Do you want to change the carpeting in one of your rooms, and feel like you can do it on your own? It will help to know the following things before you begin.
Buy A High-Quality Carpet Pad
While your goal may be to replace the carpeting in a room, you need to pay attention to what kind of carpet pad you purchase. High-quality carpet padding is going to result in a softer surface to walk on, and last a lot longer due to the frequent wear and tear your carpeting sees. You should also avoid using the old carpet padding since it is incredibly difficult to add new carpet padding down the road. Carpet padding is cheap enough that it's worth replacing it at the time of a new carpet installation.
Plan Where To Hide The Seams
You'll want to think about where the seam of the carpet will go if it needs one. A seam will only be needed if the shortest width of the room is longer than the width of the carpeting. You may want to place the seam in a part of the room that will not be noticed, such as underneath furniture, rather than in the middle of the room.
In addition, the carpet padding will also have a seam if the carpet has a seam. You should run the carpet padding in the opposite direction of the carpeting so that the seam is not in the same place. You can secure the seams of carpet padding with masking tape to prevent it from shifting.
Properly Place the Tack Strips
You'll need to run tack strips around the edge of the room so that the carpeting has an edge to stick down to. You will need to cut the tack strips down to size and line the perimeter of the room with them. The key to installing tack strips is to not place them flush against the wall. You want them to leave a small gap between them so that the edge of the carpet can tuck into this gap.
Use A Chalk Line To Cut The Carpet
A helpful tip for cutting carpeting is to use a chalk line. You can flip the carpeting over so that you're working on the rear side, mark the measurements on each side of the carpet, and then snap a chalk line over the backing. This will help with placing a straight edge along the line so that you can trim the carpeting with a knife, which ensures the cut is straight.
Contact a local carpeting service, such as Williams Carpet Center, to learn more.
Choosing flooring can be quite a challenge, mainly because you have so many options. On the lower end of the cost spectrum, you have things like sheet vinyl and vinyl tile. On the higher end of the cost spectrum, you have stone and ceramic tile. Then, there's carpet. It's installed over a subfloor, but most people do consider it to be a separate type of flooring. You can read more about flooring on this blog, equipping yourself to make a better decision about the flooring that's right for your home. You'll then have a better idea of what questions to ask and what factors to consider as you choose a floor.