Stretching Carpet

Remove Carpeting and Pad

• Pull up carpeting and pad and dispose of it. Remove all staples that were holding down the pad.

Install Replacement Strips

• Pulling up your floor’s old tack strips and replacing them with fresh ones is an important step in stretching carpet. To do this, wedge the tip of a flat bar under each tack strip and pry up. Beating the flat bar with a hammer helps engage the flat bar beneath the tack strips. After removing the old tack strips, situate your new tack strips around the perimeter of the room. Nail the tack strips to the floor, allowing the nails to face toward the wall so that the strip grips the carpet better.

Add New Padding and Stretch Carpet

• Install new padding. Trim the edges of the padding so that they fit snugly against the tack strips. Staple the padding down, placing the staples about 3 inches apart.

  Spread the carpet you wish to lay on the floor on top of the new carpet pad and the tack strips. Position one end of a power stretcher against a wall, and bury the teeth on the other end of the power stretcher into the carpet about 6 inches from the wall. Push the device’s bar down to allow these teeth to stretch the carpet, and allow the carpet to engage on the tack strip as well.

Use Knee Kicker

• Position the knee kicker in the same way you situated the power stretcher, placing one end of the knee kicker on a wall and allowing the device’s teeth to engage the carpet half a foot away. Kick against the knee kicker using the area above your kneecap. The purpose of the knee kicker is to stretch parts of the carpet that do not accommodate the size of the power stretcher, focusing especially on carpet edges. Push the carpet onto the appropriate tack strip to secure it on the tacks with your hands after using the knee kicker.