Carpet installation question

I built a home theater in my basement with tiered seating for 3 rows of seats, each row rising 6 inches. The first row of seats is on the concrete, the second row on a plywood platform 6 inches up, the last row on a plywood platform 12 inches up. I am now ready for the carpeting. It seems that the installer will have an easy time installing the carpet onto the platforms as they are plywood and they can nail on the standard tack strips and just stretch out the carpet...

My question is how will they install the carpet on the concrete? I have hot water heat tubing imbedded in the concrete slab, so I dont want them just shooting nails in there just for tack strips and risk a puncture. Also the front area by the TV screen is radiused so tack strips wont bend those corners anyway. Will the installers simply do a glue down for the concrete area then? Or do they have some way of gluing the tack strips? If they do a full glue down, how do they handle padding and vapor barrier?

Thanks, I am really in the dark about carpeting installs, this is the first home I've ever owned that had even a single room of carpeting in it, (Im a hardwood kinda guy, but carpeting will work better acoustically in the theater).

I hope to post some photos in a month when completed.

Thanks

Reply to
RickH
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The nails in the tack strip only embed in the concrete about

3/8", which should be well above the level of your tubing.

They cut the tack strips into smaller pieces to make the radius. The strips WILL bend if the radius is not too tight.

When they come to install the carpet, just mention that you have radiant heating in the floor. It will be fine.

Reply to
Robert Allison

Thanks Bob,

3/8 should be ok, the slab is 6 inches thick and the tubing is tied onto the 6x6 reinforcing mesh at the bottom to center of the slab. Thats reassuring, I'll let them shoot the nails then.
Reply to
RickH

Who knows, but tell them all that you have heat in the floor.

Reply to
mm

I have carpet over concrete in my basement. I have a perimeter drain

- tubing under cement around the perimeter of the basement, leading to the sump. I used Loctite's Instagrab to put down the tack strips the day before the carpet went in. No problems so far. I was pretty generous in my use of the adhesive, but it only took a couple tubes to do it.

If you are having the carpet installed, the installer would have to do the tack stripping one day, then come back the next after the adhesive dries to put in the padding and carpet. (If you put the tack strips in yourself, remember the direction of the tacks has to be toward the wall, and use whatever spacing the installer recommends)

Reply to
celticsoc

Last night I thought of that solution. In building the basement I've already glued down all my stud wall sill plates anyway (they hold better than nails BTW). So I am familiar with gluing down to my floor.

How much gap should I leave between the tack strip and the wall baseboard (for the tuck down)? Is there a standard for this gap?

Reply to
RickH

I've always used my index finger to space the strips along the wall. I was taught that way, so I'm jaded (G). Not a tight fit, though.

Other sources suggest:

"Allow a space between the wall and each tackless strip that equals roughly 2/3 the thickness of the carpet (using spacers makes this easier)."

-- Oren

"I didn?t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you."

Reply to
Oren

I don't know exactly. I went about 3/4" from the wall, but I think the type and thickness of the carpet play a role as well.

Reply to
celticsoc

I ordered the carpet from Carpet America last night, the guy said "oh yeah we glue tackstrip for radiant floors all the time", very matter of factly. So I was worrying about nothing, I had an image of a band of non-english speaking guys swarming the room with nail guns and only one hour to get it laid and mestanding there trying to stop them. They glue when they come to measure, then just install when carpet is delived.

Reply to
RickH

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