Practical guide: How to lay carpet effectively?

When it comes to stripping your carpet, it's important to do your homework beforehand. Good site preparation is essential for efficiency. The technique to be used depends on the surface to be treated and the condition of the carpet. In this guide, we explain how to remove your carpet easily.

Preparing the removal site

Call in the professionals

For remove your company carpetwe recommend you call in the professionals. Regulations require you to have a PEMD (Product Equipment Materials Waste) diagnosis carried out for :

Buildings meeting the RE2020 standard (Environmental Regulations);
Surfaces larger than 1,000 m².

This diagnosis will determine whether the product is a reusable resource, or is considered waste. If your carpet tiles are reusable, they can be disposed of by Orak teams. If they are considered waste, they can be taken in charge by our partner Valdélia. At this stage, we will also examine the quality of the installation: if the product has been badly installed, reuse will be impossible.

Removing furniture

Removing all your furniture is essential. Corporate removals require special equipment and specialized teams. It's not a question of skills or allocation, which is the responsibility of the removal teams. If you do not wish to re-use your furniture, it can be re-used by Valdélia.

Securing the workspace

It's essential that you take the necessary measures to secure your workspace with a prevention plan. You must schedule a joint inspection visit by the CSPS (Health and Safety Coordinator) prior to opening the worksite. All companies concerned must be present. For optimize carpet reuseTo optimize the reuse of carpets, they must be deposited before the worksite.

Carpet removal techniques

Your carpet can be removed manually or with a machine.

Manual carpet stripping

You must bring :

Scraper;
A cutter;
A protective mask ;
Protective goggles and gloves.

Lift the first tile with a hook cutter, then scrape the carpet tiles out from under the tile. Stack the carpet tiles face-to-face, fibre-to-fibre. Note that removing the carpet from the building can be a problem, so you'll need to plan ahead for the necessary logistics. Orak can supply pallet boxes to facilitate this step and organize transport flows.

Contact Orak to rent pallet boxes.

Using a carpet stripper

The use of a carpet stripper is recommended on floors such as wood, concrete or cement. The machine is fitted with a blade that allows it to pass under the tile and cleanly lay the slab. This type of machine is particularly suitable for large surfaces.

Cleaning and removal of adhesive residues

It is advisable to clean the surface after removing the carpet, especially if the initial installation was not carried out properly. Wash the floor if necessary.

Glue residues can be difficult to remove. On concrete floors, this can be removed by levelling.

At Orak, we recommend glueless carpet tile installation. Tactile technologies from InterfaceB Connect from Balsan and Traction Back from Milliken avoid glue removal costs. What's more, these solutions preserve carpet tiles and encourage their reuse.

For ephemeral installations, Foxi & Graph products offer an alternative to glue.

For engineered wood floors, the glue will have to be removed by sanding in the workshop or on site. For this, you can call on Mobius or IDEC.

Recycling used carpet

Orak offers you a turnkey solution for removing and reusing your carpet. The PMDE diagnosis enables us to estimate the potential for re-use, but this must be confirmed by an expert appraisal carried out by Orak's teams. Before removal, Orak performs a special cleaning to optimize the reuse of the covering. The removal is then carried out using a material that preserves the carpet tiles. Reuse can be as high as 10 to 60% of the total surface area.

We organize the removal of the slabs as they arrive. They are stored in our warehouse before being sorted. Sorting enables us to identify slabs in good condition. They are then washed if necessary, marked and stored for reuse. Re-used in situ or resold, these slabs not only help to reduce the budget for new flooring, but also its carbon footprint.

Orak can also help you find environmentally-friendly disposal options for end-of-life carpets.