Install Carpet Without Tack Strips

Install tack strips with a gap between the wall.

Install carpet without tack strips.

Stretch in carpet installation is the most popular installation methods in homes. Install carpet without tack strips small tension rods attached at the base of each stair can be placed to tighten carpet that runs the entire length of the stairs. Padding is secured to the floor in the middle of the room. This shows the proper tack strip placement to get long lasting and beautiful results out of your carpet install.

Keep a space equal to about two thirds the thickness of the carpet between the walls and the tack strips using a scrap piece of carpet as a guide. These will grip the carpet backing and hold it in place. These strips have hundreds of nails that are angled in towards the wall. They are attached to the subfloor around the perimeter of the room to provide the anchor point for the edges of the carpeting to be gripped.

A small amount of glue at the top and base of each stair can keep it in place. Another alternative is to carpet each stair individually where the foot lands. Leave a inch between the back of the tack strip and the walls and inch between the back of the tack strip and the entry way of the room where the carpet will stop and a threshold or strip of plastic or metal will be placed. Install tack strips around door frames but not across the threshold to prevent stepping on the sharp points.

Position the strips with the tack points facing the wall. To install carpet start by nailing the tack strips to the floor using 2 nails for each strip. In this installation strips of wood called tackless strip are nailed or sometimes glued to the floor around the edges of the room. Without nailing in tack strips i would glue down in order to prevent wrinkles.

Tack strips are strips of wood with sharp pointed tacks. Prepare your stairs for carpet installation by installing tack strips thin pieces of wood resembling yardsticks with tacks pointing upward. I was installing new carpet at our old house and many of the nails on the tack strip came off because the concrete chipped away over the years and it left some dents or holes on the floor.