Carpet underlay protects carpet from premature wear. It acts as a kind of shock-absorber, allowing the fibres of the carpet to bounce back rather than being trodden hard into the surface of the subfloor. This prolongs the life of your carpet.
Carpet underlay is also a good provider of insulation.
When replacing carpet or exposing the floor underneath, you will need to remove the underlay.
Underlay is either glued to the subfloor or stapled around the perimeter.
Step 1 – Pull up underlay by hand
Take the underlay from one of the corners and pull it up from the floor.
If the underlay is stapled down this will be a fairly easy task, as long as you remove the staples by scraping underneath the underlay around the edge of the room.
If the underlay has been glued down or has become stuck to the floor as a result of spillages, it may be a little harder to remove it from the subfloor.
A variety of different adhesives are used to secure underlay to the floor.
Some types of glue will simply require scraping, whereas others will need to be thoroughly cleaned with an adhesive removing solution.
A heavy duty scraper, like the one here, is advised for scraping glue from a floor.
Step 2 – Use scraper
Before using an adhesive removing solution, use a floor scraper to remove as much of the stuck underlay as possible.
Scrape at an angle to prevent damaging the floor underneath.
Step 3 – Use an adhesive remover
After scraping, you might find that there is still some glue residue stuck to the floor.
If this is the case you will need to use an adhesive remover solution to dissolve the remaining glue.
Step 4 – Ensure room is well ventilated
Open all the windows to make sure that the room is well ventilated and follow the instructions on the back on the bottle.