Fitting skirting and new carpet

[awtltd]

Hi, I need to replace the skirting in a room I am currently re-decorating

- a new carpet will be laid when I have finished.

The skirting that is currently fitted (throughout the house) has a gap below it which the carpet fits under.

Is it best practice to have the gap under - or should I fit it flush to the floor so the carpet fits up to it and not underneath it.

My gut feeling is to fit it flush to the floor so the thickness of the carpet and underlay will not matter but which is correct?

One other thing, it's a PVC tiled concrete floor (circa 1966) - are the grippers glued to the floor or is the underlay glued to the floor then the carpet glued to the underlay?

Thanks,

Kev

[NOSPAMnet]

The carpet won't be glued to the underlay as you would never be able to lift it if the underlay was also glued to the floor . The gripper rods are there to hold the carpet .That's their function in life Normally underlay is stapled to wooden floors but dunno how the fitter will deal with vinyl tiles on concrete when fitting gripper rods and underlay .

[Lobster]

No, the carpet should butt up to the front of the skirting, which sits on the floor (though if I'm fitting it a room with floorboards I allow for a very small gap to llow enough wriggle-room to enable the boards to be lifted later if necessary)

The grippers will be glued to the floor with gripfill or similar. However, be sure to let the fitter know in advance that this is your set-up, as the glue needs time to set before the carpet goes down. Ideally they need doing the night before but in practice the fitter's not likely to want to make two visits; but let him know and ask how he'll fit the carpet. Otherwise he may panic when he sees the floor and end up glueing down the carpet, which is a bodge as you've already been advised.

David

[The Medway Handyman]

IME they either use gripper that has hardened masonry pins rather than normal nails, or Gripfill. You can buy gripper in three types, concrete floor, wood floor & dual purpose. Dunno about the underlay - double sided tape maybe?

[awtltd]

Thanks all, That clarifies things. One more thing, I have just seen some plastic 2 part skirting with a removeable facia that cables can be run through, does the same apply to installing this?

Cheers,

Kev

[Man at B&Q]

Except when they're nailed down. All my houses have had concrete floors downstairs and the grippers were always nailed down.

MBQ

[Roger Mills]

Fit the skirting flush with the floor, and stretch the carpet over the grippers to butt against the skirting. Seems odd that you have a gap with a concrete floor. On a wooden floor, a gap often develops as the joists and floorboards dry out and shrink a bit after the skirting has been fitted.

It's unlikely that the floor is *actually* concrete on the surface. More likely that there's a 50mm or so screed over the concrete - in which case gripper rods with masonry nails can be nailed straight onto it. Obviously, the spikes need to point towards the skirting, and you should leave a gap of about 1/4" between the grippers and the skirting, and push the carpet into the gap with a blunt bolster chisel.

If you use Tredaire or similar underlay - laid rubber side down - you don't need any glue. Just trim it to fit *inside* the grippers, and tape the joins with parcel tape.

[Cerberus .]

Dunno about the underlay - double sided

Latex spray.

Don.

[awtltd]

Thanks for the input regarding the carpet and underlay - I'll keep an eye on how he does it - but I'm leaving that to the fitter my only concern is fitting the skirting

Kev

[stuart noble]

Don't leave any voids behind the skirting. It has to be able to stand the carpet being whacked against it with a knee kicker.