How to Install Carpet: A Complete Guide

Carpet is one of the more popular flooring choices for homes and offices. It provides safety for children, insulation, as well as noise reduction. Carpet is also durable, and it usually costs less than hardwood flooring. Installing carpet flooring is not a very difficult project, and it does not require any specialized skill. An average homeowner will be able to do a good carpet installation job by following these instructions.

Subfloor

Before anything else, a homeowner has to decide how much carpet to purchase. Take down the measurements of the room where the carpet will be laid, and buy 10% to 15% more carpet than the total area of the room. The next thing to do is to clean the sub-floor. The sub-floor has to be completely clean and dry before the carpet flooring is installed. To make the installation more convenient, the doors of the room should be removed. It is also important at this stage to choose the type of underlay you will require.

Installation

Tackless strips should be installed along the perimeter of the room, about an inch from the wall. These strips are sharp and they can hurt when someone steps on them; therefore, they should not be installed at the doorway or any place where there will be foot traffic. If the sub-floor of the room is concrete, epoxy adhesive or masonry tacks can be used to hold tackless strips.

Next, lay the carpet pad so that it covers the entire floor space, and use a staple to attach the end of the pad to the tackless strips. All the seams of the carpet pad should be stapled. Then, measure the length and width of the room and add 3 inches to each side. Mark the total length and width on the back of the carpet, and cut the carpet to size.

Roll the carpet on the floor to cover the whole room. Under the seam where the carpet segments meet, put seaming tape and heat it with a seaming iron. Press the seam with the iron, so that the melted adhesive will hold the carpet segments together. Then, place heavy objects along the seam and wait for the adhesive to dry.

Use a knee-kicker to attach one end of the carpet to the tackless strips. The face of the knee-kicker should be placed around 3 inches from the wall, and the carpet can be stretched by striking the padded end. Use a wall trimmer to cut away excess carpet and press the edges of the carpet into the baseboard with a wall trimmer. After this is done, stretch the carpet to the other end of the room with a power stretcher. Then, attach the carpet to the tackless strips. A binder bar has to be nailed to the edges of the carpet. After the binder bar is closed, the carpet installation is complete.