How to Lay Carpet Without Harming Hardwood

Install the Tackless Strips and Pad

• 1

  Lay out the tackless strips around the perimeter of the room. They should touch end to end and meet in the corners to keep the carpet from bubbling at the edges.

• 2

  Gently tap the small nails in the tackless strips into the floor. These will be the only holes put into the hardwood and you can easily fill them later if you remove the carpet.

• 3

  Begin at one end of the room and roll the carpet pad out across the room. Cut it where it meets the tackless strip on the opposite side of the room.

• 4

  Roll the cut piece of carpet pad back up and lay one strip of double sided carpet tape on the hardwood floor every 16 inches in the same direction as the pad.

• 5

  Slowly roll the pad back out and press it into the tape. Repeat this same process until you have laid the carpet pad over the entire floor.

Lay the Carpet

• 6

  Roll the carpet out beginning at one side of the room all the way to the other. Cut it at the opposite wall leaving several extra inches.

• 7

  Roll another piece out alongside the first, and cut it leaving several extra inches as well.

• 8

  Place a strip of seam tape on the underside of the carpet where the two pieces meet. Heat the seam tape and press the two pieces together.

• 9

  Place the head of the knee kicker over the carpet at the tack strip in the first corner about 1 inch away from the wall. A knee kicker has a metal head at one end and a shock-absorbing pad at the other. Under the metal head are angled teeth that deploy when there is an impact on the shock-absorbing pad. The teeth angle toward the wall when the knee kicker is in position, so with pressure held on the tool and the teeth rapidly deploying at impact the carpet is forced toward the wall and onto the spikes of the tackless strips.

• 10

  Add additional sections of carpet as needed to cover the room and tape the seams with seam tape and the iron.

• 11

  Set the end of a power stretcher without teeth at the first corner that was installed with the knee kicker. Place the end with teeth about 6 inches from the opposite wall. Engage the stretcher to attach the carpet on the tooth side of the stretcher to the tackless strips.

• 12

  Work around the room and repeat the process with the power stretcher. If the room is oddly shaped, has several doors or there are obstacles in the middle of the room, the power stretcher may not be usable. In this case, you can use the knee kicker to attach the carpet to the tackless strips.

Finishing Touches

• 13

  Cut off excess carpet at the walls and around obstacles using a carpet knife.

• 14

  Press the edge of the carpet under the baseboard if there is one, or install new baseboard over the edge.

• 15

  Stretch any areas that may still be loose with the knee kicker. Check all edges and around any obstacles and doorways to be sure the carpet is embedded in the tackless strips.