How to Install Rubber Back Carpet
Rubber backed carpet is different than traditional woven backed carpet because it comes with its own rubber pad on the underside. This is important because while woven backed carpet requires padding and tack boards for installation, rubber backed carpet requires neither. Therefore, laying it in your home is much simpler, especially if you have never laid carpet in the past.
Preparation
Step 1
Remove furniture from the room so that you have an open workspace.
Step 2
Clean the floor that you will be laying the carpet on so that dirt does not prevent adhesive tape from sticking to the floor and to allow for a smooth surface for the new carpet.
Step 3
Remove any shoe moldings that encompass the room. These are the small pieces of wood that sometimes protrude from the bottom of the baseboard. You can use a hammer to gently remove them.
Step 4
Measure the carpet to ensure that you have a sufficient amount. Allow for an excess of 4 to 6 inches.
Step 5
Place double-sided carpet tape on the floor along each wall in the room, leaving the tape backing strip attached.
Lay the Carpet
Step 1
Roll out the carpet to make sure that the edges meet the walls.
Step 2
If you must piece some of the carpet together, make the seams now. Cut the two pieces of carpet that must be connected together straight and butt them up against one another. Turn each edge back and place double-sided adhesive tape along the edge of one piece, hanging over enough so that it will contact with the other piece when needed. Along the edge of the other piece use a liquid carpet adhesive and draw a line. Butt the two pieces up against each other again and press down to seal the seam.
Step 3
Start at one wall and turn the edge of the carpet back, then remove the protective paper from the adhesive strip and turn the edge face up and press the back down onto the adhesive strip. Continue this process along each wall.
Resources
Tips
- You can also staple the carpet edges into place. Make sure that you hammer down the heads of the staples if they do not go down all the way.
- When you must create a seam to match carpet in another room under a doorway, for example, follow the same seaming steps above.
Writer Bio
Patrice Lesco has been a writer since 2001. Also a certified teacher, she writes for newspapers, magazines, books, theater and film. Lesco holds a Master of Fine Arts in theater from Michigan State University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in education and theater from Methodist College.
Photo Credits
- Pixland/Pixland/Getty Images
More Articles
