How to install Carpet - Dunlop Carpet & Underlay Installation Guide, by Dunlop Flooring on YouTube. 5 min 16 s.
- Video length
- 5 min 16 s
- Time to do it
- 4 hours
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Clear the room completely, then pull up the old carpet and underlay. Remove old staples, tacks and tack strips, and vacuum the whole subfloor.
Check the floor is clean, dry and flat. Nail down any loose boards and fill gaps or bumps, because every lump will show through the new carpet.
Fit tack strips around the edge of the room with the pins angled toward the wall. Leave a gap of about the carpet thickness between the strip and the skirting.
Roll out the underlay and butt the edges together without overlapping. Staple it down every 300mm or as the maker says, then trim it flush with the tack strips.
Roll the carpet out over the underlay with about 50mm extra at each wall. Let it relax in the room for a few hours so the creases drop out.
Hook one end of the carpet onto the tack strips along a wall. Work from the middle outward so the carpet sits straight and even.
Kick the carpet toward the opposite wall with a knee kicker, then hook it onto the tack strips there. Keep the pile direction running the same way throughout.
Use a power stretcher across the room, stretching in line with each wall in turn. Overstretching causes ripples later, so stretch firmly but evenly.
Trim the excess carpet along the walls with a trimmer or sharp knife and tuck the edges down into the gap above the tack strips.
Where two pieces meet, cut both edges straight, join them with seaming tape and a hot iron, then trim the seam and vacuum the room.
Tips and common mistakes
Roll the underlay at right angles to the carpet so the seams do not line up.
Always cut away from your body and keep spare blades handy, since carpet blunts knives fast.
Wear knee pads when using a knee kicker, and keep your fingers clear of the tack strips.
Let the carpet sit in the room for 24 hours before fitting if it has been stored somewhere cold.
Questions
Can I lay carpet without a knee kicker?
You can fit a small room using just a knee kicker, but a power stretcher gives a much tighter, longer lasting finish. Both are cheap to hire for a day.
How much underlay do I need?
Measure the room and buy underlay to the same area as the carpet, plus about 10 percent for trimming waste. Butt the edges rather than overlapping them.
Can I lay carpet over concrete?
Yes, as long as the concrete is dry and level. Fit a suitable underlay for concrete floors and glue or nail the tack strips down instead of stapling.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
