Best way to cut carpet (installed) & Border ? (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

What is the best method to cut carpet, to avoid as much freyed edges as possible? I know to cut rope and cords use for climbing and stuff, they use a hot knife. Probably not feasible for carpet use. Simple utility knife? tips?

I have to cut out a section of my hallway that meets the rear door so I can lay down some bluestone or slate or tile depending on the clearance I measure.

What should I use for the border too, a simple wood trim cut to length? I don't think I would use a saddle in this application.. In the process of trying to find authentic Catskills bluestone...

Jay

 

[JonZ]

Jay,

Whats on the floor beneath the carpet? Wood? Concrete?

For Wood
2 ways:

1. Put a strip of tackless down in front of your border,tile,whatever... Tuck the carpet behind the tackless just like you would on all the walls.

Although alot of people do this I wouldnt. I never liked having tackless in a doorway.

2. Roll and tuck the carpet and staple it down.

I did carpet for years.This is way we did doors.

You cut back the padding(a couple inches tops) and then cut the carpet to match so it will "fill" in the area of pad you cut. Make a small cut and roll it underneath and see if it touches the padding. Then look and see if the roll/bend on top exactly meets the tile or border. Keep doing it until it does. Very small cuts. These will end up underneath the top of the carpet anyway. When you have it right cut a couple inches and chekc again. Keep doing it until youve cut the doorway completely.
When you roll the carpet under it should match the height and thickness of the padding below so you shoudlnt notice any drop. Use a Carpet staple gun, spread the fibers and staple it down. If you dont have a kicker you can have someone pull the carpet to tighten it.This will leave a nice clean edge where the carpet meets the tile since the edge is tucked underneath and acting as edge padding - so no carpet edges


Hope you can understand what I said above, if not when I get home maybe I can provide u with pics or something to make it easier for you.

 

[Jay H]

It's wood, I'm pretty sure it's actual wood flooring too, but I don't know what shape it is in. But I think I understand what you are recommending for #2..

How is a carpet staple gun different than a regular all-purpose staple gun. I was using a 3/8" staple gun when I was doing my insulation work.. would I be able to use this with long staples?

What is a kicker?

Sounds like your #2 would alleviate the need of any border between my tile/bluestone and the carpet....

Jay

 

[JonZ]

Kicker...


If by the doorway, the carpet is still installed at the walls near it, to the left and right, then you shouldnt need to stretch it. If not then yes you should because you can end up with ripples.

I dont remember the length of the carpet staples, its been awhile. 1/2 inch staple should be enough to hold it down as long as you put enough down. How big is the doorway?For larger doorways,put down staples a couple inches apart. For smaller a inch or so. That should hold it.

#2 is the way to go. THe carpet you tucked under acts as padding. And since its such a small piece, 2 or so inches its never a problem. It looks neat and resolves the frizzy edges. Make sure you seperate the fibers and staple the backing, you dont want to staple down and flatten tthe fibers.

Can you provide a pic of the space youre doing?

 

[Al.Anderson]

I also used to install carpet; and have used the approach described by JonZ. It'll work, but it's what I'd call a jury-rig. (I usually used it for a bedroom bordering a hardwoord hallway.) If you use the "roll-over" tecnique in a main doorway I think the edge will wear more quickly.

I prefer to use two pieces of tackless next to each other; and when done I would use an edger to push the tacks down so it wouldn't pinch bare feet. If the run of carpet to the door is fairly long, say over 20 ft, then you're more likely to get the ripples JonZ mentioned. If you go the tackless route, there's simple metal edges you can buy. The carpet edge goes in the grove and then you use a rubber mallet to tap it down.

A carpet staple gun is more powerfull than a household hand stable gun and will hold the carpet more tightly. This'll be particularly important if you stretch before you do the roll-over (which I recommend).

Also, don't gloss over JonZ's advice to spread the fibers. If you get lazy the stapples show; plus you'll feel them more with bare feet. (This is a jute back carpet right? You wouldn't want to hear the story when I installed foam back for the first time and tried to stretch and staple it.)

Oh, and you don't use a utility knife, get a carpet knife, which is just a convenient tool to hold a razor blade.

 

[Al.Anderson]

I just had another thought, I was thinking the tile/slate was lower than the carpet. If the top of the tile is the same height as the carpet then I take back what I said about the tackless -- the roll-over will work fine, maybe even better.

 

[JonZ]

"plus you'll feel them more with bare feet."

The main reason I didnt like tackless in the doorway. Especially if you have cheaper carpet.

Also even if your wearing something on your feet, will definitely notice the tackless once the carpet wears down.

For the front and rear doors Id almost always recommend to the costumer some sort of area rug because yes it can get so dirty and will wear faster than any other part of the rug. Wed almost always cut a piece for them and place it down in front of the front door. Most of the time leaving a second so they could get the edges bound from the store on their own.

 

[Jay H]

Thanks for all the tips! I might, eventually replace the entire carpet in the hallway. But for now, I'm going to just put bluestone in the "foyer" area for now, so I guess it's not a bad place to "practice".

I'll let you guys know the progress, with pictures. Right now, I have to finish my bathroom ceiling painting.

Jay

 

[Jay H]

Let me see if I can understand the "kicker" thing. It has little spikes in the head and you simply put the head into the carpet and push the handle so you make the carpet taunt while the stapling is being done?

Jay

 

[Al.Anderson]

You got it. You actually use your kee to 'bump' the tool. Don't bump too hard or you'll hurt your knee.

If the run is long (or you have bad knees) you can rent a "power stretcher" which is really a misnomer, since it's handpowered. Instead of kicking, there's a lever. But it's a PITA to move around.

Also, when you use the kicker you have to set the depth of the 'spikes' to be long enough to grab the carpet, but not long enough to snag the padding.

 

[JonZ]

Or rip the carpet. Yea the kicker takes a bit of practice to get it right.

Most kickers Ive used make a sort of clicking sound when its hit correctly

 

[Jay H]

I cut the carpet last night using my carpet knife. I also removed the tack strip along the edges. I assume that's called that right? The piece of wood with upturned nails that keeps the carpet tight to the walls? Anyway, I removed part of the carpet pad and tried to see how the folded carpet is going to look. It looks like it would still be kind of high and not level with the rest of the carpet and it's very thick, not sure if my basic 1/2" staple gun is going to be long enough to use to staple it to the floor....

As far as tension, since this is a hallway, it appears the carpet has enough tension from the tack strips on the sides to keep the carpet tight, so that when I do create the tile/carpet border, I don't think I need to use a kicker to get a real tight fit, I don't notice any slack after removing my rectangular piece of carpet in front of my door.

Anyway, would it be bad to cut some of the threads of the carpet to make the folded carpet shorter? Cutting the threads on the part that is underneath and not seen wouldn't affect the visible carpet and would make the final fold not as deep.

Jay

 

[Al.Anderson]

"Tackless strip" not "tack strip". The name comes from not having to use tacks in the carpet, the last time they did that was around 1930 - but the name sticks.

First of all, you are using an electric carpet staple gun right? They have very narrow staples; and the gun will drive them pretty well.

Yes, I think you can cut the threads on the underwrap; you won't be putting any wear on this part so the threads won't come out.

Not to push you into the other approach, but if the carpet and pad is that think you could also use the tackless very close (1/8") to the slate and push it down like you would around the edge of the room. to do this you have to be very accurate on the length of the cut.

 

[Jay H]

Well, I removed some really small staples which is must be what an electric carpet staple gun uses, the width of the staple was only like 1-2mm and the length was fairly long. I also removed some staples from the carpet pad but they look to be standard staple gun staples, they were only going through the pad and not the carpet. Could one rent one of those? I am going to see how well my utility staple gun works but perhaps if I can rent one of those carpet guns, it would certainly be better.

Or I could do what you suggest, buy a small length of the tackless strip (correct? ) and run that along my border with my slate.

Jay

 

[Al.Anderson]

You can rent both kinds of staple guns. I would advise getting the carpet gun; it'll probably be around $10 and the staples will lock the carpet down much better and be less noticable.

The padding staple is pretty much like a regular staple. They are only used to keep the padding in place when you move around the carpet for positioning and stretching. The gun is rally a "hammer" design; it's meant to be used in one hand and you just quickly go around the room. You won't need one for this job.

You should be able to purchase the tackless by the single piece at either a carpet store or a Home Depot; it's cheap, so get one or two extra. If you go this way, and wind up renting the gun, consider a renting a carpet scissor too. It's easier than the razor to get a short straight cut without a lot of fraying.

 

[Jay H]

Al, if I were to go into a specialized carpet store, would I be able to rent one of those staple guns? The ones whose staples are both very very narrow (about 2mm wide) but very long, perhaps 3/4" or more? I was in Lowes buying a chainsaw so I asked the carpet salespeople if they rent a carpet staple gun and they said no. For the hellofit, I tried a basic 1/2" utility staple and it's not long enough. I have my carpet folded under itself and nicely tucked into where my piece of stone is right now. It's actually not bad but it is a little ..."spongy" (for lack of a better term). Are these staple guns 110v AC, DC or are they compressed air tools (I hope not)...

Jay

 

[Al.Anderson]

The last time I rented one I got it at the neighborhood rental place. I would have thought a Home Depot or Lowe's would have them too; but I guess not.

They're standard 110v AC.