Laying carpet on the floor in your apartment is a simple matter.
If you don't like your current flooring - linoleum or wood, or just don't have it, then carpet will help you.
This material is pleasant to the touch, durable, will help in creating a warm floor and will fit perfectly into any interior.
In the article you will learn about the features of this material and how to lay it.
Video instructions will help you lay it correctly and save on the involvement of a specialist.
Material Features
Often people cannot decide what to choose: carpet or linoleum. Both materials have their advantages, for example, linoleum is easier to clean, but carpet is better suited for creating a warm floor.
It is reasonable to place linoleum in the hallway or in the kitchen - places where it is easiest to contaminate the coating.
In the rooms and on the balcony, it is better not to use linoleum, opting for a warm and pleasant to the touch carpet.
You can also combine carpet and linoleum - this will help to delimit the space, for example, in the transition from the corridor to the room.
Carpet can be of two types: from natural woolen or artificial pile. In addition to the pile, the material also has a basis for fastening.
Each type of carpet has its own advantages. Let us first analyze the artificial type of pile - it is made of synthetic material, for this they can use nylon, olefin, polyester or polyacryl.
The most common type of flooring is nylon carpet. It can be found in the apartments of Russians most often.
This choice is not surprising: the coating is easy to clean, calmly tolerates exposure to direct sunlight, the pile does not deform and practically does not change even after the weight of the furniture standing on it.
In addition, this type of coating is much softer and more pleasant to the touch than analogues. The service life of nylon carpet is about 20 years.
Olefin carpet is the cheapest, but if you buy it, you should not rely on particularly high quality and durability. It is easily deformed and its service life is 2 times less than that of nylon.
In practice, it serves no more than 5 years, instead of the declared 10 years.
You can buy such a coating as a temporary measure, but if you do not plan to change the flooring every 5 years, then it is better not to save money and buy a better type of carpet.
Supreme or terklon carpet is the most modern type of flooring. The technology that is used to make it makes it durable compared to its nylon counterparts.
The pile of this coating is easily confused with natural wool, so if you want the material to look as natural as possible, then you can opt for this type of coating.
If you want a covering made of natural wool for a warm floor, then do not forget to check the covering before buying.
This is easy to do - you need to tear off and set fire to the villi. If it is made of natural wool, it will smolder, and the artificial material will begin to melt.
According to the production method, carpet can be:
- fabric;
- needle-punched;
- tufted.
The first type is the most expensive, its cost differs little from a good carpet. At the heart of this coating is a jute-based mesh.
Needle-punched carpet is the best value for money.
It is cheaper than the first type, but very strong and durable, thanks to the way it is made: threads are applied to the base of the material, which are driven into it with needles, and then covered with a rubber layer on top.
This coating can often be found in cinemas, it is quite good, but it is most likely not suitable for creating a warm floor.
In addition to the above advantages, it also has good sound insulation.
A tufted coating is made like a needle-punched coating - by driving in a pile, and glue is applied on top of it.
Carpet of this type can be pile or loop.
The first is distinguished by different lengths of the pile - it can be either very long or very short.
The loop analogue has a rigid base on which the loops are fixed. It is quite smooth and lasts a long time, but it is difficult to clean.
Where can carpet be used?
You can lay carpet almost everywhere, but if the room temperature fluctuates too much, and the air humidity is above 75%, it is better to choose some other type of coating - the carpet can crawl.
It is also impossible to lay this material on floors with insulation because, firstly, the material will block heat, and secondly, the coating will deteriorate very quickly.
Laying the coating is quite possible on the balcony if thermal insulation has been made and the temperature there complies with sanitary standards.
After you have chosen the material, laying the carpet with your own hands follows.
The video will help you deal with this procedure, which is actually not so complicated, the main thing is to follow the instructions clearly.
How to lay the cover?
Laying this coating resembles the process when you need to lay linoleum. Therefore, if you have laid linoleum before, then you will not have problems with carpet - its placement is even easier.
Do-it-yourself carpet laying involves, in addition to laying the material itself, also preparing the floor - it must be even, cleaned of dirt and dust.
If this is not done, then there is a risk that the material will move or bristle.
Seams are another possible problem when laying, so it is better to buy carpet in a whole roll.
The size of the roll material is easy to choose. It is better to choose a roll not end-to-end, but a little more - about 0.5 meters.
Therefore, the first thing you need to do before laying the material on the floor is to calculate the size of the room and add an additional 1 or 2 meters to it.
You can lay carpet on both wooden and concrete floors, but with the first one there will be a little more difficulties.
You can lay the carpet on the floor at the end of the finishing work: leveling, cleaning the floor, etc. Also make sure the surface is dry.
If you lay the material in the winter, then after its placement, a day should pass, and only after that you can start using the room - this time is needed for acclimatization.
The following tools are needed for laying the coating:
- kicker;
- substrate for coating;
- a wooden block serving as a gripper rail;
- a scraper that can remove mortar and glue;
- putty knife;
- ruler;
- carpet knives.
The technology of laying carpet on a wooden floor can vary significantly and depends on the footage of the room and the intensity of the load that will be applied to the floor.
If the room is small, then it is better to opt for loose laying or stretching, and in large rooms it is best to use glue.
Fixing the carpet with glue will also be needed if you plan to move heavy furniture over the floor. In other cases, glue-free styling will suffice.
When choosing a laying method, also think about the second base - for a filament or jute coating, gluing is required, for all other placement methods, the choice is not fundamental and depends on other factors.
Laying in which glue is not used is fixing the carpet with double-sided tape or around the perimeter of the material.
Stretching laying involves the creation of a substrate for the coating.
First of all, the material is laid on the floor in order to make its size correspond to the footage of the room, taking into account all its features - uneven corners, ledges, niches, pipes, etc.
After fitting, the excess part of the material must be cut off.
The surface of the floor - whether concrete, tile or wood, must be carefully leveled.
To do this, use plywood or hardboard. Before laying, you can also do a primer - it will increase the adhesion of the coating.
If the room in which you decide to lay the carpet is small, then it is best to choose a free laying of the material - it will cost you much less, it is easier to do it yourself and you do not need to carefully prepare the base of the floor.
Of the minuses of this type of laying, poor wear resistance and strength, possible cleaning difficulties (material laid in this way cannot be cleaned with a washing vacuum cleaner).
If you decide to use the perimeter fixation method, then you need to act correctly like this: lay the coating so that it steps on the wall by 6-10 cm and roll it with a roller in all directions to seat the surface.
The excess parts need to be cut off. Now the coating needs to be fixed with skirting boards around the entire perimeter.
If you still have to move the furniture, then choose the installation with double-sided tape.
First you need to glue the entire space of the floor with adhesive tape, then you need to make a grid to form cells measuring 50x50 cm.
Now you can lay the carpet, it should have an extra 6 cm on each side so that the edges go on the walls.
After the material has been correctly laid, the protective film is removed and the coating can be glued.
After completion, excess material is removed.
Taping is a very quick option. You can lay on any base - wooden and concrete are suitable. A tiled floor base is also suitable.
In case of damage, the coating can be easily replaced, which is also important when choosing a laying method.
Laying carpet on concrete and wooden floors with glue is justified if you plan to frequently rearrange the room. Glue is applied to the floor with a spatula, after which the coating is pulled on top.
Before the procedure, make sure that the floor is completely dry and even (plywood or hardboard is suitable for leveling).
Laying the carpet on the stairs is carried out as follows: the material for the steps is cut out using a special template.
After the coating is laid on the steps from the bottom up so that the patterns are connected to each other. As a connection, glue or slats are used.
This is the process of laying floor coverings in a house. Choose carpet if you want to achieve the effect of a warm floor, but do not lay it in places where it gets dirty quickly - it is better to use linoleum there.
In general, this material is durable and quite attractive, so its choice for your apartment is always justified.
A bare floor, even a very beautiful one, is not to everyone's liking. If the floor is laid with the cheapest materials without any decorative qualities, then it would be very nice to cover it with carpet. Do-it-yourself carpet laying is a simple matter, except for stretch laying. But first, let's talk about the requirements for the room under the carpet and preparing the floor for it.
Where is the best place to lay carpet?
It is definitely impossible to lay carpet where the temperature and humidity for one day and for more than three days go beyond the limits of sanitary standards: temperature from +18 to +27; humidity up to 75%. Also, if the microclimate parameters change within the normal range, but abruptly, within an hour or two, the carpet will also crawl.
But in a room where during the year the temperature changes from +16 in winter to outdoor in summer, the carpet will lie well: its material will have time to adapt to changes in the microclimate. A residential balcony can be covered with carpet either loosely laid (the floor area is too small for the flooring to go astray) or stretched.
But in rooms with a warm floor, it is impossible to lay carpet in any case. Firstly, the warm floor itself will cease to fulfill its function from this: naturally, there will be no convection of heated air through the coating; heat radiation as well. Secondly, the temperature gradient (difference) across the thickness of the coating will turn out to be such that it will definitely crawl.
How much carpet do you need
With any installation method, seams should be avoided. It's not so much about aesthetics. Due to temperature deformations, pieces of material will either crawl on top of each other, or a gap will form between them, and the edges will become ragged. Therefore, the carpet must be bought in one piece according to the size of the room with a margin of 30-40 cm on each side.
Floor and coating preparation
Carpet flooring will only lie well on a flat, smooth floor. Therefore, before laying, you need to check the floor for evenness and horizontality with a level and an even rail along the width of the room. The deviation within the room should not exceed 4-5 mm, otherwise the flooring will crawl with any method of fastening. If the deviation exceeds the specified value, the floor must be leveled with a leveler for the appropriate purpose: for stone or wood. On the wooden floor, you first need to walk cycles.
To check the horizontal level with a bubble level, it must be calibrated. This is done as follows: set the level on a horizontal surface. Then, a match is slipped under one end of it and slowly moved to the middle, holding the other end with your fingers until the lateral risk is in the middle of the bubble. Then, with a caliper or ruler, measure the distance from the hanging end of the level to the surface, and the calculation is carried out according to the rules of trigonometry for small angles.
For example: level 1 m long. The rise of its end during graduation is 2 mm. When setting the level to the center of the room 5 m long along the room, the bubble went a quarter beyond the risk. Then the deviation from the horizontal at the length of the level of 1 m is 1 mm, and at 5 meters of the length of the room - 5 mm. It's on the edge; carpet will need to be well strengthened throughout the area.
Preparation of carpet for installation is reduced to keeping it in the room intended for this for at least three days. A thick roll of heat-insulating material in the mass should warm up to room temperature, and the air between the villi should acquire its humidity.
Instruments
For carpeting, you will need special tools: a knife and a roller. A carpet knife no longer looks like a knife, but like a manual sewing machine: it is a rather solid unit in the form of an angle with a handle. The handle is pulled, pressing against the coating, and the cut off strip comes out on the side.
There are also light roller blades for carpeting. It is not recommended for beginners to use them: in inept hands, such a knife will inevitably splash sideways, and the whole piece will be spoiled. The same thing will happen if you cut the carpet with an ordinary mounting knife.
The roller for rolling out the carpet is similar to the paint roller, but wider and with a fairly hard coating of the roller. It is impossible to roll out the carpet with a paint roller: the particles of the roller coating will be packed into the pile, and there will be stripes that cannot be got rid of.
These tools are not cheap, and are unsuitable for any other purpose. How to be here? Very simple: rent.
True professionals of the "carpet" business often use knee pads for work, but for one time they, in principle, will not be needed.
How to make carpet joints
Imagine: you found a suitable piece of carpet for sale in the remnants, that is, inexpensively. But for the living room it is too big, but the seller does not want to cut it - there will be quite a lump left. But this remainder in terms of area, if cut into strips, will be enough for the hallway, where it will be necessary to change the coating often. Or you, in spite of everything, want to cover the apartment with multi-colored stripes. In any case, you need to know how to make carpet joints.
The joints on the carpet are made as follows: two pieces are laid with an overlap of at least 4 cm. Then two layers are cut along the joint line at once, to the floor, the ends are bent, the cut inner strip is removed, and released. There was a small tear - they bend it, release it in that place or roll it with a roller. Everything, the joint is ready.
For joints of carpet with other floor coverings, ordinary metal profiles-thresholds are suitable. Moreover, in most cases, the joint will fall on the doorway, where the threshold will come in handy.
Carpet installation methods
There are five ways to lay carpet:
- Free styling.
- Laying with fixation around the perimeter.
- Attached with double sided tape.
- Adhesive laying.
- Stretch laying (stretch laying).
We will consider them in order of applicability to certain rooms and / or floors.
Loose styling
Laying loose carpet means simply laying the carpet on the floor like a carpet or rug. It is advisable to do this on a balcony, in a closet adapted for a dressing room or in another narrow room without movable furniture. But if a home workshop is equipped in the closet, the carpet is useless there: you can’t catch the dropped small details from the pile, but then they will definitely, according to the law of meanness, dig into the leg.
With free laying, a suitable piece is laid on the floor with a trough, V-shaped cuts at 90 degrees are made in the corners with scissors, and then cut around the perimeter. This is perhaps the only case when a light roller cutter for carpet can be recommended to an amateur master: the cut is carried out by pressing the cutting roller into a corner. That's all.
Laying with fixation around the perimeter
For laying with fixation around the perimeter, the skirting boards are first removed. The desired piece of coating is laid in the same way as with free laying, with a trough with a twist on the walls. Now the rays, from the center to the edge, smooth the coating with a roller. Then they are cut off, but the edges are left wrapped on the wall by 30-40 mm. Then the edges are folded under the bottom until the fold line coincides with the wall, and skirting boards are installed on self-tapping screws or mounting nails. The holes for the fastener heads in the baseboards are sealed with liquid nails to match the baseboard.
This method is very simple and economical, but it is only suitable for rooms with ideal temperature and humidity conditions, a completely flat floor and non-movable furniture. A chair on rollers, even special for carpets, double and wide, sooner or later will bring down the coating. Option - if you need to somehow cover up a very unsightly floor before repair.
Video: laying carpet with a plinth mount
Tape fixation
For this fixation, double-sided tape is used. For 8 sq. m of the covered area will need 10 m of adhesive tape, regardless of its width. The width of the adhesive tape for carpet is from 63 to 180 mm. Adhesive tape 63 mm wide lasts 2-3 years; 180 mm - 5-7 years.
First, adhesive tape is glued around the perimeter along the walls and from the center with divergent rays, REMOVING THE PROTECTIVE TAPE ON ONE SIDE. The side of the tape facing up should be closed for now.
Carpet on such a "crate" of adhesive tape is laid, leveled and cut, as described above. Then half of the cover is wrapped on the remaining half inside out. Remove the protective tapes from the glued strips of adhesive tape and carefully roll the carpet onto the "crate". The same procedure is done with the other half.
Carpet on adhesive tape lies well on an uneven floor, as long as it is cleanly washed before laying. On such a coating, you can ride in a chair on carpet rollers and even drag a dining table. If it is planned to quickly or frequently replace the carpet, then laying on adhesive tape is the only acceptable option. But this work requires accuracy and certain skills: after the carpet lies on the adhesive tape, it will not be possible to smooth out the wrinkles. Therefore, when self-laying on adhesive tape, a beginner must first practice rolling out the coating simply on the floor, without adhesive tape.
With laying carpet on adhesive tape, everything is simple: mentally divide the room into squares and carefully glue the adhesive tape. The wider and better - the longer it will last.
Adhesive laying
There are two technologies for laying carpet on glue: with single and double gluing. Single gluing is applied on flat floors; double - on hilly and / or inclined at the limit.
When gluing, the role of strips of adhesive tape is performed by strips of special glue for carpet, which are also applied with a special notched trowel. The type of spatula recommended for this adhesive is indicated on its packaging. Glue from reputable manufacturers is sold complete with a spatula.
For adhesive laying, the carpet is laid on a clean, dry floor, as for other laying methods, and cut as for free laying, without turning under the edge. Then half is wrapped, as when laying on adhesive tape, and glue is applied to the floor in the same way as tape strips: along the perimeter and with rays from the center to the edges. Lay the unfolded half, unscrew the other, and repeat the procedure. After that, the coating is leveled with a roller. You need to work quickly before the glue begins to set.
With double gluing, first a felt pillow or a special carpet underlay is glued to the floor, and then the actual coating is already on it.
Carpeting on glue is laid once and for all. The carpet torn off during replacement is no longer suitable for use, and traces of glue must be removed from the floor. True, there are adhesives for carpet, which after a certain time lose their properties, like adhesive tape, but they cost no less than adhesive tape. However, there is a certain sense in their use: wrinkles and bubbles can be smoothed out with glue that has not yet set.
Video: laying carpet with gluing
Tension laying
And how to lay the carpet both forever and on an uneven floor, and so that it can be removed and then put again? So the carpet is laid in a stretch way, or with tension. Such laying is done with the help of special mounting elements - grippers.
Gripper - a thin bar with spikes sticking out of it at 45 degrees. On opposite sides of the gripper, the points are directed oppositely, i.e. along the same axis. The carpet must be designed for laying with grippers, and grippers must be suitable for this brand of carpet. For flooring, first choose a "gripper" carpet, and according to the specification for it - grippers of the appropriate type.
Carpet is a fairly popular material that is used to finish the floor. It is pleasant, warm and, of course, is able to create coziness in the house, and it is also easy to care for. Therefore, many owners of apartments and houses appreciate it. In laying the carpet is also simple, but still there are a number of nuances that must be taken into account during the installation of the coating. How to lay carpet? Let's figure it out together.
Carpet - a cozy solution for your home
Carpet in its structure resembles ordinary carpets, but in general it has nothing to do with them. This versatile, durable, easy-to-clean flooring covers subfloors completely, while a regular carpet only covers a section of the floor, with a regular topcoat underneath.
Do not think that the carpet is boring and monotonous - this is far from the case. All sorts of variations of coatings are now being produced - with long and short pile, soft and fairly dense.
On a note! Carpet can be installed in any room where it will not come into excessive contact with water. He is not afraid of temperature changes, and therefore can lie even in unheated rooms.
Carpet - operation and maintenance
Laying can be done on any type of base - the material feels great on a concrete or wooden floor, on plywood or gypsum fiber flooring, etc. Carpet is suitable for laying both in an office and in a residential building, its features help it not to lose popularity and often used for interior decoration.
- The material is characterized by increased thermal insulation, it retains heat well in the house.
- Carpet has soundproof properties. And the larger the pile, the quieter the steps while moving on this type of coating.
- The coating is distinguished by high rates of fire safety, as it is processed with special compounds during production.
- Carpet absorbs dust, does not allow it to soar in the air. The smallest particles settle in its pile.
- The material is easy to clean - sometimes, to remove dirt, just use a vacuum cleaner.
- Carpets come in a wide variety of textures and colors.
- Installation of the material is very simple and can be done by anyone who is at least a little "friends" with the tools.
- Carpet provides warmth and comfort in the house.
home carpet prices
carpet for home
Features and nuances of the material
Carpet is very durable, but in many ways, its life will depend on the correct installation and careful care of it. And the main disadvantage of carpet is that bright chemical dyes are used in the manufacture, which in certain situations can cause allergies in the residents of the house. Therefore, the material is not recommended for use in an apartment where people who are sensitive to the state of the environment live. However, do not forget that the carpet itself is a good dust accumulator, and the resulting allergy may not be caused by dyes, but by these smallest particles of litter. With regular cleaning of the coating, there should be no allergies.
They say that the carpet is able to release substances that negatively affect the human body into the air. And here it is worth thinking, first of all, about what the material is made of. If it is made of pure wool, then you should not be afraid of inhaling toxic substances. And if the material is synthetic, then it is worth remembering that the same linoleum or laminate has in its composition much more toxic adhesives and substances than the same carpet.
Conditions for choosing a carpet
The key to the successful completion of repairs and beauty in the house, as well as achieving the desired result, is the right choice of finishing materials. And this rule also applies to carpet. It must be selected taking into account all the features of the operation of the material. For example, you should not choose a floor with a long pile in an apartment where pets live. It will be difficult to clean it from wool.
Also, when choosing a material, the patency of the room is also taken into account. For example, long pile material is also not laid in the corridor or kitchen. It is best placed in the living room or bedroom.
On a note! Now carpet is produced with a variety of piles - with looped, split. And looped, in turn, is subdivided into two more types - one- and two-level. The length of the pile can vary from 5 to 40 mm.
Also, the material varies depending on the materials used to create it. Basically, it is made of synthetics.
Table. What is carpet made from?
| Material | a brief description of |
|---|---|
| The most wear-resistant type of carpet. Service life can reach 15 years with proper operation. The material is very easy to clean. |
| Acrylic fiber carpet resembles wool in its structure, but does not have high elasticity. The pile is quite hard. |
| The only natural material that can be used to make carpet. It is soft, elastic, environmentally friendly and does not electrify. The color saturation and structure are preserved for a long time, but such a carpet is more expensive than other types. |
Another important aspect when buying carpet is the purchase of material in sufficient quantities. That is, before going to the store, it is worth calculating the area of \u200b\u200bthe room and purchasing coverage in accordance with the measurements taken.
Attention! Carpeting is always bought with a margin necessary to fit the material during installation. The margin is equal to 10% of the total required coverage area.
Carpet installation methods
The service life of the material largely depends on the correctness of its installation. There are the following ways to lay carpet:
- with glue;
- double-sided tape;
- free installation with fixing around the perimeter;
- stretching.
With double sided tape carpet can be quickly fixed on a rough base at no extra cost. The method allows, if necessary, quite simply to dismantle the coating. In this case, the carpet is attached to strips of double-sided adhesive tape, glued to the subfloor with a grid in increments of about 50-100 cm. The protective tape does not peel off. The carpet is laid rolled up in a roll at the far end of the room, fixed to the adhesive tape there, and then, rolling out, is glued over the entire floor area. But it is better to glue the material from the middle of the room.
Attaching carpet with glue Ideal for concrete or wood bases. In this case, you will need to use special adhesives that will be applied with a notched trowel to the rough base. The carpet is rolled out on the floor, then one side of it is thrown over the other (approximately in the middle of the panel). The vacant floor space is smeared with glue, on which the material is mounted, gradually unfolding. The other side is glued in the same way.
On a note! In the case of using glue to fix the carpet, it is important to properly join the individual sheets. To do this, they overlap each other by 5-7 cm to make a perfect joint. Further, the edges are well smeared with glue and rolled with a roller. Only in this case, the junction of the individual canvases will be invisible.
Method "stretching" will require the purchase of special equipment - the so-called stretcher. No adhesive components or materials are used here. You will also have to purchase gripper rails, which will be installed around the perimeter of the room, and the carpet will be attached to them. The material in this case is simply stretched and fixed.
Sometimes the carpet is laid without fixing at all, or rather, it will be held only by the skirting boards. But this option will be minimally reliable, it is not recommended to move furniture on the floor - the carpet will simply fold into folds. In rooms where high traffic is noted, this method is never used. Also, do not neglect the fixing of the carpet in spacious rooms. But if necessary, the coating is easy to dismantle - just unscrew the plinth.
Attention! Whatever method of laying the carpet is chosen, in any case, you should carefully straighten the material on the floor surface. To do this, you can use a roller.
What to use as a substrate?
Under the carpet, as well as under the laminate, it is recommended to lay the substrate. It will help extend the life of the material, improve the performance of heat and noise insulation, and has shock-absorbing properties. Almost any material can be used as a substrate for carpet. It can be synthetic felt, polyurethane foam, rubber backing. The main thing is that the material is elastic, and this is quite simple to check - you need to crush a piece of the substrate in your hands and see if it returns to its original state.
Important! The underlay must be installed if the carpet is to be installed on a concrete base. In the case of wooden floors, it can be neglected.
Preparing for styling
To lay the carpet in accordance with all the rules, the rough base must be prepared. It must be clean and dry. But simply cleaning the floor is not enough. It is necessary to make sure that the base is even, and if necessary, carry out a series of work to correct the situation (if the floor is curved). The concrete floor can be leveled with a self-leveling mixture, and the wooden floor can be covered with plywood, chipboard or other dense and durable materials.
If the coating will be laid on a wooden floor, it is important to inspect the surface of the substrate for protruding nail heads. If there are any, then they are hammered into the boards as much as possible - they should not stick out.
Before laying the carpet, the baseboards are also removed, unless we are talking about a new house in which no repairs have been made. Now plastic skirting boards are widely used, which are easy to remove - just remove the protective bar and unscrew the screws that press the product against the wall. Wooden, nailed, will have to be dismantled by force. If necessary, they can be removed as carefully as possible and then used again after laying the carpet. But this is not always possible.
Also, the floors, if they are wooden, are recommended to be treated with antiseptic compounds in order to reduce the risk of developing fungus, mold, and the appearance of colonies of microorganisms. Any rough surface must be treated with water-repellent preparations.
On a note! When laying carpet, it is important to maintain the correct temperature in the room. It should be more than +15 degrees. And the humidity of the air at the same time is not less than 75%.
The surface of the subfloor is recommended to be primed if we are talking about adhesive methods of laying carpet, that is, it is planned to use glue or double-sided tape. Then the material will hold much more reliably than in the absence of a primer layer on the base.
How to lay carpet with your own hands
Let us consider in more detail how the carpet is laid on glue or double-sided tape.
Step 1. Before starting work, it is recommended to purchase all the necessary tools and materials. This is the carpet itself in the required quantity, double-sided tape, glue, scissors, a breadboard knife, a ruler and a tape measure, a tool for trimming the carpet border, a plaster knife, a notched trowel and a roller.
Step 2 It is not difficult to calculate the required amount of carpet - it is enough to know the area of \u200b\u200bthe room (so much material will be required). It is important to consider that the supply of carpet should be quite extensive. The material is purchased taking into account the fact that on each side 40 cm should be added to the total area of \u200b\u200bthe carpet.
Step 3 The surface of the subfloor is cleaned of the old coating. Skirting boards are removed. The floor is cleared of debris and dirt.
Step 4 You need to make sure the floor is level. For this, a building level or a long rail about 2 m long is used - the gaps between it and the floor should not be more than 2 mm.
Step 5 If necessary, the floor is polished. In the process, small irregularities are removed. If the irregularities are large, the base should be leveled.
Important! The subfloor must be dry and free from grease. If there are any, then they are removed before laying the carpet.
Step 6 A day before laying the carpet is rolled out on the prepared base. It should settle down a bit and level out. You need to work with the roll carefully so as not to “break” it. Traces of fractures will be visible on the already laid coating.
Step 7 During the laying of the carpet, certain rules are observed: the joints between the individual canvases must be perpendicular to the window. The direction of the pile should go towards the window.
Step 8 The carpet installation process begins. The material is already on the floor, but it is important to make sure that it is laid with an overlap on the walls around the entire perimeter.
Step 9 The coating rolls out from the center to the edges.
Step 10 The material is cut using a leveler or a breadboard knife. The carpet is cut along the junction of the walls and the floor of the room. The corners are cut on a piece of wood laid on the floor, on which the bent edge of the carpet is placed. If the coating will consist of several strips, then they are laid with an overlap of 10 cm.
Step 11 At the junction of two canvases, an incision is made about 5 cm from the edge of one of the segments of the carpet. Two layers of material are cut at once. For convenience, it is recommended to cut along a long metal rail laid on the carpet. Thus, it will turn out to form a beautiful and neat joint of two pieces of carpet.
Attention! When gluing the material, it is important to pay special attention to the cut points. They must be glued very carefully.
Step 12 Depending on the size of the room, the method of fixation is also selected. For example, if the area of the room is no more than 12 m 2, then it is enough to stick double-sided tape around the perimeter - it will hold the carpet. If the dimensions of the room are larger and the area varies from 12 to 20 m 2, then the adhesive tape is glued every meter and along the perimeter of the walls. Adhesive is used in rooms larger than 20 m2. Thanks to him, styling will be easier and cleaner.
Step 13 Laying with adhesive tape is done as follows: the spread carpet is folded in half. Along the perimeter of the room in the place where part of the carpet lay, and on each meter of the room pieces of double-sided tape are glued. The protective tape has not yet been removed from it.
Step 14 The adhesive tape is removed from the adhesive tape, and the carpet is carefully laid out on the floor surface onto the adhesive tape. The coating is glued from the center to the edges of the room.
Step 15 Laying with glue is done as follows: the carpet is also folded in half, and the floor surface under it is smeared with glue using a notched trowel. Before laying the carpet, the adhesive is aged for about 10 minutes.
Step 16 The carpet is laid out on a surface treated with glue, and smoothed in the direction from the center to the edges.
Step 17 To prevent the edge of the material from blooming, as well as for joining the carpet with other types of floor coverings, thresholds are used. At the same time, the nut is fastened in such a way that the screws do not pass through the carpet - it will simply be pressed by the bar.
Step 18 Skirting boards are installed around the perimeter of the room. They will additionally fix the material.
Video - Laying carpet
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When installing carpet, some features should also be taken into account. It is important to know them in order to avoid mistakes.
So, quite simply and quickly, you can make an even and beautiful, and most importantly, a pleasant floor covering in the house. Carpet is an indispensable material for those whose feet are cold. And thanks to the wide variety of colors and lengths of the pile, you can always choose the option that you like and decorate the room.
Tsugunov Anton Valerievich
Reading time: 4 minutes
Carpet - soft floor covering, practical, beautiful and pleasant to the touch. It is a one-piece canvas that is attached to the surface in different ways. Laying carpet will not cause any particular difficulties, but a violation of technology in most cases leads to its rapid wear. That is why, before laying carpeting with your own hands, it is important to carefully prepare the room, the floor surface and the material itself for work. Let's try to figure out how to avoid the most common mistakes.
We prepare the room
Now let's take a closer look at how the preparation of different types of subfloor for the installation of carpet differs.
How to lay carpet on concrete
To qualitatively glue the carpet to the concrete floor, you need to prepare the base according to the following scheme:
- Remove the remnants of the previous coating.
- Level the surface.
- Remove all dirt and grease stains from the floor with soapy water, then rinse it with clean water.
- Process special.
- It is mandatory to lay the substrate, and only after that you can lay the carpet.
How to lay carpet on a wooden floor
Before laying carpet on wooden floors, they should also be prepared:
- Plank base or chipboard.
- All cracks, joints and protrusions are removed with wood putty.
- The leveled surface is primed and then cycled.
It is important to ensure that the doors to the room open and close freely after laying the top layer. Usually, chipboard is laid first, and then, if necessary, trim the bottom of the door.
Before gluing the carpet to the plywood floor, check if the adhesive is suitable for this material. Masters recommend using PVA or elastic two-component polyurethane adhesive.
Laying carpet on linoleum
Carpet laying is carried out only on clean and fat-free linoleum. Since this material is not moisture permeable in itself and is most often laid on a flat, prepared surface, the installation of a soft coating is simplified.
Important! Before laying carpet on a floor covered with linoleum, make sure that the latter fits snugly against the subfloor, without bubbles and waves, as such irregularities will be reflected in the finishing material.
The main ways of laying carpet
When choosing a flooring method, it is worth starting with checking the type of coating and subfloor. The fact is that installation on a concrete base and on a tree will be different, and it is not recommended to use adhesives for a natural-based material, unlike synthetics. Instructions for laying the selected carpet on the floor can be found on the packaging from the manufacturer.
There are four ways to lay carpet with your own hands. Each technology has certain nuances and pitfalls, which will be discussed below.
Loose styling
A fast, simple and economical way, using skirting boards instead of fixing material.
Suitable only for rooms with constant temperature and humidity, perfectly leveled subfloor and stationary furniture without wheels. In addition, such a coating cannot be cleaned with a washing vacuum cleaner.
Procedure:
- A substrate is laid on the floor, fixed with a stapler in increments of 20 cm. The joining points are glued with adhesive tape.
- The carpet is rolled out with an allowance for the walls of about 5–7 centimeters.
- V-shaped cutouts are made in the corners.
- The surface of the carpet is leveled with a roller from the center of the floor to the walls.
- The coating is stretched and fixed with a plinth and a metal rail near the doors.
In this way, the carpet can be laid on concrete, if the surface is sufficiently even.
Fixation with double-sided tape
The method is suitable for any base: you can lay a soft coating on laminate, parquet, tile, linoleum, use it in combination with warm floors. On the carpet laid in this way, you can safely move furniture. This is ideal if the coating is planned to be changed often enough.
The nuance of the method is the complexity of the work: you need to roll out the carpet very carefully, because after contact with adhesive tape it will no longer be possible to smooth out the bumps. In addition, adhesive tape does not tolerate high humidity, temperature fluctuations.
Work progress:
- Strips of adhesive tape are glued to a thoroughly washed floor around the entire perimeter of the room, and then with a grid in increments of about 50 cm.
- The carpet is placed on the floor and successively glued with the gradual removal of the film from the tape.
- Separate canvases are joined end-to-end.
- Excess material is cut off, a plinth is installed.
Glue mounting
The carpet laid on glue due to its strong fixation will last longer even in rooms with high traffic. Another plus is that during the flooring process, you can carefully level the coating while the adhesive is still wet.
The disadvantages include the complexity of the method and the inability to reuse the coating when it is removed.
Work order:
- The substrate is glued to a flat, clean surface.
- The coating is laid on the floor and straightened, an adhesive solution is prepared.
- The material should be attached as follows: bend half of the canvas, apply glue to the floor surface and return the raised part of the carpet to its place. Be sure to straighten and stretch the canvas a little from the center to the edges. The same is done with the second half.
- The coating is cut along the walls, a plinth is installed.
Do not walk on the glued area until completely dry, and also push the coating too hard: the glue can seep to the villi and the surface will be damaged.
This product is considered one of the best options for arranging flooring. In addition to giving the room an atmosphere of comfort, this material dampens sounds well, insulates the floor, and caring for it is not difficult. But in order for such a “finishing” surface finish to serve for a long time, it is necessary to know the technology of its installation and to fully carry out all the measures - the carpet “does not like” laying according to the “simplified scheme”.
Before moving on to the question of how to lay carpet, some features of such a coating should be noted.
- This material has 2 types of base - rubberized or cloth. In the latter case, the carpet should not be installed in rooms with excessive humidity, as well as where water leaks are possible. But if the decision is made, then a number of additional “protective” measures need to be taken.
- All samples differ in the length of the villi. When choosing a material for a particular room, this factor should be taken into account. For example, in rooms with increased “passability” (for example, a corridor), it is advisable to lay short-haired material, but for a bedroom carpet with a long pile is more acceptable.
- Such a coating intensively absorbs dust. If one of the family members has allergic reactions, then cleaning the room (with a vacuum cleaner) will have to be done daily.
- Carpet can be installed on any base material. The only condition is that it should be as level as possible. This coating is quite soft, so any bump or bulge on the surface will not create the most pleasant sensations.
- The carpet is elastic, so during storage and transportation, wrinkles can form on it, especially if a long roll is bent in half. It is advisable to lay it out on the floor before installation and let it “matter” (you can slightly moisten it with water in the places of folds). After a while, he will fully restore his form.
- When covering a concrete base (or cement screed), it is necessary to provide a substrate under the carpet. This will prevent it from absorbing dust particles that may form on such a surface.
Floor finishing with this material can be carried out in almost any room, on any basis. Considering the methodology of the work, we list the whole range of necessary measures. What needs to be done in a particular room (depending on its specifics), what can be neglected, and what has already been done earlier - each owner will determine independently. It makes no sense to explain that all floors are different (for example, wooden, concrete, already finished with linoleum), so there can be no single recommendation in principle. So, it is assumed that the work starts from scratch.
Carpet laying technology
Foundation preparation
A big mistake is made by those who believe that at this stage it is only necessary to clean the floor and, if necessary, level it. After all, any base is subject to various influences, and this is not only moisture or temperature fluctuations. Therefore, it needs appropriate surface treatment, which will extend its service life. Moreover, such measures should be carried out when working with carpet, and when using other materials.
Now more and more plastic products are used. This is the best skirting board for carpet. But if it is traditional (wooden) and needs updating, then you need to paint it before installing it in place. It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove the paint that has fallen on the canvas (given its “hairiness”), especially if the material is synthetic. In this case, the use of a solvent is excluded.
cleaning
It is not only about removing debris, removing nails or screws. The base must be thoroughly washed. This will allow, during its inspection, to detect all defects (cracks in the screed, cracked, rotten boards, mold, fungus). Eliminating such defects will not only allow you to forget about repairing the floor for a long time, but in most cases significantly reduce heat loss in the room, and the level of humidity.
Treatment
Depending on the base material and the specifics of the room, various preparations are used - antiseptics, water-repellent impregnations. For wood additionally - flame retardants. If a screed is subsequently made, then the processing is carried out after its installation.
alignment
The methodology is different. A screed is laid on a concrete base (if necessary) or a self-leveling floor is equipped (a more expensive event) using self-leveling mixtures. For wooden floors - installation of sheets (plates) of plywood, MDF and the like ("dry" screed).
Padding
It is produced if the material is fixed by gluing or using adhesive tape.
If the material is laid on a reinforced concrete slab or screed, then it is mandatory. On sale there are corresponding products, and their range is quite impressive.
"Fitting" the material
As a rule, it is rarely possible to cover the entire floor with one canvas. Therefore, at least 2 parts, but you have to join. The marking of the lines for the cut is made from the back side of the material (a pointed bar of soap, chalk). For an even and high-quality cut, it is recommended to use a "shoemaker's knife" or large tailor's scissors.
The use of small household ones can lead to the fact that the edges will be "shaggy". Yes, the work will take a long time.
There are various methods of its fastening on the basis. The most suitable one is chosen depending on the dimensions of the room and its architectural features (the presence of ledges, columns, niches, etc.).
Loose styling
It is advisable to use only for small rooms, and then, if the entire floor can be covered with one sheet, without joining the individual parts. The point is that the roll is rolled out over the entire area and leveled (smoothed) so that its edges wrap slightly on the walls.
Fixing is done with skirting boards. But if they are plastic, then you need to “fasten” the material around the perimeter with small nails with large hats or adhesive tape. The baseboard should not be lowered under the carpet, as debris will accumulate in the junctions (in the cracks).
The point is that something like a crate for a carpet is being constructed from this tape. And only double-sided tape is used. It is glued along the installation line of skirting boards, in doorways. This is the outer loop. If the room has columns, ledges, niches - they are also lined with adhesive tape.
But further - at the discretion of the owner. The point is to securely attach the carpet to the floor throughout the room to prevent its displacement and the formation of wrinkles, air bubbles. It is possible to build a grid with cells of the required sizes from adhesive tape over the entire surface. Another option is to stick it in parallel stripes from one corner to another (diagonally).
When such a “construction” is prepared, the canvas is laid. The upper (protective) film is gradually removed from the tape, and the carpet is firmly pressed against the base. After the canvas is completely rolled out, it must be well “rolled”. Everything will do - a rubber roller, even a regular rolling pin. The main thing is to achieve reliable fixation.
gluing
This method is more suitable for administrative and other public buildings. Rarely used in residential areas. If, nevertheless, it is decided to do the laying according to this method, then it is necessary to take into account the compatibility of the carpet adhesive with the material on which it is laid. Some compounds may react, for example, with laminate, linoleum.
The fixation of the canvas is reliable. But the question is, how then to dismantle the coating, fixed in this way, and, moreover, without significantly damaging the base?
This method can be used if some part of the room is being finished (moreover, in the corner, in the places where furniture is installed) from the remaining small pieces. However, this is an extreme case.
Stretching
This method is glueless. The technique is simple, but requires laying a substrate to even out the height difference between the canvas and the slats.
They are attached to the floor along the perimeter, and small nails are driven into everything from the back (through, with an inclination). The result is an external frame with “needles” sticking up, on which the canvas is stretched.
With this method of fastening, the carpet is easy to replace if necessary, and the base does not need to be carefully leveled. But here you need an accurate calculation and some experience.
Docking parts
This issue should be considered separately, since it is rarely possible to evenly cover the entire floor with one canvas.
First option
If the material is without a long pile, then decorative strips can be used. They are commercially available in a large assortment - both in size (width, length), and in color. Such products are laid on the seam and attached to the base with self-tapping screws.
Second option
The canvases are stacked on top of each other, with a slight overlap. A through cut is made in the middle. After that, the edges are slightly raised, and carpet glue is smeared under them. It remains only to press them firmly and fix them in this position with some kind of “weight” (until the adhesive dries).
When connecting individual pieces, care should be taken that the directions of the villi on different parts of the material coincide.
- How to lay carpet, everyone decides for himself. But what is it? It should be noted that the material is divided into several classes. "21st" is more prone to abrasion than others. It is desirable to lay it where intensive movement of people is not expected.
- Do not throw away pieces of material left after finishing the floor. Carpet has good repairability. If you carefully put a patch on the damaged area, then it will be invisible.
- Recommended methods for laying canvases depending on the size of the room:
- up to 25 m2 - any;
- up to 100 m2 - everything except free;
- more than 100 m2 - only gluing.