# Forum Home Renovation General Odds & Sods  Carpet Laying

## neilb

We have just got rid of the adult kids and their bedrooms have a pongy smell about them . We have cleaned the carpet and tried all sorts of nice carpet smelly potions but we think that their cats have sprayed in there.  :Mad:  We have resigned ourselves to the fact that we may have to replace the carpet to rid ourselves of this smell. Also the carpet is old and really needs replacing anyway.  How hard a job is it to lay new carpet and what tools do I need ? Is it wise to replace the underlay as well when putting in new carpet ? I am an upholsterer and have had plenty of experience cutting around sometimes weird shapes ect.  :Confused:  Neil.

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## dazzler

Out of interest what kind of savings can you make doing it yourself  :Confused:

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## Pinex

First of all, I am not a professional, but I have layed carpet myself.New underlay is a must with new carpet as old stuff compresses and new prolongs the life of the carpet.The tool needed to stretch carpet to the outter edges of the room can be very hard on the knees,but it needs to stretch out over the strips or battens that have tacks in them to hold carpet tight,then I use a bolster to knock carpet behind strips.Your trade will definately come in handy. Good luck Martin

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## China

I beleive most hire company's have the kickers (stretchers) and the joining irons, I have done it myself but for what I consider to be a small cost in having it done, I would not do it myself again it is hell on your knees not just from kneeling for a couple of hours but using the kicker as well

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## pauljygrant

Although i try to do most jobs myself, this is one that i use the professionals for.  The cost is usually minimal and they may deliver the carpets for free when they fit them.  I have heard it said that a cheap carpet laid professionally looks better than a good carpet laid poorly and i would tend to agree. Save your knees and get the professionals in.  Paul

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## Ashore

When we were first married and poor I replaced the carpet in our first home with carpet we bought at an auction , made my own kicker and laying the carpet on wooden floors was fine. The cutting out was the hardest as it was 1 room and ajoining hall, carpet was still there 12 years later when we sold the place , it can be done but the cost of laying these days is built into the carpet price , so unless you are using second hand carpet or picking it up at an auction get the stuff laid for you as you won't seve much if anything. If you do lay it yourself hire the kicker cause you cant make one that works as well as the professional ones  :2thumbsup:

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## foaley77

I'm installing Carpet soon over concrete, the timber that holds the carpet tight can you buy these or do you have to make them yourself  if so how? also is it easy putting in nails in concrete with concrete nails?

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## GeoffW1

> I'm installing Carpet soon over concrete, the timber that holds the carpet tight can you buy these or do you have to make them yourself if so how? also is it easy putting in nails in concrete with concrete nails?

  Hi, 
You can easily buy it, called Smoothedge. There are 2 qualities, domestic (2 lines of tacks) and architectural (3 lines of tacks). The carpertlayers at my place would not use the domestic quality strip on our medium plush pile carpet, and ripped up all the old stuff first. 
They used shortish masonry nails about 15-20 mm to fix it to the slab, and had no trouble bashing them in by hand. I believe though that the older the concrete the harder this is. 
Other tools are here  http://www.naturalfloorcoverings.com...cts/index.html 
Cheers

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## foaley77

cheers  
Do they put the Smoothedge in front of the doorways and whats that metal strip bit called that does at the front of doorways is that easy to put on do you know?

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## GeoffW1

> cheers  
> Do they put the Smoothedge in front of the doorways and whats that metal strip bit called that does at the front of doorways is that easy to put on do you know?

  Hi, 
No, smoothedge did not go in the doorways. If there was carpet both sides it was joined with hot melt carpet tape. This technique is the most difficult to get right in all of carpet laying I think, because the taped joint does not stretch like the rest of the carpet, and near a doorway it gets extra foot traffic, so has to be good  http://www.rlapolymers.com.au/new_po...seam_tips.html. 
The metal strip is just called carpet edging or carpet lock. You can get it in a wide variety of colours and finishes. It is usually nailed down to the floor, the carpet is then stretched onto the hooks which are in it, and the fold back is hammered down level with the carpet with a long block of wood. 
Cheers

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## Master Splinter

Just a heads up about the cat wee smell - I've heard horror stories from carpet cleaners about how difficult it is to get the smell out of carpets - it's not only the carpet and underlay, sometimes it soaks into floorboards or concrete.  
Take the carpet and underlay up and give the floor a good going over with a mop and a bucket of plain, steamy hot water.  If the cat smell gets worse in the room, you're going to need to try serious cleaning.  I think there might be some sort of anti-cat-wee enzyme from vets, but don't quote me on that.

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## foaley77

Do Most Carpet places sell Architectural Smoothedge what does it cost , also how much overhand carpet  do you have when you stretch the carpet

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## piscean

> We have cleaned the carpet and tried all sorts of nice carpet smelly potions but we think that their cats have sprayed in there.  .

  If the cats have sprayed in there then the carpet is actually the wrong place to be looking for the smell. Cat spray isn't pee it's a hormonal concoction and ends up on vertical surfaces at the same height as a cat's bum   :Wink:  but it does smell like very concentrated cat pee so even if they sprayed in there once the whole room can smell. Try washing down the bottom part of the walls and any furniture, wardrobes that were in there with soapy water because if it is spray then it just needs to be washed off to get rid of the stink.

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## astroADF

I'm not sure if the forum permits 'advertising', though there's a great video on how to lay carpet on the bunnings website. Check it out. It's pretty thorough.

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