Hi how do people normally fit carpet? I fold over about an inch and staple
it down. However the next carpet is one of these felt? backed carpets and I
cut it to the correct size and it does not look very nice round the edge
against the grain?. (it will have to do now.) I am going to fit another
carpet, felt backed, to replace a foam back carpet which only lasted 8 years
before the foam dried up, and that was with the correct paper underlay). So
should I fold over the edges round the room or find someone who can cut the
carpet better than me? This will probably cost more to fit than the carpet
cost. (end of roll). What do other people do?
Thanks Jackie

Jackie wrote:
Hi how do people normally fit carpet? I fold over about an inch and staple
it down. However the next carpet is one of these felt? backed carpets and I
cut it to the correct size and it does not look very nice round the edge
against the grain?. (it will have to do now.) I am going to fit another
carpet, felt backed, to replace a foam back carpet which only lasted 8 years
before the foam dried up, and that was with the correct paper underlay). So
should I fold over the edges round the room or find someone who can cut the
carpet better than me? This will probably cost more to fit than the carpet
cost. (end of roll). What do other people do?
Thanks Jackie


I like to do pretty much everything myself, but there are two things
which I've realised that I just can't do neatly enough to get right
first time. Carpet fitting is one of them (plastering is the other).

We've recently had 3 rooms, a landing and the stairs carpetted. The
carpet fitter was very speedy, and the total charge for all the rooms
was £120. This is a fraction of the cost of the carpet.

--
Grunff

In article ,
"Jackie" writes:
Hi how do people normally fit carpet? I fold over about an inch and staple
it down. However the next carpet is one of these felt? backed carpets and I
cut it to the correct size and it does not look very nice round the edge
against the grain?. (it will have to do now.) I am going to fit another
carpet, felt backed, to replace a foam back carpet which only lasted 8 years
before the foam dried up, and that was with the correct paper underlay). So
should I fold over the edges round the room or find someone who can cut the
carpet better than me? This will probably cost more to fit than the carpet
cost. (end of roll). What do other people do?

I've only ever taken up such carpets, but they all seemed to be fitted
with a line of glue around the edge of the floor holding the carpet,
with the paper underlay stopping just short of this glue line.
A flat edged garden spade is the easiest thing I found for removing
the line of glue and the backing which remains stuck to it.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article ,
says...
Hi how do people normally fit carpet? I fold over about an inch and staple
it down. However the next carpet is one of these felt? backed carpets and I
cut it to the correct size and it does not look very nice round the edge
against the grain?. (it will have to do now.) I am going to fit another
carpet, felt backed, to replace a foam back carpet which only lasted 8 years
before the foam dried up, and that was with the correct paper underlay). So
should I fold over the edges round the room or find someone who can cut the
carpet better than me? This will probably cost more to fit than the carpet
cost. (end of roll). What do other people do?
Thanks Jackie


You can buy carpet cutters that should solve this...

http://www.carpet-time.co.uk/accesso...ols/f7-552.htm

You cut the carpet to a little larger than it needs to be so that it
more-or-less fits, but rides a few inches up the skirting. Then you run
this device along the edge. It pushes the carpet into the corner
between the skirting and the floor and the blade cuts a straight line at
just the right distance that the carpet exactly fits.

A few things to note:

* You will need to staple the carpet down in a few places before you
start - otherwise it will move as you cut!! Probably best to staple as
you go as well.
* You need to push fairly hard down and into the wall to ensure you
don't drift away from the right position.
* If you are not careful you will leave a "score" all along the skirting
as the blade comes out the other side of the carpet while you cut!
* You can't got fully up to the corners so you will neet to carefully
trim those by hand (a hooked blade seems best)
* The blade needs to be switched to the other side of the cutter when
you change direction, some cutters can do this with some sort of fancy
do-hicky.

Good luck!!

Matt

"Jackie" wrote in message ...
Hi how do people normally fit carpet? I fold over about an inch and staple
it down. However the next carpet is one of these felt? backed carpets and I
cut it to the correct size and it does not look very nice round the edge
against the grain?. (it will have to do now.) I am going to fit another
carpet, felt backed, to replace a foam back carpet which only lasted 8 years
before the foam dried up, and that was with the correct paper underlay). So
should I fold over the edges round the room or find someone who can cut the
carpet better than me? This will probably cost more to fit than the carpet
cost. (end of roll). What do other people do?
Thanks Jackie


Standard method: fit gripparods round room, leaving gap between rod
and wall. Lay carpet out, get it thoroughly flat, trim one side and
press behind griprod. Do other side. Do ends. DONT trim 2 sides, only
trim the one youre about to press home. Reason is the carpet can move
slightly.

Cheapo methods: fold edges and tack/staple. Or cut to size and glue
down.

griprod: screwfix.


Regards, NT

Soup popped his head over the parapet,saw what was going on and said

Hi how do people normally fit carpet?

Tried fitting carpet a couple of times when the carpet was really cheap
and personally I think it doesn't look nice, with the cost of carpet and
having to look at it for years seems miserly not to use professional
carpet fitters. If you feel you must lay the carpet yourself ;edge the
room in gripperrod (a useful tip is to lay the GR the width of a edge of
a piece of GR from the wall) then insert (should require a thump
(use a brick bolster hit with a hammer))carpet into the gap , do two
adjacent sides stretch (using one of the knee kick stretcher things, don't
know its proper name)the carpet to one of the remaining sides trim
and "bash" the carpet into the gap. Then do the remaining side.
(one instance where I don't D.I.Y.)

Alternatively (and a better option IMHO) is to pay £30 ~£40 to the
carpet supplier and get them to fit the carpet ( remember the people they
"hire" do carpet laying for a living and they will be insured).

--
Yours S. addy not usable (not that you would try it) ( )
Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant! / \
www.killies.co.uk/forums/index.php

In message , Soup
writes
Soup popped his head over the parapet,saw what was going on and said

Hi how do people normally fit carpet?

Tried fitting carpet a couple of times when the carpet was really cheap
and personally I think it doesn't look nice, with the cost of carpet and
having to look at it for years seems miserly not to use professional
carpet fitters. If you feel you must lay the carpet yourself ;edge the
room in gripperrod (a useful tip is to lay the GR the width of a edge of
a piece of GR from the wall) then insert (should require a thump
(use a brick bolster hit with a hammer))carpet into the gap , do two
adjacent sides stretch (using one of the knee kick stretcher things, don't
know its proper name)the carpet to one of the remaining sides trim
and "bash" the carpet into the gap. Then do the remaining side.
(one instance where I don't D.I.Y.)

Alternatively (and a better option IMHO) is to pay £30 ~£40 to the
carpet supplier and get them to fit the carpet ( remember the people they
"hire" do carpet laying for a living and they will be insured).

I more or less second that

Seldom do I let a tradesman into my house (as I always DIM) but I had an
insurance claim and the fitter came free
He did a much better job than I would have done (especially the hall /
stairs)

I know several people who think they have done a good job, until a
couple of months later the creases appear because they didn't stretch it
properly. I have laid carpets in "Square" rooms, but gaining experience
on an expensive bit of carpet can be expensive.

--
geoff

geoff wrote in message ...
In message , Soup
writes
Soup popped his head over the parapet,saw what was going on and said

Hi how do people normally fit carpet?

Tried fitting carpet a couple of times when the carpet was really cheap
and personally I think it doesn't look nice, with the cost of carpet and
having to look at it for years seems miserly not to use professional
carpet fitters. If you feel you must lay the carpet yourself ;edge the
room in gripperrod (a useful tip is to lay the GR the width of a edge of
a piece of GR from the wall) then insert (should require a thump
(use a brick bolster hit with a hammer))carpet into the gap , do two
adjacent sides stretch (using one of the knee kick stretcher things, don't
know its proper name)the carpet to one of the remaining sides trim
and "bash" the carpet into the gap. Then do the remaining side.
(one instance where I don't D.I.Y.)

Alternatively (and a better option IMHO) is to pay £30 ~£40 to the
carpet supplier and get them to fit the carpet ( remember the people they
"hire" do carpet laying for a living and they will be insured).

I more or less second that

Seldom do I let a tradesman into my house (as I always DIM) but I had an
insurance claim and the fitter came free
He did a much better job than I would have done (especially the hall /
stairs)

I know several people who think they have done a good job, until a
couple of months later the creases appear because they didn't stretch it
properly. I have laid carpets in "Square" rooms, but gaining experience
on an expensive bit of carpet can be expensive.

Method i use on small rooms (box bedrooms toilets bathrooms etc)get
the pros in to do larger rooms, is after laying carpet down and
stapling it down, to then take a bolster or good heavy wide scrapper
and press the carpet into the angle of floor/skirting then keeping
bolster in place use stanley knife to cut sliding it along the bolster
between it and the piece of carpet sticking up the wall in the same
way as in wallpapering using a caulking tool and knife Then run the
bolster down the carpet skirting join to neaten it all up

Why when borrowing a knee kicker from a carpet fitter do they always
say dont remove the fluff from the teeth? is it some mark of rank more
fluff =been in the job longer or is there a real reason?

Steve