Carpet grippers

[Dubber]

Evenin chaps and ladies :)

I'm in the process of fixing up a room and everything is done. Except the carpetting. I got a quote today from carpet right for carpet and fitting etc and the guy said I can save some money putting the grippers down and the underlay. The underlay they sell is £4.99 a SQ metre!!! and the carpet runners are about £2/19 a sq metre so I popped into B&Q who sell packs of carpet runners cheaper and underlay I think it was £45 for 6.1m of green medium underlay which shall do.

I have never fitted carpet runners or underlay and wanted some advice.

The floor its going on has hardboard down. How far from the wall does the gripper need to be pinned down ? also when you get the the corner or the length your working on how do you set the grippers up does it just have to butt up next to the one already laid or ... ?

Also I need to carpet the stairs, where would I mount the grippers on stairs ?

I'd appreciate any advice, as I'm on a tight budget to be honest and this is my weekend to do it all ... I have just discovered which way round the hammer goes :)

Thanks kindly all.

[Ash]

About 1/2" or the width of your fingers

also when you get the the corner or the

Doesn't need to butt up precisly ... just next to it will be fine

You need to be a bit more careful on this one and for safety I'd leave it to the fitters.

[Ash]

Try

[Dubber]

One question what kind of tape do you use to stick the underlay side by side with ?

[Ash]

I use some wide General Purpose Masking Tape and I'm quite happy with the results

Ash

[Ash]

Of course you can go for the professional tapes if you prefer ....

[fred]

In article , Dubber writes

Is the hardboard rough side up or smooth? If smooth, I would add more staples to make sure it stays put. I tape the joins with duct tape.

[NT]

If youre really on a budget you can use used carpet as underlay. If dirty, clean and let dry first.

1/4"

butt up or you can leave a small gap, doesnt matter. Have one of them go full length.

Couple of things to bear in mind when newly carpeting:

1. When you whack the carpet into the grippers, it moves a bit, so dont cut the other side just yet.
2. Ensure room is empty, only then will you get the carpet laid out flat

NT

[Dubber]

Smooth side Fred. I'll pick up a staple gun tommorow aswell I think. I was just going to tack it down with pins :)

[Dubber]

If youre really on a budget you can use used carpet as underlay. If dirty, clean and let dry first.

1/4"

butt up or you can leave a small gap, doesnt matter. Have one of them go full length.

Couple of things to bear in mind when newly carpeting:

1. When you whack the carpet into the grippers, it moves a bit, so dont cut the other side just yet.
2. Ensure room is empty, only then will you get the carpet laid out flat

NT

I'm getting the horrible feeling its going to go wrong lol.

My plan is just to do grippers and underlay and leave the carpetting to the man who knows :)

[fred]

In article , Dubber writes

It should pretty much stay put but if you have kids running around at

50mph or if you're sliding furniture about it's nice if the underlay stays in place. Next time you're boarding out put the rough side up to grab better.

Get nice long staples & definitely get new stanley knife blades. Staples hold better than pins.

For next time, I've found the service and prices at

excellent, check out the special offer sections.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They're fitted at the back of the tread and the bottom of the riser - with the teeth pointing towards each other. About a 1/2" away. The gripper can go all the way to the wall side less a 1/2 in or so - but leave about 2" at the bannister side so the carpet edge can be folded over - looks much better than a cut edge, when viewed from the side through the spindles. Stop the underlay at the same place too. The folded carpet edge will be the same thickness. Of course if the stairs are enclosed or don't have spindles etc you don't have to bother with the folded edge.

An electric stapler can save a lot of time when laying underlay etc. And are often cheaper than a decent hand one.

One other tip is not to stint on the underlay unless you're expecting the carpet not to last. Especially on the stairs. Some of the ribbed rubber stuff doesn't last five minutes.