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If possible, use a single strip of carpet on stairs, eliminating seams. Stair padding can be many pieces because it will be covered by carpet. For the best-looking job, carpet pile on treads should slant toward you as you ascend the stairs. On ris­ers, the pile should, therefore, point down. If you use several pieces […]

Once the carpet seams have cooled, stretch and attach the carpet to the tackless strips around the perimeter of the room, using the knee-kicker, power stretcher, and stair tool. Actually, if you must join carpet seams, you already will have used the knee-kicker to draw the carpet edges taut so the glued seam will be […]

Carpet is heavy. So get help rolling it up and car­rying it. Unroll it in the room where you’ll install it. If you measured and cut properly, the edges of the carpet should curl up about 3 in. at the base of the walls. To adjust the carpet slightly once you’ve unrolled it, lift a […]

When rough-cutting carpet, it’s helpful if you can unroll it completely. If you don’t have enough room to do so indoors, unroll it on a clean, dry sidewalk or driveway. Sweep the area well before­hand, and make sure there are no oil stains on the ground. Cut the carpet to the overall room dimensions on […]

Padding, which is usually 6 ft. wide, should run perpendicular to the carpet to prevent padding and carpet seams from lining up. If the padding has a slippery side, face it up so carpet can slide over it as you position it. Once you’ve rough-cut the padding, carefully position the pieces so they butt to […]

Basically, there are two types of wall-to-wall car­peting. Conventional carpeting is laid over a sep­arate rubber or foam padding and must be stretched and attached to tackless strips around the perimeter of the room. Cushion-backed car­peting, which has foam bonded to its backing, doesn’t need to be stretched—it’s usually glued down—so it’s generally easier to […]

Some flooring materials are adhered only along the edges (perimeter bond), whereas others are completely glued down (full-spread adhesion). Flooring secured by full-spread adhesion is less likely to migrate or stretch and hence is more durable. Follow the installation instructions that come with your flooring. Be sure your supplier provides the manufacturer’s instructions on adhesion […]

To transfer the outline of the room to the resilient flooring, place a blade of the framing square on the scribed line and run a utility knife along the outside edge of the blade, as shown in the photo on the facing page. The mark made by the utility knife—112 in. beyond the scribed line—represents […]

Bring resilient flooring sheets onto the job site at least 24 hours before working with it, so it has time to acclimate to room temperatures (at least 68°F) Resilient materials are more pliable when they have warmed and less likely to crimp or crease. As you roll and unroll resilient sheets, be careful not to […]

Before purchasing wood flooring for installation over concrete slabs or in sub­grade areas, check the flooring warranty to see if subgrade installations are allowed. If so, be sure to correct excess moisture conditions beforehand. In general, engi­neered wood is a better choice than solid-wood flooring in such locations because engineered wood’s cross-ply construction is more […]