Laying Carpet Without Tack Strips

petedln · Post by **petedln** » Sun Jun 04, 2023 7:07 pm

Hello again everyone.

Sorry to bother you with another problem but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with different methods of laying carpet?

We are currently coming towards the end of our new house build. We have a vinyl floor throughout the house which is how we want the place to ultimately look. However two of the rooms we would like to carpet temporarily (and by temporarily I mean for a few years). However the end plan would be to remove the carpet back to the vinyl flooring beneath.

For this reason I would like to avoid tack strips as I don't want any nail holes in the brand new vinyl flooring.

Is it possible to lay carpet without damaging the vinyl floor beneath, with carpet tape perhaps? I did a search online but most of the advice for doing such a thing is for laying strips of carpet or carpet in a garage onto concrete or something. As this is the interior of our house I would still like it to look good despite being temporary.

Any help or advice is much appreciated!

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sun Jun 04, 2023 7:54 pm

In the old days, I laid carpets flat without using any fittings in bedrooms. On occasions, I had to trim a bit off to the skirtings where the carpet flattened out over time. I think an underlay will help stop slipping, the old cheaper carpets had a built-in foam back and as these bedroom carpets did not get high traffic they were fine. If you wanted a perfect fit then you could hot glue the grippers on and when you come to remove just reheat the glue, it has a low melting point, and use acetone as a solvent to clean any residue. I would think double side tape would work around the perimeter though and just use hot glue for the threshold bars. Poundland does a gun and glue sticks for a few quid.

DWD

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Sun Jun 04, 2023 10:16 pm

Sorry if you already know............

"Tack strips" as you call them (Carpet gripper) is secured to the perimeter of a room first then the carpet laid over it (roughly) then when the carpet is down a "knee kicker" is used to stretch the carpet over the carpet gripper. This method also means when done properly the carpet always stays where it should, no amount of underlay or tape will hold it in position all the time as it is not being pulled taught.

For a non high foot traffic carpet, foam backed carpet is recommended, it looks nice, easy to fit, but it is for light traffic only, and in comparison to normal carpet it is cheap.

However, I do have an alternative suggestion.

: c1.jpg (90.85 KiB) Viewed 2893 times

This is the floor covering of where I am sitting now, yes it may not be the colour for you, but it is carpet tiles. Click Me The good thing is you just lay them down, and if you "spoil" one you can lift it up and swap it for a new one or take one from .......... under the bed. No glue required at all. Also as Eric used to say to Ernie, "You can't see the join"

petedln · Post by **petedln** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:20 am

Thanks for the information!

The rooms I am looking to carpet are about 20m2 and 12m2. The larger room will certainly have a fair amount of foot traffic as it will be a kid's play/toy room. The smaller room would be a gym so I was hoping a few pieces of heavy equipment would assist in preventing carpet shifting?

My plan had been tape around the perimeter of the carpet but also across the room in diagonals... maybe with a carpet that has a bottom that has good friction with the floor? But this is all guesswork really.

What is it that holds the carpet tiles in place? Would they not shift also? Will children just be able to pluck them up from the floor?

camallison · Post by **camallison** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:47 am

I have carpet tiles in a high traffic room and they stay put with no movement whatsoever.

Colin

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:14 am

petedln wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:20 amWhat is it that holds the carpet tiles in place? Would they not shift also? Will children just be able to pluck them up from the floor?

Friction holds them there. Anyone can lift up a carpet tile...................if you tell them. As I said, if done right you can't see the join, so have no need to touch them. (Even then you need something like a blunt knife to get up the first one.)

The "secret" is laying them down, each tile has an arrow printed on the back, put each tile down with the arrows all pointing the same way (Doesn't matter which way, so long as they are all the same direction) and you must go wall to wall, no gaps. Then if ever you change your mind, you can always lift them up and use them somewhere else.
Just make sure the floor is flat / even

petedln · Post by **petedln** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:40 am

Okay, carpet tile might be the way to go then, thanks!

Just watched a quick YouTube video on them, no underlay required either?

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Mon Jun 05, 2023 12:11 pm

petedln wrote: ↑Mon Jun 05, 2023 11:40 amno underlay required either

Yep.

Someone-Else wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2023 10:16 pmThe good thing is you just lay them down

petedln · Post by **petedln** » Tue Jun 06, 2023 5:56 pm

Sooo...

Apologies for keeping this thread going but I thought it better than starting a new thread...

I also would like to carpet (again temporarily) our interior stairs. These are, despite me pleading for an alternative with the decision maker, smooth granite.

Since we have two small children I really don't like the idea of a tumble down granite stairs and was hoping to temporarily carpet these too until the kids are older.

I have seen some carpet tiles that have a peel off fully adhesive back... maybe these could wrap over the lip of the stair? The stairs also go round a corner (winder stairs)...

Has anyone any experience with carpeting stairs? Any advice?

Thanks!