How to Remove Water Damaged Carpet and Padding

Vacuum up as much water as possible with either a steam cleaner or a wet and dry vacuum. This will keep the carpet from being too heavy to lift.

Cut the carpet into manageable strips for removal. Make the strips about 2 feet wide. Start at one wall and cut as straight as possible to the opposing wall.

Pull up the carpet starting at a corner of the room. You may need the pliers to get a good grip on it to lift it from the tack strip. In some instances, the quarter-round molding or the baseboards will have to be removed because they were installed after the carpet was installed. Continue pulling the edges up around the room.

Roll the carpet up in the 2-foot strips, moving from one end of the room to the other. Wrap each roll in duct tape to hold it together and remove it from the room.

Roll up as much of the padding as you can in the same way you rolled up the carpet. Some of the padding may be stapled down to the subfloor. After removing what you can, pull up all the staples using pliers or a hammer and screwdriver. Sweep up and dispose of these remnants.

Remove the tack strips that held the carpet down along the edges. Do this by placing a flat head screwdriver under the strip -- tap it under the strip with the hammer if necessary -- and pry it up. If the strip breaks, pry up another section and continue around the room until all tack stripping is removed. Sweep and dispose of any tack strip remnants.