fitting carpet tiles- what do i need, tool wise?

skintpaul

Approx 16 feet square room. doing myself to save ££.. have some queries..

What is best way to trim edge tiles to size / fit around door corners, etc?

Any protection needed, to stop the outer edges fraying?

Is underlay needed? Or would flat newspaper do?

societys_child

A lot depends on the tiles but any I've seen in the past don't fray and don't require underlay. My missus always fitted them, using a big pair of sharp carpet scissors. I'd probably use a straight edge and Stanley knife.

Owain_Moneysaver

Metal straight-edge with a finger guard, please.

paddy's_mum

Tap them tightly together with a wooden mallet or a piece of (say) skirting board and an ordinary hammer if that's what you happen to have in the tool-box.

We've used several sheets of quality newspaper underneath before now and it's been fine. We've also had an acceptable result using that funny paper stuff that goes underneath laminate floor planks.

You'll find yourself breathing a sigh of relief and cheering your own wisdom on the day that the cat is sick on the floor and you can just pick up the soiled tile and hose it off!

bob_a_builder

We've used several sheets of quality newspaper

What ? The Times, or Observer something like that ...

SplanK

I did this last year in my office. No underlay, just straight down onto the floor. I am blessed in having flat, 'as new' condition sheet flooring so it made the job a lot easier to get a good finish.

I dry fitted the bulk of the tiles initially to scope out the works. This was to ensure that the edge strips were not too small. Make alterations at this point to ensure you are happy and that runs are as square as possible.


There are a few methinds of laying them. Some go with tiles that already have adhesive on the back, some go with spay glue, and the option I went for was double sided carpet tape.


The 'middle' bit is the easy bit really and goes down quick. Just take your time, ensure the pileis going in the same direction (usually little arrows on the base of them to tell you), and that you are butting the tiles up to the last one as close as you can.


For the edges, for getting the exact perfect fit cut, I placed the tile the correct way up in the position it was going in, made very small cuts at either end as markers, then flipped upside down to cut across the back.


Using a metal straight edge and new sharp knife (if your room is large, have a bunch of replacement blades as they do ware quick). It is MUCH easier to cut from the rear of the carpet. The way I did it was to run the blade down the carpet tile once with a good amount of force to embed a decently cut to the tile (but not worrying about getting all the way through), then you can 'snap' of the bit. There were a few instances where I needed to go at it with the knife again but the snapping method worked quite well.


I will admit here, there were 2 of us doing this, one holding in place the straight edge and the other cutting.


I am sure you already know, but I cant stress enough slow and stead with the cutting! It would be so easy to cause personal injury here!