what lies beneath that carpet. Gorgeous hardwood? Stunning tile? A mystery adventure awaits as you uncover the hidden treasure under your feet!
Whatever reason you want to rip out your carpet, the process can be simple. You’ll need some elbow grease, but the payoff is incredible!
How to Remove Carpet from Stairs
- I recommend removing the baseboards to remove the carpet from the stairs. Once your baseboards are removed, I recommend you start at the top of your stairs, but you can also start at the bottom.
- Each step will have a tack strip along the top and sides of the carpet. You will grab your carpet by the top of the step and pull. Getting the carpet off the tack strip shouldn’t be too hard. You may have to use a utility knife to make some cuts. And I recommend wearing grippy gloves!
- You will also likely have staples on the risers. This will probably be a little harder to pull off, but with a little elbow grease, you should get them off.
- Be careful when the carpet is off your stairs because staples and tacks will be exposed.
- Once you have the carpet off, you will see your carpet pad. This is super easy to remove but is messy. It will likely come off in pieces.
- When all your carpet pad is off, you will have a lot of staples. I used a floor scraper to make removing them easier, but you can do this with a pair of pliers.
- The last step is to remove your tack strip. You will use a prybar and hammer to get under the tack strip and pop it up.
- When all your tacks and staples are up, you are ready to finish your stairs as you’d like!
Tips and Tricks
- Use your utility knife to cut the carpet into manageable strips for areas that don’t easily tear or come up. Roll them up as you go for easy disposal. This also makes the pieces less heavy.
- Mind those pesky nails or staples that held the carpet in place. Use pliers or a pry bar to pull them out carefully so you can be sure you don’t cut yourself!
- Some stairs might have adhesive residue left behind. Scrub it off using warm, soapy water or an adhesive remover.
What types of tools will I need to remove the carpet from my stairs?
You shouldn’t need anything crazy to get the carpet off your stairs. I used a putty knife, crowbar, hammer, and pliers. I also used a floor scraper, which was a big help because there were about a million staples to remove. Besides those simple tools, you’ll only need some elbow grease!
What do I do with the stairs when the carpet is removed?
There are so many possibilities! You can turn around and put a new carpet on your stairs if you want to. If you’re going to move toward wood stairs, it depends on what you find underneath. If you live in an older home, you might discover hardwood under the carpet. If you do, you could refinish the original hardwood. You can also completely redo the stairs like we did. I created new risers and treads to update the stairs completely. I think adding a runner would be really pretty too! Whatever you end up doing, removing the old carpet is a great place to start!
There you have it! Removing carpet from your stairs can be done in a day. The next steps take a bit more time. When you start your DIY project to remove carpet from your stairs, we’d love to see how it turns out! Be sure to use #howwedoandyoucantoo on Instagram so we can see your beautiful space.
