In article ,
"al" writes:

I'm in the same boat ... except I've never tried it before. On the topic of
grippers - are the existing ones normally good enough for 2nd hand use?

Yes, they don't wear out. Make sure they are still well attached.
Also, they are usually made of wood which rots in about 5 seconds
if it has ever got wet.

Thought they'd be virtually free, but they want to charge about £150 if new
strips are laid down all around!

Also, what's the easiest way to lift the current carpet? In work I have a
tile-lifting tool that sticks some spikes into the carpet in opposing
directions and locks ... therefore allowing you to lift. Is this the type
of tool you'd need to un-hook your existing carpet from the grippers? Is it
easy to damage the grippers?

Use a pair of pointed pliers to dig into the corner and lift it from
there. Unless the carpet was recently laid, it will probably have
stretched a little and will easily lift off the grippers.

With underlay - do you tape joins or just lay it as is, side by side?

IME, laid side by side, and stapled to the floor every 12" along each
edge.

Another tip -- if you have a rubber backed carpet which has left rubber
stuck to the floor, a flat edged garden spade is probably the easiest
way to get it off.

Yet another tip -- if you have some complicated shapes to carpet, such
as winders on a staircase, use the old carpet as a pattern to cut out
new carpet the right shape.

--
Andrew Gabriel