Installing a flooring layer on your own is not an easy task. Even something as soft, fluffy and glamorous as carpets, require detailed and laborious work. Keeping up with the entire installation might tire your body joints, but completing your home on your own brings a new level of satisfaction. You can also avail the service of professionals to avoid the hassles during placing the carpet yourself. But for the ultimate determination to do it yourself, the necessary tools can be obtained from any retail stores.
The Steps in Detail
At the beginning: Clean the subfloor thoroughly before you begin the process. In case being an adorer of carpets, you have one previously installed; remove it from the floor and then continue with the sweeping. There is no need to keep an old underlay for the new carpet. Every product has its strength to perform. Hence, it is wise to discard the old underlayment for the fresh carpet.
Regarding tack-less strips: Next, install the carpet grippers along the sides of the floor. For people unfamiliar with the concept of carpet grippers, they are narrow wooden pieces which have tons of nails or tacks on themselves to hold the carpet firmly on the floor. All you have to do is place the tack strips on the floor maintaining some space from the wall. Nail down the carpet grippers with a hammer with sides tacks on them facing upside. Be very careful while handling the tacks and nails.
Placing the underlay: A specified area gets created on nailing down the tack strips continuously. You have to lay down the underlay within this space, so that the carpet grippers remain revealed. Cut off the excess underlay from the edges and staple it to the floor. For faultless result, cover the seams with duct tape.
Consider a carpet which exceeds the walls: The length of the carpet should be sufficient enough that it can be extended beyond the wall. Fold the extra carpet, mark the surplus length and then carefully trim it with a utility knife. When your room is big and you need to lay another carpet to cover the entire floor, them trim down the second or third carpet in similar manner.
Finishing the seams: When two different pieces of carpets are brought together; make sure they are placed in terms of designing patterns, facing the same direction. Now, in case of the second carpet, when it comes to meet the exposed end of the first, make it overlap. Then again fold the unnecessary area, mark it and cut it out. Place an adhesive strip under the seam and stimulate the side with gum facing upwards, using a carpet seaming iron. Next, fix the carpet edges onto the adhesive and level the sealed line with a rolling pin.
Attaching the carpet on the tacks: Bring a knee kicker and keep the toothed end a bit distant from the wall. Then forcefully kick the padded end with your knee, this will stretch the carpet on the tack grippers and free the floor of wrinkles. When one side is done, for the other side makes use of a carpet stretcher. Again, place the teethed side on the unsettled end and the other on the opposite side of the wall. Work on the lever to stretch the carpet and fix it onto the tack strips.
Once the carpet is fastened and secured on the tacks, you know your work is done. Just to make your undying effort impeccable, take a few minutes break to deal with one last phase. Take a stair tool to fold-in the carpet between the space of wall and carpet grippers.
