As you look at your open concrete floor, it might cross your mind to change your flooring to some alternative floor types that are naturally beautiful.
Hold up, before you make a hasty decision, consider adding a carpet or rug that will brighten up the room and reflect your personal style.
Installing a carpet over concrete will do you a lot of good. For starters, Carpeting provides an affordable, quick and impertinent way to turn a flat and uninspiring place into a somewhat inventing and warm place.
If you are sold on the idea and desire to finish your concrete flooring with a carpet,there is a comprehensive guide on how to install carpet on concrete flooring.
With any DIY job, the hard part comes in with, acquiring the right tools and preparing the work area. Installing a carpet on a concrete floor is no different. As an amateur, if you take your time and follow the procedure right, it can make a huge difference on how your carpet turns out and lasts.
It goes without saying that the first thing you need to do when installing a carpet is to deplete the area altogether.
Once you make the room, clean the floors then check them for any hint of mold, damp, or drainage issues. Ensure that the concrete floor is completely sealed, this prevents moisture from seeping into the carpet underlay.
What’s more, remove any skirting boards, or doors that could hinder proper installation of your carpet. Additionally, if you have any baseboards, ensure you lift them up. Also remember, to sand your doors at the bottom, this ensures that the doors glide in smoothly over the carpet's surface.
If you find the “new carpet smell” infuriating, it will serve you well to air out the carpet before you install it. This helps to evanesce the chemicals used during production.
The next step is to clean the concrete floor. Get rid of all the stains in the room by thoroughly cleaning the floor with an appropriate cleaner.
If you see any cracks on your floor, fill in the fractures and cracks with a suitable cement based water filler. After, user a leveling equipment to flatten and even out the surface.
Finally, before the installation of the carpet, say 48 hours, ensure that the humidity stays between 10% and 50% while the temperatures stay between 18 and 35 degrees Celsius.
As you can see, preparation will take you quite some time. By following these preparation conditions, you can rest assured that your installation will go smoothly.
Installing carpet on concrete is effortless with the following seven steps:
Once prepping the concrete floor is done, coat the floor surface with waterproofing paint. Allow ample time for the paint to dry about 24 hours. If the humidity in the room is presumably high, allow an extra 24 hours for the paint to dry.
Once dry, lay a cover-up of plastic sheeting over the painted floor. Using duct tape, seal the seams on the sheets by taping the sheeting to the floor edges. However, be careful not to let the tape touch the walls; otherwise, once you lay the carpet, it will be exposed.
Next up, cover the entire floor with plywood. Cut irregular and regular plywood sheets and lay them on the plastic, one layer after another until you cover the whole floor with plywood.
Next, use your drill to apply concrete screws through the edges of the plywood onto the concrete floor. The best way to do this is by attaching the screws onto the plywood every 12 inches.
Use your hammer and nails to effectively attach tack strips on the surface of the plywood along the edges of the wall.
Start by cutting enough padding to cover the entire floor. After that, lay the padding in place, then add an adhesive to the perimeter of the wall using a notched trowel. This will ensure your pad holds in place while you’re laying the carpet.
Finally, put your carpet over the padding. Using the power stretcher, stretch the carpet across the room to ensure it sits pull it to the far side of the workspace. Allow 2 inches of carpet above the edges along the perimeter of the wall. Once the carpet is in place, start cutting along the edges. Then tuck the carpet edges into the wall corners just below the base edge of the baseboard. Ensure that the carpet is well laid over the tack strips so that the nail strips can go into it and hold it into place.
Finally, cut off the excess carpet at the edges. Finally, reinstate your doors and skirting boards.
There you have it, the easiest procedure to install your carpet on a concrete floor. Sounds like hard work right? Well, it is. However, if you take your time, plan right, use the right tools, follow the proper procedure and be patient, the installation job will turn out great.