How to properly lay carpet

Do you know where renovations usually start? It turns out that most often ceilings, walls and windows are made first. And the floor is always in last place. But! Our tip: You need to decide what kind of flooring you want to install before starting the renovation. After all, it is the floor that takes on the greatest load. And at the same time, it should remain beautiful, easy to clean and wear resistant for as long as possible.

Moreover, if you turn to any average citizen with the question: “Could you lay the parquet on your own?” – the answer, it seems to me, will be unequivocal: “Of course not. We need specialists here. ” Carpet is another matter, here everyone for some reason considers themselves professionals. It seems that it is easier: they measured the length and width of the room, bought a piece of the right size and put it on the floor. Moreover, for some reason we often perceive the carpet not as an independent floor covering, but as a kind of “auxiliary” material, the task of which is to cover up the unsightly old parquet floor or nondescript linoleum.

Did you know that a loose piece of carpet is fraught with unpleasant surprises? Firstly, it can slide, that is, walking on such a “moving floor” is unsafe. Secondly, having bought the material, as you thought, clearly in accordance with the size of the room, at home you suddenly find out that there are practically no even walls and right angles in our apartments. As a result, at one wall the carpet will be ugly bristling and bulging, and at the other it will not reach it..

Hence the conclusion: carpet flooring is not an easy task at all, requiring special skills and ability to handle special tools. This should only be done by professionals. For advice on professional carpet flooring, I turned to the Broadloom Center, which offers not only collections of synthetic carpets from Canada, the Nobelton trademark, but also their competent installation.

Before laying the carpet, draw a laying plan and choose the direction of the pile

I was told that there are several ways to lay carpet. For example, in Europe, the method of laying on scotch tape is very popular. It is cheaper than others. Consumables used only tape and tape for gluing carpets (if necessary). This method is not very durable, although it is quite consistent with European trends in carpet production, where the emphasis is on fashionable design. Collections change quickly, and after three years, following the new fashion, you can easily replace the outdated coating with a new one..

In North America, the approach is completely different. The main focus there is precisely the wear resistance of the coating, the comfort it creates, the optimal balance of price and quality. North American manufacturers give a 10-year wear warranty, but only if the carpet is laid on a backing. Because without a backing, the coating wears out faster. Broadloom center experts believe that scotch tape is good where carpet is laid for a short time, for example, at exhibitions. For more secure styling, grippers or glue are much better suited.

Auxiliary materials for styling:
1 – thermal tape; 2, 3 – scotch tape, 4 – grip rails, 5 – staples

What is a Gripper Rake? This is a wooden plank from which spikes stick out at a certain angle. Slats are nailed along the walls along the perimeter of the room. The edge of the carpet is pulled onto the gripper with a special “paw” (called a kicker). Excess carpet along the perimeter of the wall is then cut off with a special device, because an allowance for the curvature of the walls is taken. The edge is then covered with a skirting board, which can optionally be made from the same carpet. This installation method is suitable for home and small offices. In large rooms, from one hundred to several hundred square meters, the carpet must be glued to the floor.

Grip slats are nailed along the perimeter of the room.
In difficult places, only specialists can properly fix the carpet.

Another extremely important element of competent flooring is the substrate. By the way, buyers in our country, for some reason, when choosing a carpet, forget about it. But, for example, in Canada, the question “Do you need a substrate?” not even worth it. This is implied by itself. Of course, everyone has the right to decide whether to buy it or not. But experts from the Broadloom Center explained that the main purpose of the underlay is to increase the life of the carpet (at least twice). Without it, it grinds faster between the hard floor and the hard sole. In the case when the coating is laid on the substrate, it takes on part of the shock when walking, acting as a shock absorber. Another purpose of the backing is to increase the feeling of comfort and softness. By purchasing a thin carpet and laying it on a backing, you can achieve the effect of a thick pile carpet. And, by the way, save a certain amount at the same time.

Pads are made from polyurethane foam, corrugated and flat rubber, natural and synthetic felt

The substrate materials are quite diverse: polyurethane foam, corrugated and flat rubber, natural and synthetic felts. The experts will tell you which one to choose, the main thing is that it must be sufficiently elastic. Conduct a simple experiment: squeeze the backing, if it crumples easily, it does not fit. Thickness is also important: a very thick and loose substrate can be damaged due to insufficient elasticity. As a rule, the optimal thickness is from 0.65 to 1 cm.This backing will give the carpet strength, elasticity, increase sound insulation, make the floor warmer and add a sense of comfort..

Laying the substrate. Layout of carpet and preparation of joints. Docking pieces of carpet. The edges of the coating are removed under the skirting board.

Back in the Broadloom Center, I was told that very often you can hear a rather strange, in their opinion, question: is it possible to put carpet on the parquet floor? To answer this question, first of all, as it turned out, it is necessary to decide for what reasons this is being done. If this is an old parquet floor that requires making it look decent, you can lay the carpet directly on it, since small scuffs and scratches are not terrible for it. If for some reason you need to temporarily close a good, high-quality parquet, it is better to cover it with carpet on a substrate using grippers. In this case, the parquet will be slightly damaged in the places where the grippers are attached, but this is quietly covered with baseboards. And after you remove the carpet, the parquet will not suffer at all.

Professionals of the Broadloom Center will be able to take into account all the nuances of the room’s relief, make the correct measurement, and, if necessary, correctly join the pieces of the covering. This is especially important for complex installation with the use of borders or when combining materials of different colors and patterns. All this will be done harmoniously and tastefully. A professional layer will do the job with a minimum number of seams, the pile of different pieces will be directed to one side, and the joints will be invisible – this will give the complete impression of a solid carpet. And without a doubt the process of flooring itself will take a professional much less time than an amateur amateur. Although the time spent on this work, of course, depends on the chosen method, and on the configuration of the room, and on its area. For example, a rectangular room with an area of ​​up to 50 m2 is covered with grippers in just 2-3 hours.