Carpets are extremely popular, and so are the different strategies buyers use to bring down their price. The fun starts, though, once you get home and have to start laying carpet. Most would agree that it’s the hardest part of owning a carpet.
Are there any carpet installing tips that might make the task a little easier? Yes, luckily there are a few. One that you should consider before getting started is to make sure you have all the materials you need.
If you’re looking for some great carpet installing tips and struggling to figure out how to lay carpet, you’re in the right place. Keep reading for some guidance.
Pre-Installation Prep
First and foremost, you’ll need to properly prep the floor for your new carpet. If needed, remove the previous carpet. Next, vacuum and clean the floor and let it dry fully. Grab some measuring tape and measure the width and length of the room to ensure you buy the right amount of carpet.
Next, you’ll need to buy the right materials. This includes carpet, of course, along with carpet grippers and padding. You’ll also need some equipment, including a carpet knife, tack cutter, hammer, hand stapler, and a few different cutting tools. At this point you’re pretty much ready to start laying carpet.
How to Lay Carpet
Installing carpet is a somewhat complicated procedure. Still, though, the process can be summarized in three relatively simple steps. You’ll have to set up the padding, prepare and place the carpet, and adjust minor details near the end. Here’s a brief overview of what you can expect when you’re installing carpet.
Set Up Padding
First, place carpet grippers, also known as tack strips, along the borders of the room. It’s important that they have no empty spaces between them. Next, nail in the carpet grippers with a hammer with a space of around a half-inch from the walls. You’ll want to use between two and three nails per carpet gripper.
After that, lay out the padding on the room floor. Grab a staple gun to fix the padding onto the inner edge of the carpet grippers. Once that’s done, you’ll need your duct tape to stabilize and maintain the seams.
Prep and Place the Carpet
Now you’re almost ready to install your carpet. First, though, you have to leave it in the room for 24 hours so it can acclimate to your living space. Once that’s done, and according to the previously collected measurements, you’ll have to cut the carpet into shapes that will work for the room.
Next, you can go ahead and roll out the carpet. If there are seams, stick seaming tape under them, heat them with a seaming iron, and finish with a carpet roller. Finally, for optimal results during this step, you’ll need a knee kicker to tack the carpet against the room’s borders. You can do this by sliding it along the floor towards each border and hitting it a few times once there.
Final Details
The final step involves adjusting details for the best look. Use a carpet trimming tool, or similar equipment, to trim along the edges. This will prevent unsightly excess carpet from slowly curling up or down and ruining its overall appearance.
Untrimmed carpet can also pose some danger for certain individuals, as they can cause tripping or stumbling. If possible, press carpet edges under baseboards for best results.
Enjoying Your New Carpet
The most important things to consider when you’re learning how to lay carpet are obtaining the right materials and equipment, prepping the area and taking measurements beforehand, and ensuring the padding is placed properly. Funnily enough, besides ironing out the final details, laying the carpet is the easiest part. Now you’re ready to bring in your furniture and enjoy your new carpet!
Hopefully this article gave you some guidance on how to install carpet. If it did, make sure to look around the site for other useful information.
