Properly Lay Carpeting

[flip_it_fast]

When flipping houses it is great to do things yourself whenever possible to keep the expenses down and have more of a profit in the end. If you have to pay someone else to do the work you will not gain as much profit as you may have liked. At the same time though, you need to sure of what you are doing no matter what it is because if you don't do things properly it will show and potential buyers will see that.

Laying carpeting can seem to be a daunting task but if you have the correct tools and some knowlege about it, you can accomplish this yourself.

The tools you will need are as follows:

Row running knife
Knee kicker
Seaming iron
Hot melt seaming tape
Power stretcher
Tackless strip
Carpet padding
Gripper edge
Masonry nails

The first step to laying carpet is to prepare the floor that the carpet is to be installed upon. You need to thoroughly sweep the floor and check for any loose boards and nails. If you have duct heating under the floor you need to make a mark of where it runs so that you avoid pounding nails through it.

Next you will install tackless strips. You want to cut the tackless strip to fit the length of each wall. You will nail the strips around each wall leaving a 1/8" between the strip and the wall. Use masonry nails to nail the strips. The pins need to point toward the wall. Do not install the strips by the sides of the door. The strips should join together at the corners of the room.

Now you can begin installing the padding. You will want ot cut the padding in strips that will reach the strips. Be sure and place the padding waffle side up. Every six inches you need to staple the padding in place. If you have a masonry floor you need to glue the padding to the floor. The padding should not overlap anywhere on the floor, it should butt together side by side. Cover the seams with duct tape and trip edges.

Now you are ready to cut the carpet. You need to consider the direction of the pile of the carpeting. You always want the pile to face the same direction, usually towards the doorway of the room. Also, for pile cut carpet you will cut the back of the carpet with a utility knife. For loop pile carpet you will cut the face of the carpet.

Measure the room you are installing carpet in and then allow 4 to 6 extra inches for some excess. Lay the carpeting.

To cut carpet seams you need to leave an overlap of two inches. Take one end of the carpet and draw a straight line on the back of it with chalk where you need the seam. Be sure to cut in a nice straight line. Now lay this over the uncut side to use for a guide and cut that piece.

Next comes the seaming tape. Cut the seaming tape to fit the entire length of your seam. The adhesive side of the tape should be facing up. Center it underneath the butting edges and get the seaming iron ready. Heat the seaming tape by by slowly moving the iron over the tape, much like ironing laundry. As soon as you have the tape heated press the adjoining sides of carpeting together over top of the tape. You may want to take a rolling pin and run it along the seam for a nice tight fit.

Next comes the knee kicker. Now you are going to hook the carpet onto the tackless strips. Push the teeth of the knee kicker into the carpet about one inch from the wall and kick the knee kicker with your knee. This will firmly hook the carpet to the strips. Repeat all around the walls of the room.

Next is the power stretcher. The power stretcher will attatch the carpeting to the edges of the walls. Simply firmly press the teeth of the stretcher into the carpet and lock it into place. Stretch the carpet and hook it onto the tackless strips. Repeat this procedure around the room. Use the trimmer to trim the excess carpet.

Last comes the gripper edge. The gripper edge goes along the doorway to prevent the door from ripping up the carpeting. Simply follow package directions.

Done, you have officially layed carpeting that looks like it has been professionally installed.

[homealone]

You have given everyone some great advice here. It is important to try to do things on your own, though to do them properly. This will save alot of money on the costs of hiring someone.
Thanks to this post I even now know how to lay carpet, as this was something I was going to hire someone to do for me. Though I do believe that I can do it as well as a professional can. Thanks for the great post.