Hi,
I need to replace the skirting in a room I am currently re-decorating
- a new carpet will be laid when I have finished.

The skirting that is currently fitted (throughout the house) has a gap
below it which the carpet fits under.

Is it best practice to have the gap under - or should I fit it flush
to the floor so the carpet fits up to it and not underneath it.

My gut feeling is to fit it flush to the floor so the thickness of the
carpet and underlay will not matter but which is correct?

One other thing, it's a PVC tiled concrete floor (circa 1966) - are
the grippers glued to the floor or is the underlay glued to the floor
then the carpet glued to the underlay?

Thanks,


Kev

On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:09:22 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Hi,
I need to replace the skirting in a room I am currently re-decorating
- a new carpet will be laid when I have finished.

The skirting that is currently fitted (throughout the house) has a gap
below it which the carpet fits under.

Is it best practice to have the gap under - or should I fit it flush
to the floor so the carpet fits up to it and not underneath it.

My gut feeling is to fit it flush to the floor so the thickness of the
carpet and underlay will not matter but which is correct?

One other thing, it's a PVC tiled concrete floor (circa 1966) - are
the grippers glued to the floor or is the underlay glued to the floor
then the carpet glued to the underlay?

Thanks,


Kev

The carpet won't be glued to the underlay as you would never be able
to lift it if the underlay was also glued to the floor . The gripper
rods are there to hold the carpet .That's their function in life
Normally underlay is stapled to wooden floors but dunno how the fitter
will deal with vinyl tiles on concrete when fitting gripper rods and
underlay .

wrote:

Is it best practice to have the gap under - or should I fit it flush
to the floor so the carpet fits up to it and not underneath it.

No, the carpet should butt up to the front of the skirting, which sits
on the floor (though if I'm fitting it a room with floorboards I allow
for a very small gap to llow enough wriggle-room to enable the boards to
be lifted later if necessary)

One other thing, it's a PVC tiled concrete floor (circa 1966) - are
the grippers glued to the floor or is the underlay glued to the floor
then the carpet glued to the underlay?

The grippers will be glued to the floor with gripfill or similar.
However, be sure to let the fitter know in advance that this is your
set-up, as the glue needs time to set before the carpet goes down.
Ideally they need doing the night before but in practice the fitter's
not likely to want to make two visits; but let him know and ask how
he'll fit the carpet. Otherwise he may panic when he sees the floor and
end up glueing down the carpet, which is a bodge as you've already
been advised.

David

wrote:
On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:09:22 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Hi,
I need to replace the skirting in a room I am currently re-decorating
- a new carpet will be laid when I have finished.

The skirting that is currently fitted (throughout the house) has a
gap below it which the carpet fits under.

Is it best practice to have the gap under - or should I fit it flush
to the floor so the carpet fits up to it and not underneath it.

My gut feeling is to fit it flush to the floor so the thickness of
the carpet and underlay will not matter but which is correct?

One other thing, it's a PVC tiled concrete floor (circa 1966) - are
the grippers glued to the floor or is the underlay glued to the floor
then the carpet glued to the underlay?

Thanks,


Kev

The carpet won't be glued to the underlay as you would never be able
to lift it if the underlay was also glued to the floor . The gripper
rods are there to hold the carpet .That's their function in life
Normally underlay is stapled to wooden floors but dunno how the fitter
will deal with vinyl tiles on concrete when fitting gripper rods and
underlay .

IME they either use gripper that has hardened masonry pins rather than
normal nails, or Gripfill. You can buy gripper in three types, concrete
floor, wood floor & dual purpose. Dunno about the underlay - double sided
tape maybe?


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

On 24 Sep, 08:37, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
wrote:
On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:09:22 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Hi,
I need to replace the skirting in a room I am currently re-decorating
- a new carpet will be laid when I have finished.

The skirting that is currently fitted (throughout the house) has a
gap below it which the carpet fits under.

Is it best practice to have the gap under - or should I fit it flush
to the floor so the carpet fits up to it and not underneath it.

My gut feeling is to fit it flush to the floor so the thickness of
the carpet and underlay will not matter but which is correct?

One other thing, it's a PVC tiled concrete floor (circa 1966) - are
the grippers glued to the floor or is the underlay glued to the floor
then the carpet glued to the underlay?

Thanks,

Kev

The carpet won't be glued to the underlay as you would never be able
to lift it if the underlay was also glued to the floor . The gripper
rods are there to hold the carpet .That's their function in life
Normally underlay is stapled to wooden floors but dunno how the fitter
will deal with vinyl tiles on concrete when fitting gripper rods and
underlay .

IME they either use gripper that has hardened masonry pins rather than
normal nails, or Gripfill. *You can buy gripper in three types, concrete
floor, wood floor & dual purpose. *Dunno about the underlay - double sided
tape maybe?

--
Dave - The Medway Handymanwww.medwayhandyman.co.uk- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thanks all,
That clarifies things.
One more thing, I have just seen some plastic 2 part skirting with a
removeable facia that cables can be run through, does the same apply
to installing this?

Cheers,

Kev

On Sep 24, 7:46*am, Lobster wrote:
wrote:
Is it best practice to have the gap under - or should I fit it flush
to the floor so the carpet fits up to it and not underneath it.

No, the carpet should butt up to the front of the skirting, which sits
on the floor (though if I'm fitting it a room with floorboards I allow
for a very small gap to llow enough wriggle-room to enable the boards to
be lifted later if necessary)

One other thing, it's a PVC tiled concrete floor (circa 1966) - are
the grippers glued to the floor or is the underlay glued to the floor
then the carpet glued to the underlay?

The grippers will be glued to the floor with gripfill or similar.

Except when they're nailed down. All my houses have had concrete
floors downstairs and the grippers were always nailed down.

MBQ

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
wrote:

Hi,
I need to replace the skirting in a room I am currently re-decorating
- a new carpet will be laid when I have finished.

The skirting that is currently fitted (throughout the house) has a gap
below it which the carpet fits under.

Is it best practice to have the gap under - or should I fit it flush
to the floor so the carpet fits up to it and not underneath it.

My gut feeling is to fit it flush to the floor so the thickness of the
carpet and underlay will not matter but which is correct?

One other thing, it's a PVC tiled concrete floor (circa 1966) - are
the grippers glued to the floor or is the underlay glued to the floor
then the carpet glued to the underlay?

Thanks,


Kev

Fit the skirting flush with the floor, and stretch the carpet over the
grippers to butt against the skirting. Seems odd that you have a gap with a
concrete floor. On a wooden floor, a gap often develops as the joists and
floorboards dry out and shrink a bit after the skirting has been fitted.

It's unlikely that the floor is *actually* concrete on the surface. More
likely that there's a 50mm or so screed over the concrete - in which case
gripper rods with masonry nails can be nailed straight onto it. Obviously,
the spikes need to point towards the skirting, and you should leave a gap of
about 1/4" between the grippers and the skirting, and push the carpet into
the gap with a blunt bolster chisel.

If you use Tredaire or similar underlay - laid rubber side down - you don't
need any glue. Just trim it to fit *inside* the grippers, and tape the joins
with parcel tape.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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On Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:37:59 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Dunno about the underlay - double sided
tape maybe?

Latex spray.

Don.

On 24 Sep, 17:33, "Cerberus ." wrote:
On Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:37:59 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

* Dunno about the underlay - double sided

tape maybe?

Latex spray.

Don.

Thanks for the input regarding the carpet and underlay - I'll keep an
eye on how he does it - but I'm leaving that to the fitter my only
concern is fitting the skirting

Kev

wrote:
On 24 Sep, 17:33, "Cerberus ." wrote:
On Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:37:59 GMT, The Medway Handyman wrote:

Dunno about the underlay - double sided

tape maybe?
Latex spray.

Don.

Thanks for the input regarding the carpet and underlay - I'll keep an
eye on how he does it - but I'm leaving that to the fitter my only
concern is fitting the skirting

Kev

Don't leave any voids behind the skirting. It has to be able to stand
the carpet being whacked against it with a knee kicker.