When putting underlay in a room, garage or sleepout, removing anything uneven on the surface is the first step. You’ll want to fully scrape away any stubborn remnants of the old underlay and carpet.
Ensure the room is completely empty and all the old floor covering has been lifted up. It will save you time and effort in the long run as bumps will cause problems in future. Assuming you’re laying onto wood, begin by laying down tack strips, which fasten the carpet so the final product is lined up to look professional. Hammer the tack strips into place. If applying underlay to concrete, instead of tack strips you’ll be using spray epoxy adhesive.
Time to roll out – the carpet, that is
Begin the first half of the job by rolling the carpet underlay across the room. Push any overhang out the doorways, then pull back the underlay snugly into position and go around the edge of the room pushing the underlay into the tack strip. It’s now time to deal with the excess flaps. Don’t skimp on your knife blades – it’s essential to have extremely sharp, fresh blades to give an even cut. Any spots in which you are struggling to cut the underlay, remember to use ordinary cutting boards from the kitchen to cut on. You don’t want to slice into your floor because who knows – in future you may pull up the carpet and go back to floorboards.
Once it’s perfectly in place, staple the underlay. Also, where strips of the underlay meet, carpet underlay tape can be used to tape pieces of underlay together, assuming you need to put a couple of sections down.
The final step: putting your carpet down perfectly
The next step is laying the carpet. Spread it over your underlay and line it up against the wall with plenty of overlap. You’re likely to need to trim off a fair bit of the edges. Many people notch the corner of the carpet so that the trim comes away nicely. If you then have to glue two pieces of carpet together along their seam, try make your seam parallel to the main source of light in the room. Your senses will appreciate it and the join won’t stick out like a sore thumb.
Next step is to use a tradesman’s wall trimmer to cut the edges of the carpet perfectly perpendicular to the wall, but a good sharp craft knife can do the trick too. You’ll want to press the carpet edge under any baseboard / skirting board. A binder bar and knee kicker are the devices you’ll need to ask for if there are gaps and the edge of the carpet doesn’t quite stretch to the wall.
We always have carpet in stock at Renovation Warehouse, with all the underlay you’re likely to need, so come find us at 28 Kioreroa Road.