Installing used carpet?

Ok, those of you who have had carpet laid. Do you think it was a job you could do yourself? Has anyone laid their own carpet? What are some of the things one would need to know to do a good job or is it better to get a professional in? Has anyone any idea of the cost of getting in a professional?

This ratty carpet we have is getting ripped up and being replaced by a carpet that will be taken up on Saturday. It's not that old but our friends have extended their house and are getting matching carpet throughout and have given us the old one... which isn't that old. I have no idea about joining carpet or how it's done. I'm not even sure how it's kept in place any more... I don't think tacks are used are they?

I think we're going to have to get a straight edged spade onto the stuff we have down at the moment. It had a foam backing which has turned to dust in a lot of places. I'm thinking there will be chunks left stuck to the floor after the carpet is ripped up.

I'd use the old stuff on the garden but it's got nylon in it and the threads are nasty. They get wrapped around the vacuum cleaners power head and make it stop spinning. Ruddy pain in the proverbial. It doesn't help that Rivka takes out her annoyance at being shut out of the bedroom by trying to shred it either. The area in front of the ranch sliders is nonexistant. I had to cut a chunk out so we would trip over the threads and loose bits. Great chunks were breaking off and it was a mess. It seems a little more gets hacked off every few months as the sun rotten stuff breaks down.

We can't really afford to get anyone in to lay the new stuff but it would be nice if we could do it and do it properly. No wrinkly bits in it after it's been walked on. As for cutting it to fit..... erk :rolleyes: That might be where I go and make a cup of tea and keep right out of the way.

I had to measure around the walls of a laundry once. I was going to put a beading up. I was over a metre short!!! I mean I measured the four walls and even accounted for the door but I still managed to mess it up.

We'd like to get the silly bit of wall taken out too. It would be great if that was done before the carpet went down. It's kind of like a wee privacy wall between the lounge and what was the front door. We have never set foot through that door. Mainly because we never got a key for it but also because ther ranch sliders make the door redundant. There is no need for this wee wall but I know what seems like a quick easy job will probably take me months because there will be hidden challenges I won't know how to deal with... there always is. We'll also have to find matching tiles for the roof and take the door out and level the floor where the door step goes down and then an outside wall needs to be built so there is no inset where the door is now..... Iiiieeeyyyy! If one knew what one was doing, it would be a straight forward job, Dad could have done it in a weekend, if not a day. Well I reckon he could have...... It can't be that hard? Surely? Ooooh where have I heard those words before? Ha, Shortly before I chastised myself for using them.

Oh yes, it should have been Oh so simple..... it never is though, especially when you lack the knowledge. I can bang a nail in and cut a bit of wood but it's WHERE to bang in the nail and what size to cut and where it should go for best use......

I thought I could use the framing off the little wall to build the framing for the outside wall... then we just need to match up the outside cladding... (hardy plank). There shouldn't be any wiring in that wall but the outside light on the deck may need to be moved or changed or something.... I dunno... maybe we could put one of those ships lights instead of the boring old light fitting.

See, perfect example of one job snowballing into many.

Yakut

I laid carpet as a student through Student Job search, it's not TOO difficult, but using the knives takes some wrist strength and it was pretty tiring hauling a blade through the carpet.

empty the room, pull the flashing boards off at the base of the walls and rip out the old carpet. laying the new one is fairly simple, you need a sharp knife, stanley knife or safety knife is best, and something like a chisel but blunt, and a rubber mallet.

lay the new carpet so the edges come an inch or two up the walls, use the blunt chisel with the mallet to hammer the carpet down into the corner of the wall and floor, then use the knife to cut down into the corner. then hammer in the skirting boards once more. to join different sections of carpet, you'll need some carpet tape, like the name suggests, it like selotape for carpets just run it down the joint of the carpet and butt the sections together on it.

the stuff I have used before cam in a roll that had the sticky side covered with peel-off non-stick paper, like what you get on double sided tape, these were in foot long increments and half of the width. this meant you could peel of a foot of cover, stick it to the one carpet, then do another foot, and later come back and butt up stick the next carpet along in foot long stretches instead of juggling a room width of tape sticking to a carpet and having to try and butt a room width of carpet to that perfectly in one go

Another option to the traditional laying of carpet is to have the carpet edges bound and just lay them down in place, precisely measured to fit the space into which they go. We have done this through the 3 bedrooms and for the hall runner, using second hand industrial type wool carpet, and has worked really well 4.5 years down the road.

Cheers
Andrea
Oxford

I had that old nylon carpet in my place and same thing....ripped the stuff up and it left the foam backing and glue on the floor. The easiest way to get that up was with a paint scraper-they are called a tungston. It scrapes off quite easily. The other thing that was quite good was a one of those metal plaster scrapers that you use to apply plaster with. Good luck its sooooooooooooooo much fun, at least you won't have to scrape the glue up like i did so that i could sand the floors

I watched a mate of ours (ex professional) lay carpet at our last place. Apart from the proper tools needed to make sure it is stretched properly and doesn't go all loose and saggy, it is a very physical job, involving lots of grovelling on hands and knees and using knees and a special tool to ram the carpet hard up and over the smooth edge (I think that is what it is called) that has to be put around the edges of each room (wood with little spikes along it that hook the carpet and keep it in place).

Taking out the old stuff is hard yakker but something you can certainly do yourself.

I'd get a quote for laying it, might be cheaper than you think, and would mean a job that lasts longer and looks better for more years

Get someone to lay the carpet Yakut, I have visions of Yakut shaped mounds underneath and Kim running round the house yelling..."Yakut where are yer????"

maggies mum;213977 wrote: Get someone to lay the carpet Yakut, I have visions of Yakut shaped mounds underneath and Kim running round the house yelling..."Yakut where are yer????"

ha ha I reckon. It is a physical job and if there is anyway you can afford to have someone do it, then I would.

We have just had carpet laid (thanks scouse girl) by a professional. it was $500 for all the stuff (bars and edging and things) and his labour.
2 big rooms and a long hall. We had the rooms clean and ready for him and then when he finished we got in the rug doctor.
WOW it looks a $1,000,000