laying carpeting...


  #1  
Old 09-05-00, 01:19 PM
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We are wanting to try and carpet several rooms, including one concrete one. I read the earlier instructions for laying carpet and was wondering about stretching. Can anyone explain what is involved with that and where I could rent the apropriate device? We have two large rooms we will need to carpet (13x19). Also, if anyone can recommend further reading online I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks,
Kat
 
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Old 09-05-00, 03:32 PM
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You will need a knee kicker and a power stretcher and both can be rented from a rental center. They are used to tighten the carpet and hook it over the tack strips around the perimeter of the room. There has been some excellent articles in Family Handyman magazine but I don't know their website.

With rooms that big, you will have to make a seam unless you buy 15' wide carpet and then, you will still have to make a doorway seam. These can be tricky for someone who has not done it. You would need a seaming iron and seaming tape plus other tools for laying carpet.

I would get some prices from a pro. They have the tools and can make it look easy.
 
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Old 09-10-00, 09:22 PM
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JBKMoody:

As the forum moderator pointed out, most carpet is sold in 12 foot widths (although you can get other widths), so carpeting a 13 foot wide room requires seaming. I also agree that you should probably go with a pro on this one. The reason why is because unlike most DIY projects where the cost of the installation is generally several times larger than the cost of the materials, for carpet, the cost of installation is a fraction of the cost of the carpet. It's not very smart to risk $600 worth of carpeting to save $200.

I disagree with the forum moderator that you'd need a power stretcher for a 13X19 foot room. I've installed lots of carpets (17 to be exact) in living rooms that were just under 12' wide by 17 to 21' long with a knee kicker with good results. (after 10 years, none of the carpets I kicked in myself needed to be stretched again, but the one I hired a pro to do did. what does that say about professional expertise. Maybe the guy had a sore knee that day.)

Seriously, each of my living room carpets costs me about $250. I save $100 by installing it myself. Four gallons of paint costs me $100. I save $400 by installing it myself. There's a lousy DIY return on carpeting.
 
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Old 09-10-00, 10:05 PM
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JBKMoody:

Also, you may not be aware of it, but carpet has a "grain", like wood. Each tuft of the carpet will lean slightly in the direction it came off the carpet mill, and this lean is permanent. So, you can't just tape one edge of a carpet to another and expect it to look good. The direction of the lean of these tufts has to be maintained. Otherwise you'll see a difference in the shade of the carpet at the seam (similar to vaccuum cleaning a tip sheared carpet where the carpet takes on a lighter or darker shade depending on the direction of motion of the vaccuum cleaner)

So, in a 13X19 foot room, you end up with few seams and a lot of wastage or little wastage and lots of seams. You could order a 21 1/2 foot piece of carpet and cut 24 inches off the end, cut this strip into ten 14 3/8" wide pieces, and hot melt tape them end-to-end to the side of the carpet, then tape the ends of each piece together.

Do you think that with no experience you're likely to do that without getting hot melt glue all over the top of the carpet, scorching the carpet with the seaming iron, or just plain making a mess of the whole thing?

Listen to the voice of experience. Wait for an easier carpet to install. Perhaps a room that's less than 12 feet wide....
 
 

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