If you want your new carpet to resist wear and tear and last a longer time, it is important that you install carpet padding or an underlay. Carpet padding allows you to get the maximum performance and durability from your carpet, which is especially practical since carpets are not inexpensive. Every time you step on your carpet, you exert pressure on it, which can be measured by your weight (i.e. 100 pounds) per square inch exerted on the carpet. If the carpet lies directly on the surface of a hard floor, the pressure will wear it out quickly, but if the carpet lies on a padded and soft surface the padding will help absorb pressure. It will also help absorb sound and save energy. Installing carpet padding is moderately easy and it can be done with little experience.
Step 1
Purchasing
Carpet padding is made from three types of material: foam, fiber, and rubber. Some are better suited for certain applications than others depending on the traffic area where you want to install the carpet as well as the material of the carpet itself. You can consult your carpet retailer to find out what is the best carpet padding that will meet your needs.
Step 2
Materials
To install carpet padding, you will need gloves, pliers, utility knife (or carpet knife), solvent, tackless strips, stapler, hammer, and nails.
Step 3
Preparation
Before installing the padding, you first need to prepare the surface of the floor where you want to place the carpet. Clean the floor of dirt, dust, debris, spots and trash so that the padding does not get dirty. A dirty floor will affect the carpet too. You can install carpets on almost any type of flooring including cement, vinyl, wood, linoleum, stone, and vinyl. Just make sure that you prepare the floors properly. If there is an underlay from an old carpet, you have to remove this completely and install a new one for a new carpet. Collect all debris from the previous padding. Use a carpet or utility knife to pull up the old carpet padding and discard it, but be careful not to scratch your floor’s surface. Use pliers to pull up all the staples left behind and a solvent or mild stripper to remove the remaining glue, scraping it off with a flat but blunt object. Finally, fill any holes in the subfloor surface and fasten any lose panels or floor boards to eliminate creaking and create an even surface.
Step 4
Installation
After preparation, tackless strips go first and should be installed a half inch from the wall around the perimeter of the room but not in front of a doorway. Make sure to use gloves, as tacks have sharp edges. The tacks should point towards the wall, and the strips should meet at all corners. Next, cut the padding into long strips that will run the length of the room. The padding strips should be long enough to cover the tackless strips. Install the padding strips from one end of the room to another, and staple them every six to eight inches running from the inside of the tackless strip. The padding strips should be parallel to each other with their edges placed against each other but without overlapping. Al around the perimeter, trim away the excess padding strips at the inside edge of the tackless strips, and cover the seams with duct tape.
