Carpetting help please

[Kevin Webb]

I'm buying a first-floor flat and I am thinking of using Screwfix contract rib carpet. A 25m roll should do all the rooms I need to cover. The contract carpet is 2m wide so would be joined down the middle of each room as well as each threshold. I haven't fitted narrow roll carpet before and I'd be grateful for some help. Anyone used Wickes contract rib carpets and able to comment on them? Any general advice on fitting this type of carpet? What I would need in the way of additional tools and materials?

Cheers. Kevin.

[N. Thornton]

Rib is generally rough, more for office than home.

Carpet tape to join it, gripperrod, hammer, tough knife, tough scissors, screwdriver.

And if youve got boards with big gaps, some kind of sheet underlay. If youre choosing rib I doubt youll be caring about soft squishy underlay much - really I'd pick something else.

Regards, NT

[Toby]

Carpet laying is a skill like plastering, it looks so simple that surely there can't be much to it (oh contraire). I would suggest going to a contract carpets place & getting the basic stuff fitted by them. There won't be a showroom as such, but they usually have enough of the stuff to show you. Great value.

[N. Thornton]

Well, I'll offer some contrary suggestions - why not :) I found it was quite doable really, as long as you pay attention to getting the carpet flat and in the right place before jamming it behind the gripper rod, all is well. I would leave any excess carpet all round until the latest time possible to cut it off, because stuffing carpet into the grippperrod can cause it to move slightly.

I think its perfectly diyable with griprod myself, as long as you pay attention.

Best place to get the gripper is probably screwfix.

Regards, NT