- New carpets can be very expensive, and they absorb a lot of wear and tear. In fact, stepping on a carpet puts 100 pounds of pressure on every square inch. Carpet padding helps absorb that pressure, which in turn makes your new carpet more durable and keeps your carpet lasting longer and looking more beautiful.
- Starting at a corner, pull up the old carpet underlay and throw it away. If the underlay was stapled, you will need to remove all of the staples. If the underlay was glued, you will need to apply a glue softener and scrape off the remaining underlay.
- Tackless, or tack strips, are used to hold the carpet in place. They have sharp, raised "teeth" on them, so it's a good idea to use gloves when installing them. To install them, start in a corner of the room and nail them to the subfloor. Go around the perimeter of the room with the tack strips, leaving a 1/2-inch gap between them and the wall.
- To install the carpet padding, roll it out and cut the pieces to fit the floor. It should measure just short of the tack strips, so they can still "grab" the edges of the carpet. Bring the edges of the pieces of carpet padding together without overlapping them, and tape the seams. Use carpet padding glue to secure the padding to the floor around the edges.
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