DIY carpet-cutting and fitting?

We need to re-carpet an upstairs room shortly and have decided to use the carpet from the downstairs living-room. Now, yesterday I was browsing through Poundland for bargains saw 10-metre rolls of heavy-duty tape. It looks like duct tape except the non-sticky plastic-like side is silver. I bought two rolls, a quid each, thinking if they're no good for joining up carpet then they'll certainly be good enough for something else. I've read that there's something called "carpet seam tape". Is it significantly different from this duct tape I've bought?

The next question is just how important is having a knee-kicker and a carpet-stretcher? The following article suggests they are needed.

formatting link

Reply to
Eddy
Loading thread data ...

I think the seam tape uses heat to join the pieces together. That's certainly what the fitters used when they had to accommodate our very oddly shaped new room.

Matt

Reply to
matthew.larkin

Haven't done it myself but I remember a friend doing it. He made a carpet kicker with wood and had nails poking through to form the gripper part. As far as I know it was a success.

mark

Reply to
mark

I tried to make a carpet kicker with nails and it just didn't work at all. You can buy them for about =A330 on ebay or screwfix.

John

Reply to
jjf4915

It might work but joining carpet in a way such that it doesn't show and/or fray and/or pull apart along the join is not as simple as just sticking a bit of tape on the back.

You won't be able to stretch the carpet onto the gripper strips properly without one. If the carpet isn't suffciently stretched it'll runckle up under traffic.

The hardest part I found when fitting a carpet was the cutting the edges at the right place after stretching to the gripper. A couple of mm too much and the carpet won't tuck into the gripper/skirting gap neatly, too little and you have a gap. B-(

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

You dont use a kicker for most domestic fitting, nor stretch the carpet any more than the gripperrod does. Especially not with used carpet.

Re the tape, I wouldnt spoil the ship over a penny's worth of tar.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

I thought that might be the case with used carpet. It's been subjected to a lot of heat and I guess most of its elasticity has departed, so it could be almost impossible to stretch.

Er, "tar"? Special tape with tar on it? The duct-tape stuff isn't good enough?

Eddy.

Reply to
Eddy

Good idea, but it could take me a good couple of hours to make such a thing well enough so that it won't tear and wreck the carpet! And then, since the carpet has been subjected to so much heat, it might not want to stretch!

Eddy.

Reply to
Eddy

I suppose I'll have to see if they're available from one of those tool-hire places then.

You're fussier than me, I think. My terror will be cutting down the two long lines where the carpet must then form a near-undetectable seam!

Eddy.

Reply to
Eddy

Thanks for an idea of the price, John. I'm beginning to think I might hunt around for someone who'll do the whole job for not-too-much-more than £50!

Eddy.

Reply to
Eddy

And that's what they refer to in that link I included in my original posting. I guess I'll ask some local carpet-fitter what they would do. No use paying them, if on the day I find them down on their hands and knees with nothing better than duct tape!

Eddy.

Reply to
Eddy

Depends on the carpet. A board with nails can work on good woven-backed carpets, but it's no bloody use at all on cheap carpet. You need a lot of tiny pins instead. Just hire one for the day, they're cheap.

IMHO, I'd lay carpet again but I won't do vinyl. That's a real PITA.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

Carpet fitters aren't expensive, and the difference between their work and d-i-y is usually clear for all to see.

Reply to
Stuart Noble

"Don't spoil the ship over a hap'orth [half-penny worth] of tar" is a saying suggesting that saving a small amount on the price of some cheap item [the tar used to seal the joints against water entry] may be a false economy [when it causes the ship to sink].

In other words: buy the proper tape (or get a professional to do it).

Reply to
Martin Bonner

Getting deeply OT...

"Originally referring to the use of tar to protect sore places or wounds on sheep from the destructive attacks of flies. (Sheep is dialectally pronounced ship over a great part of England.)"

Is it a sheep or a ship? (I used to think it was the vessel but have lately seen the animal version mentioned several times. Can't honestly make up my mind.)

Reply to
Rod

yes, why do it the straightforward way.

The gripper rod pulls the wrinkles out, as long as youve walked it flat first. If you think it needs to be more stretched than it was first time round... why?

NT

Reply to
meow2222

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.