carpet grips

[Stephen]

Hello,

Daft question: I need to fix some carpet grips to a concrete floor. The grips have nails in but I assume they are for fixing to wooden floors and will not penetrate concrete? So do I need to drill holes in the floor, fit rawl plugs, and screw the grips down, or can I save time and just glue them down with something like "no more nails"? That would be a quicker option but I wasn't sure whether the tension in the carpet would pull the grips up if only glued down? Alternatively could I/should I use fancy screws or nails designed for masonry?

Thanks, Stephen.

[NOSPAMnet]

I've never experienced gripper rods on anything but wooden floors but my instincts would tell me not to use glue nor masonry pins .I'd be inclined to drill holes through the rods ...mark on the floor where the corresponding holes on the concrete should be and drill and plug the holes then screw the gripper rods to the floor .

[Slider]

Our downstairs is a concrete floor and the carpet gripper rods were only nailed down. As said above, a couple blobs of 'no nails' won't hurt.

[NOSPAMnet]

As YOU said above ??? I can't see any other post from you? :-)

[Rod]

AIU, the gripper rods have hardened steel nails precisely so that can be bashed into most floors - including concrete.

At our doorways, we have wooden strips (an "origianl feature"!) and the floor is in poor condition. The fitter used a solvent-based glue (something like a very tough rubber cement) across those thresholds.

The general "no more nails" family of adhesives would probably work - but they do seem to take a long time to set to full hardness. IME, days. Far longer than a carpet fitter would be in the house! And you need the glue to be fully set before stretching a carpet over a stuck down gripper rod.

[meow2222]

I've removed successfully glued down griprod on concrete more than once. Doesnt inspire me with confidence, but seems to have worked.

NT

[Stephen]

Thanks for the ultra-fast replies everyone.

Perhaps the nails are suitable for all floors, otherwise wouldn't they sell a type without nails for concrete floors? A quick tap on the hammer and I will soon find out.

It's not too much of a problem about cure time. I will make sure I glue them a few days before the fitters arrive (sorry I haven't learned to do DIY carpet fitting yet).

Thanks again, Stephen.

[Bob Mannix]

Carpet fitters will use the nails provided on concrete floors that are not too hard. If the nails won't go in as the concrete is very hard (which also means old (40-50yrs plus), although very old concrete isn't always hard IYSWIM), they will use epoxy resin glue designed for the purpose. It is unusual, hence scenario - lots of banging and cursing, followed by "I'll have to go back and get some glue".

[Chris J Dixon]

I would caution against your other thought of drilling the floor. I once had to deal with a solid floor where a threshold bar was screwed down so deep that it had penetrated the DPC. A little epoxy putty soon filled the hole.

Chris

[NOSPAMnet]

Forgot to ask but are you fitting the carpet yourself? If not then might be better to ask the carpet fitter what he wants

[Tony Steven]

Just make sure the gripper you have is for dual purpose as some gripper is for wood only.

Never used them but they give you the option of some gripper glue which might give you an idea of what to look for.

[Samantha Booth]

Hi Stephen

I had this exact problem 3 months ago. I was going to screw them down with the proper plugs but the damp membrane is very close and with the concrete not being very thick I would have pierced it easily if I had rawl plugged it.. Therefore I just used grip fill and stuck them down. I did wait 3 days before the fitter came round. Just jmake sure the underneath of the rods and floor are dust free that way the ashesion is better. Grip Fill worked for me fine.

HTH Sam

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Pros normally glue them. But with something a bit stronger than NMN.

[DM]

BUT the OP mentions it above, so the context is OK.. or do you perceive some other problem with it

[NOSPAMnet]

I misread it .I'd have sworn that it said " As I said above " Twice I read it as that as well...LOL

[John]

Mine has metal strips which have a nail hole and also hook under the skirting board to prevent lifting.

[John]

Just done some Googling and can't find them. Damned good idea though. Fitted about 20 years ago to solid floor. The nail keeps the tension and the hook under the skirting prevents lifting.

[The Medway Handyman]

You can buy three types of gripper, one for wood floors, one for concrete floors and a dual purpose one. The concrete floor type has hardened nails.

Mind your fingers, carpet gripper is horrid nasty stuff.

[Stephen]

Just to let you all know, the carpet fitter said to use no more nails and the one carpet web site sells grip fill for that purpose. I'll let you know if they come loose ;)

[Bob Mannix]

Spoke to my carpet fitter yesterday. He said most fitters use NMN but he can't stand it as it takes too long to set. He uses a hot melt glue gun (or the epoxy stuff). The hot melt sets in 20 minutes and he can lay out underlay and precut carpet in that time and do the job in one visit. For NMN he says you have to lay the grippers and come back the next day - he can't understand why they use it.