Going to fit a new carpet tomorrow.
Any hints or tips?
I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have the
courage to start cutting !

On Sep 16, 7:50*pm, "sleepingtiger"
wrote:
Going to fit a new carpet tomorrow.
Any hints or tips?
I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have the
courage to start cutting !

Its easy actually, once you've chosen a easy method
http://www.wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Carpet


NT

sleepingtiger wrote:
Going to fit a new carpet tomorrow.
Any hints or tips?
I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have the
courage to start cutting !

Hmm.. IMHO you're missing just one component - the carpet fitter!
David

On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:50:44 +0100, sleepingtiger wrote:

I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have
the courage to start cutting !

Something to cut it with? Need the hooked blade in a Stanley handle.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/18278

The rough cutting 6" or so oversize is easy. It's getting the fine cut so
that the fit is correct over the gripper that I had trouble with. Having
watched a proper fitter there is knack but I haven't quite worked out what
it is yet.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
sleepingtiger wrote:
Going to fit a new carpet tomorrow.
Any hints or tips?
I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have
the courage to start cutting !

Hmm.. IMHO you're missing just one component - the carpet fitter!
David

LOL
You are probably right but there is no turning back now.
Perhaps a couple of whiskies will do the tick.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.net...
On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:50:44 +0100, sleepingtiger wrote:

I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have
the courage to start cutting !

Something to cut it with? Need the hooked blade in a Stanley handle.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/18278

The rough cutting 6" or so oversize is easy. It's getting the fine cut so
that the fit is correct over the gripper that I had trouble with. Having
watched a proper fitter there is knack but I haven't quite worked out what
it is yet.

--
Cheers
Dave.



Yes that's the worry.
Funny thing I have purchased some hooked blades but the knife that came with
the fitting kit had straight blades.

Lobster wrote:
sleepingtiger wrote:
Going to fit a new carpet tomorrow.
Any hints or tips?
I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I
have the courage to start cutting !

Hmm.. IMHO you're missing just one component - the carpet fitter!


Yup! Get a carpet fitter! Sorry to urinate on your French fries :-(


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Tue, 16 Sep 2008 19:50:44 +0100, sleepingtiger wrote:


I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have
the courage to start cutting !


Something to cut it with? Need the hooked blade in a Stanley handle.

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/18278

The rough cutting 6" or so oversize is easy. It's getting the fine cut so
that the fit is correct over the gripper that I had trouble with. Having
watched a proper fitter there is knack but I haven't quite worked out what
it is yet.

If I was doing this job for the first time, I would make a start on a
straight wall and make sure that the backing threads were parallel to
that wall, other wise the pattern will drift off as you move to the wall
opposite. Also be aware the the shop that sold you the carpet will most
certainly have cut the ends at an angle, the only edges you can trust
are the selve edges
AS you get part way there, you will find that you have to make cuts to
go into any doorways on the sides. trim these so you have plenty of
carpet bits and then pick one out to use as a trial piece to see how
much carpet you need to tuck it into and behind the gripper. Usually up
to the skirting plus a bit more. I can't say how much (try 5 mm) more as,
1 It has been quite some time since I laid a carpet.
2 Every carpet differs in thickness. This will affect how much longer
than up to the skirting it has to be cut. Always cut too long, you can
always trim a bit more if you need to. Cut it short and you are
buggered. :-(

My way of marking the carpet for cutting, once I had found out how much
longer it had to be was fold it over so it was pattern to pattern and
count back the right number of backing threads, or distance from the
wall and mark it every 12 inches, or 300 mm if you want it in French
inches and cut to that line. This where the carpet scrap will guide you
though this step before you commit to the final cut of the main carpet.
Pro fitters have this info in their minds as soon as they feel the carpet.

Good luck and if the typing is as bad as I think it is, I have just had
major surgery on one of my eyes and I can not see the screen too well.

Dave

When you come to stretch the carpet , do not over stretch it, but just
enough to prevent any wrinkles. Now start on one of the sides and before
you know it, the carpet will be down

In article ,
sleepingtiger wrote:
Funny thing I have purchased some hooked blades but the knife that came
with the fitting kit had straight blades.

I've watched several carpet fitters at work and they only used straight
ones. One even sharpened the blade on a stone every so often. ;-)

--
*Some people are only alive because it is illegal to kill.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sep 16, 7:50*pm, "sleepingtiger"
wrote:
Going to fit a new carpet tomorrow.
Any hints or tips?
I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have the
courage to start cutting !

Lose the stretcher, its not appropriate for most domestic carpets.
Sticking the carpet into the grip rod puts enough tension on it as
long as its already laid flat. Seriously, its an easy job with grip
rod.


NT

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
sleepingtiger wrote:
Funny thing I have purchased some hooked blades but the knife that came
with the fitting kit had straight blades.

I've watched several carpet fitters at work and they only used straight
ones. One even sharpened the blade on a stone every so often. ;-)

They often used the hooked ones on vinyl rather than carpet.

IME the cutting does not need to be too accurate if you do it a tad
long. The free edge can then be tucked into the gap behind the gripper
with a stair tool.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"sleepingtiger" wrote in message
...
Going to fit a new carpet tomorrow.
Any hints or tips?
I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have
the courage to start cutting !

Do some vinyl first. Carpet's easy compared with **@@#!$ vinyl!

Seriously, don't rush it, get carpet oversize and as flat as possible before
trimming, cut just slightly long rather than short, use a bolster chisel to
ram edges and measure twice/three times, think, then measure again then cut
round door frames. Get one edge done then jump forward to pull carpet flat
before doing second and repeat. If there is a bare bit of edge somewhere, a
bit of glue and carpet scrap does wonders if the carpet has a pile!


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:18:43 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

I've watched several carpet fitters at work and they only used straight
ones.

How do they avoid marking the skirting? Maybe they had a different
technique to the guys I watched who used hooked blades and simply (ha!)
stretched the carpet onto the gripper pushed it up against the skirting
and ran the knife along the fold. A handheld bolster chisel then pushed
the just right (grrr..) excess into the skirting/gripper gap.

One even sharpened the blade on a stone every so often. ;-)

It does need to be properly sharp, carpet soon takes the edge off.

IME the cutting does not need to be too accurate if you do it a tad
long. The free edge can then be tucked into the gap behind the gripper
with a stair tool.

You can pack some excess into the gap under the skirting/between the
gripper and skirting but not all that much. Evenness of excess is probably
as important as the actual position of the cut.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.net...
On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:18:43 +0100, John Rumm wrote:

I've watched several carpet fitters at work and they only used straight
ones.

How do they avoid marking the skirting? Maybe they had a different
technique to the guys I watched who used hooked blades and simply (ha!)
stretched the carpet onto the gripper pushed it up against the skirting
and ran the knife along the fold. A handheld bolster chisel then pushed
the just right (grrr..) excess into the skirting/gripper gap.

One even sharpened the blade on a stone every so often. ;-)

It does need to be properly sharp, carpet soon takes the edge off.

IME the cutting does not need to be too accurate if you do it a tad
long. The free edge can then be tucked into the gap behind the gripper
with a stair tool.

You can pack some excess into the gap under the skirting/between the
gripper and skirting but not all that much. Evenness of excess is probably
as important as the actual position of the cut.

--
Cheers
Dave.


OK well here goes.

Will probably spend the next couple of hours sitting looking at it.
I will then probably move the carpet and look at it for another hour. when
it gets dark and I can't see what I am doing I will have a large scotch or
two and make the first cut ))

On Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:45:01 +0100, sleepingtiger wrote:

Will probably spend the next couple of hours sitting looking at it.
I will then probably move the carpet and look at it for another hour.

It's already been mentioned "measure twice, cut once". The only problem I
had was the fine cutting on the first carpet I fitted, the second I did
one is *much* better.

It could be well worth playing with any offcuts from the main "rough to
size cutting" to get at least a feel for the fine cutting before doing it
on bits that matter.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sep 17, 8:28*am, "Bob Mannix" wrote:
"sleepingtiger" wrote in message

...

Going to fit a new carpet tomorrow.
Any hints or tips?
I have : The carpet, gripper rods, stretcher and tucker. not sure I have
the courage to start cutting !

Do some vinyl first. Carpet's easy compared with **@@#!$ vinyl!

Seriously, don't rush it, get carpet oversize and as flat as possible before
trimming, cut just slightly long rather than short, use a bolster chisel to
ram edges and measure twice/three times, think, then measure again then cut
round door frames. Get one edge done then jump *forward to pull carpet flat
before doing second and repeat. If there is a bare bit of edge somewhere, a
bit of glue and carpet scrap does wonders if the carpet has a pile!


I find a wide paint scraper is easiest. No need to hammer it or
anything, just whack it down and it puts the carpet in behind the grip
rod in no time.

Dont cut the edge of the carpet on the opposite side until you've put
the first side in the grip rod - that way you wont need to resort to
the dreaded glue bodge.


NT

Job done.

Now I appreciate the need to buy a good quality carpet wit canvas backing,
something that will last forever and looks good.
Unfortunately I was working with a bit of **** carpet that fell apart as I
was cutting it.
However the result is ok for a first attempt.
Why did no one warn me about the revenge of the gripper rod. I inadvertently
put my hand on one and started to spurt blood like a watering can.
Next time I will have more to drink first. Then I wont feel the pain))

sleepingtiger wrote:
Job done.

Now I appreciate the need to buy a good quality carpet wit canvas backing,
something that will last forever and looks good.
Unfortunately I was working with a bit of **** carpet that fell apart as I
was cutting it.
However the result is ok for a first attempt.
Why did no one warn me about the revenge of the gripper rod. I inadvertently
put my hand on one and started to spurt blood like a watering can.
Next time I will have more to drink first. Then I wont feel the pain))

I'll bet all DIYers have done that in their lifetime. :-(

Dave

Dave wrote:
sleepingtiger wrote:
Job done.

Now I appreciate the need to buy a good quality carpet wit canvas
backing, something that will last forever and looks good.
Unfortunately I was working with a bit of **** carpet that fell
apart as I was cutting it.
However the result is ok for a first attempt.
Why did no one warn me about the revenge of the gripper rod. I
inadvertently put my hand on one and started to spurt blood like a
watering can. Next time I will have more to drink first. Then I wont feel
the
pain))

I'll bet all DIYers have done that in their lifetime. :-(

I really hate gripper rod. Horrible nasty ******* stuff.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

sleepingtiger wrote:

Why did no one warn me about the revenge of the gripper rod.

Well I did warn you to employ a fitter! ;-)

David