Tools for Carpeting

Common Household Tools

• You will need to assemble some common household tools for your carpet installation: a hammer, a measuring tape, a utility knife with extra blades, heavy-duty work gloves and safety glasses. You may also want to enlist the aid of a few helpers, as lugging carpeting around hallways and through doorways is strenuous work.

Tackless Strips

• Tackless strips are thin, narrow strips of wood studded with tacks. They are called "tackless" because you don't tack them to the carpet from above. Rather, you nail the tackless strips into your subfloor, about 1/2 inch from the wall. When you lay the carpet for installation, lay it next to the tackless strips; the carpet is then stretched with the knee kicker over the strips and grabbed by the tacks of the strips.

Knee Kicker

• The knee kicker is a long metal apparatus that is aptly named. You kick the tool across the carpet with your knee! One end of the knee kicker has metal teeth on the bottom; a knee pad cradles your knee at the other end. This tool bites the edges of the carpet and stretches it to go over the tackless strips. It is a tool intended for stretching the accessible, wide areas of the carpet. For smaller corners and strips or very large areas of carpet, skip the knee knicker and reach for the power stretcher.

Power Stretcher

• This tool looks like a giant broom with shark's teeth. It's a power stretcher and does just as the name implies. The power stretcher stretches large areas of carpeting toward the walls and over the tackless strips. The adjustable handle will extend to several feet, allowing you to get better leverage and stretch very large areas of carpeting.

Heat Bond Iron

• Carpet is usually woven and sold in 12-foot lengths. However, rooms needing carpet are sometimes wider. In such a case, you need to create smooth seams between two sections of carpet. The heat bond iron works together with heat-activated tape to create smooth, beautiful seams.

Carpet Cutter

• For lengthy areas of carpet cutting, set aside the utility knife. Use the carpet cutter. This tool is able to trim the carpet neatly and cleanly, using the wall or baseboard as a guide for a perfectly even cut. The carpet cutter has a rounded handle for easy use.