Techniques for Laying Carpet on Wood Floor

Preparing the Room

• Regardless of which method you will be using, preparing the surface on which the carpet will lay is essential. This may be your last chance to repair loose boards or squeaks. Unless you have access to the floor from underneath, the only way to stop squeaky floors is by driving screws from above. Fill in low spots with flooring compound and plane down high spots to level the floor. After prepping the floor, remove the baseboards and make sure the floor is free of dust if you will be installing integral-pad carpeting.

Installing Integral-Pad Carpeting

• Integral-pad carpet comes with the padding already attached to the jute. This carpet is easy to install because you affix it to the floor with double-sided carpet tape and seam adhesive. Carpet comes in widths of 9, 12, and 15 feet -- if your room is wider than that, you will need the 5-inch-wide carpet seam tape as well as the standard 2-inch width. Also use quarter-round molding for a more attractive finish. For tools, you will need a utility knife to cut the carpet, drill, hammer, and nails for the quarter-round, and a rolling pin for the seams.

  Cut the carpet so that it is at least 1 inch bigger than the room in each direction. Roll out the carpet to locate the seams. Mark those spots, roll back the sides of the carpet and lay down the 5-inch seam tape. The carpet seam should run down the middle of the tape. Affix one piece of carpet to the tape and apply seam adhesive to that edge before putting down the other side. Use the rolling pin to set the seam. Using the 2-inch tape, make a border along two adjacent sides of the room and affix the carpet. Repeat this on the other walls and trim the excess carpet with your knife. Finally, affix the quarter-round molding.

Installing a Pad and Carpet with Tackless Strips

• A tackless strip is a narrow length of wood bristling with ... well, tacks that line the room perimeter and hold the carpet in place. It gets its name because it eliminates the need to drive individual tacks. The tacks are angled and when the strip is properly placed, they face the wall. When stapling the padding to the floor, do not cover the strips.

  Unpadded carpeting requires stretching using specialized tools. You will need a knee kicker and a power stretcher. Use the knee kicker to stretch the carpet up against a wall and an adjacent wall. Then, using the power stretcher, proceed around the room in a clockwise fashion. Use the knee kicker to stretch the carpet to the last wall. If seams must be joined, you will need a special heating tape and seaming iron to bring the seams together and affix them to the pad underneath.