How is carpet installed?

Flooring is an investment and proper carpet installation will affect both longevity and performance of the material.

These are just some of the things your installer will do.

Preparing the room and the subfloor

The installer will come before the installation to correctly measure the room, and that?s not as easy as it sounds. Rooms are not perfect squares; there might be odd shapes, moldings, baseboards, door sills, closets, bay windows and more to deal with.

If there is too little material, there will be gaps; too much, and there will not only be a lot of waste, wrinkles, and rolls.

The installer will examine the subfloor; if there are any imperfections, it needs to be repaired before installation. They will also check to be sure that you have the proper underlayment; there are different types for different surfaces, and a warranty can be voided by using the wrong one!

The installer will also discuss the best way for you to prepare.

During the actual carpet installation

A gripper will be positioned around the perimeters of the room. There can be no gaps, and the nails must face correctly. First, the underlayment, which must be facing correctly, is placed. Then comes the actual carpet, with seams cut and ironed properly.

The entire process takes two to three hours for every 500-square-feet of room.

There is a myriad of tools to be used, including gripper, knee-kicker, power stretcher, tack stripper, wall trimmer, tackless strips, top cutter, hammer, seaming tape, seaming iron and more. Note: While power stretchers and knee kickers do the same thing, the power stretcher (now a requirement in most warranties) is for big rooms while the knee kicker is for small spaces.

It?s always tempting to save money, but cutting corners on carpet flooring may result in wrinkles, rolls, gaps, uneven seams, and a surface that's too large for the floor so it "climbs" up the wall. You might also unintentionally void your warranty by not following the manufacturer's directions exactly. While there are plenty of "how-to" videos, many of them include information that is not entirely accurate.

For more information about carpet installation, or any other flooring, come into the Marion?s Carpet Warehouse in Wilsonville or Portland, OR., serving: Wilsonville, Portland, Beaverton, Lake Oswego and Vancouver, BC. Ask about our estimates!