How to install glue-down carpet
There are several different types of carpet that can be glued down. The most popular are commercial carpets, indoor/outdoor carpets, and some level loop berbers. The differences between the types of carpets will determine which type of adhesives you would use to glue the carpet down. Most multi-purpose adhesives are latex based and good for the indoor carpets, though there are some specialty types of glue that might work better for the olefin/polypropolene berbers. The glue for outdoor carpet is usually solvent based and sometimes called “All-weather” or “Outdoor” glue.
Glued down commercial carpet is usually a good choice for very high traffic areas that will have many stains. It is denser than residential carpet with a tighter weave and shorter nap. Installation is pretty simple and much faster than its other commercial counterparts such as terrazo, concrete staining, vct, or cermaic tile.
Glue down berbers are used in residential interiors and are a good choice for high traffic areas such as living space, bonus rooms, and hallways.
Indoor/outdoor carpets are good for specific applications such as on a porch, around a spa, or in a boat.
Make sure your subfloor is flat and that there are not major cracks that will telegraph through to the top of the carpet. Second, you will need to remove the floor molding such as baseboards or quarter round. Also, you will be using a carpet adhesive. As a result, you will need to make sure that the adhesive you choose will stick to your substrate. For example, if you have a sealed concrete floor you may need to strip that sealant off in order to get a good bond.
Always cut your carpet first and dry fit it into the area you will be installing it in. Once you are sure that your cut will be a good fit, roll the carpet up so that you may unroll it with the pattern or on your longest wall. Next, using a trowel spread a foot or two deep of adhesive along the full width of the wall. Make sure and use the recommended trowel with the notch and notch-size recommended by the manufacturer of your carpet. By this point the section you have glued should have become slightly sticky. This is the most important part! Make sure and roll out your carpet so that it is coming in a straight fashion because it is very hard to readjust after you get it started going. Now continue until you reach the other side of the room.
At this point you will need to use a 100-pound roller to get good adhesion and remove all the air bubbles from the floor. After that has been done you can put the floor molding down.
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