Place a board or scrap of plywood underneath the rolled-back edge to protect the carpet below from the knife blade. As you move the iron, press the carpet pieces behind it gently down into the tape while pushing the pieces tightly together. Be extremely cautious when handling your utility knife. Cut through the painter's tape and carpet with a utility knife. It may seem like a hassle to have to keep stopping to change blades, but it will save you considerable time and labor in the long run. Follow the tape and iron manufacturer's recommendations for heating times. For advice on how to trim carpet around corners and doorways, keep reading. Center a line of carpet seaming tape underneath the two cut edges of the two pieces of carpet, with the adhesive side facing up. Kelly Bacon is a licensed general contractor with almost 50 years experience in construction, home building and remodeling, and commercial building. Cut the carpet pad under the carpet with a utility knife so that it ends flush against the edge of the tackless strip. If one is using a removable blade knife, make sure to insert a new blade before getting started. Spillages should be cleaned immediately with a damp cloth before allowing to dry. Position the cut carpet in the room, fitting the factory cut edge against the first wall, followed by the other sides. The blade will be dangerously sharp, and even the slightest slip might result in serious injury. Seaming carpet like a pro requires precise cuts and proper seaming technique using heat-activated carpet seaming tape and a seaming iron. You can use this product to end to cut carpet and alternatively to jam carpet into gullies. A good-quality pad will be 3/8 to 1/2 in. In addiition, each of these types can be made from different fiber materials such as nylon, wool, polyester or acrylic. Save this part for an experienced contractor. This article has been viewed 83,498 times. If you are unsure, check the back of the carpet for arrows indicating the direction of the pile. wikiHow's. Throughout your project, make sure to change the blade as soon as it gets dull so you can work as safely and efficiently as possible. Using a single piece of tape for the entire seam helps to keep the seam tight. This carpet cutter is the ideal tool for cutting carpets accurately and efficiently. thick and have a density/weight rating of at least 6 lbs. Place a carpet seaming iron under the two pieces of carpet, against the carpet seam tape, and plug in the iron. Seaming occurs as the carpet pieces are being cut to the rough size but before stretching and final trimming occur. Doorway seams and other transitions can be difficult to cut and place correctly. Simply peeling the carpet back and cutting the underside of it along that border you just marked should work just fine. Lay the carpet back side up and take a hot glue gun and run a half inch bead of hot glue all along the edges careful not to spill over just along the carpet backing is all you need. But a DIYer on a very tight budget, or one who likes the challenge, can indeed install a seamed carpet with professional looking results. Lay the newly cut edge of carpet back down over the uncut piece. Cut Carpet into Easy-to-Handle Pieces. Then secure a metal straight edge along the cut line. Other letters are shown below. Then, drag the blade in a straight line towards you. The diameter of a standard can is a good guideline for the size of a replacement piece. The carpet used for the patterns should be of the same type and texture as the background carpet. Take a 1" strip of contrasting fabric, use E6000 Fabric Fuse and glue 1/2" on front of the carpet. While it is simple enough to cut carpet with a utility knife or carpet shears, there are methods you can use to streamline the process and ensure that your cuts are efficient and clean, rather than ragged and time-consuming. There's no reason to get overly complicated with how you cut … I've cut chair mats by laying them on a flat work surface. If you must cut the carpet, the preferred letter is an X. These can be looped (where the fibres loop back into the backing material) or cut (cut off at the top). This allows the piece to be placed in the room perfectly square. The cutter has an extra long nose for better row separation plus a bottom platform and beveled surface that allows the … For advice on how to trim carpet around corners and doorways, keep reading. To cut carpet for installation, start by unrolling the carpet so that the backside is facing up. Considering that professional carpet installation typically adds less than $1 per square foot to the overall cost, many homeowners who attempt to install a carpet with seams resolve never to do it again. Fold one-third of the carpet into the center of the room then cut the fold with your utility knife (Don’t worry, I show you how to do this in my video but please don’t comment on my messy hair. Cutting carpet is mostly a matter of getting through the backing, which is the hard, flat side that lays flush against the floor. The goal is to keep the cut-out area (image 2) as small as possible but still allow car… Just push the edge of the carpet down into the gap all the way across the door and trim any strings off. To save yourself the pain of lifting it all at once, cut it into easy-to-manage pieces with a utility knife: Cut carpet from the back, instead of from the fiber side, and make sure your blade is sharp and new. You might blunt or break your knife, or even mark up the underlying flooring. Cut Carpet into Corner. A few carpet-cutting techniques in your arsenal of skills allows you to cut both straight edges and tricky shapes with confidence. HOT TIP: Place both your hands on the utility knife while cutting carpet so that you don’t cut your FINGER OFF. These tools can be leased at the same tool rental outlets and home centers where you lease the carpet stretcher and other tools required for DIY carpet installation. One of the most important things that you will want to do is use a straight edge. The key measurements you'll need to know to assess a carpet's durability are its density – how closely knitted together its fibres are – and its pile height. Cut the carpet down to size if you need to, but leave at least 50mm extra around the edges. You might also choose to pull on a facemask, if you’re sensitive to dust. Use tape marked with an arrow to indicate the direction of the carpet's nap on the repair piece. Advertisement. Make sure that the pile is facing the same direction in both pieces. Install the folded carpet edges with carpet tacks every inch or so to prevent lifting. Lay out the two carpet pieces side by side so they overlap by about 3 inches. The right pad will extend the life of your carpet. We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. Move the iron slowly and steadily down the seam and across the tape, allowing it to linger just long enough to activate the adhesive at each point. Carpet can be extremely heavy to handle, especially if you’re tackling a lot of square footage. Standard carpeting is typically sold in 12- and 15-foot wide rolls, which means that carpeting large rooms will usually require that you use two pieces and seam them together. You may have to make 2 passes with the knife. Carpet is a common type of flooring material used in indoor and outdoor applications for homes and offices. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Step 3 Position the Carpet. Therefore, we are able to cut carpet straight and accurately. Of course running the wires under the carpet can cause premature wear on the carpet when people walk on them or worse still could ignite the carpet and torch your living room. I want to cut a runner, but what do I do to protect the cut edge? Using the same can or container, press it down firmly over the damage. These general carpet types come in a range of styles and heights.. Step 4 Measure the carpet against the wall, and trim the carpet with your utility knife so that there is just enough carpet to fold over the top of the … Here are a few tips for cutting carpet straight. The main thing to remember is to use a knife that’s sharp enough to allow you to work quickly and with the necessary accuracy and control. Continue seaming the carpet until you reach the end of the seam. Don’t jam the blade into the carpet too deeply. It may be helpful to perform a mockup of the cuts you intend to make on a scrap piece of cardboard first. The carpet seam tape you'll need can be purchased from home centers and online retailers. It's regarded as an advanced project, suitable for advanced DIYers who are patient and willing to take a bit of a risk. How To Cut, Fit and Shape Automotive Carpet February 4, 2019 Roadkill Customs How To & DIY This video demonstrates (on a mock-up for ease of instruction) several traditionally used techniques to cut, fit and shape the front and rear of a transmission tunnel using non-heat molded, non-backed automotive carpet. A straight edge is going to be necessary to guide your knife along the edge of the carpet. Leave the weights in place until the adhesive sets. Appropriate care and maintenance is essential to appearance retention and longevity of the carpet tiles. Lay out the tape along the entire length, with the two pieces of carpet perfectly matched along their edges. Keep your wrist fixed to avoid making sloppy or uneven cuts. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 83,498 times. Place a straightedge along the edge of the cut carpet, and use the knife to cut through the bottom piece of carpet, slicing through only a single row of threads, as before. A standard utility knife is preferable, though something like an X-Acto knife or razor can also do the trick. Since you’ll be throwing the old carpet out, there’s no need for precision or delicacy here. also tuck the carpet into the ends where the carpet … This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. By working with another person, you’ll be able to lay or pull up carpet twice as fast. Roberts Carpet Tools Cut and Jam Carpet Knife 10-220. By using our site, you agree to our. If you want to make an area rug from a carpet remnant or from a swath of broadloom carpet off a roll, there are several options for finishing the edges to prevent fraying. This keeps the carpet flat along the edges. Start with a sharp knife. But for those DIYers who do try it, the trickiest part of carpet installation is creating seams between butting pieces of carpet. The roll itself can serve as a convenient reference for tracing straight lines. Carpet installation is not a very common do-it-yourself project, mostly because professional installation is quite affordable. Lay a straightedge along the chalk line, and cut through the carpet with a carpet knife or utility knife, using the straightedge as a guide for the knife. Carefully cut along the outline with a utility knife (image 1). If not, cut the carpet near the top of the top stair riser. Again, take care to make the cut as straight as possible. Finally cut edge carpet tiles to fit neatly to walls and skirting: General Maintenance. Carpet tack strips can usually remain in place but look for rust, rot or other damage. After rolling, place heavy objects such, as large books, over the rolled area of the seam to hold the carpet in place. Use a putty knife to chip away at one edge until there’s enough to grab hold of. If you are using carpet padding, cut the padding 1¼ inch short of the edge so that it does not extend under the folded carpet edges. Use the back edge of a Stanley knife blade to push this crease well into the joint where the carpet meets the floor. Absolutely, the best aspect of having this cutting-edge machine is that each cut is made using computer “eyes” that sense the exact measurement. A very uniform, straight cutting line is essential to make the seam as invisible as possible. Complex cutouts may be best left to the professionals. A utility knife with a sharp blade was then used to score a cut line along the straight edge. This will be the most important (and possibly the only) tool you’ll need to cut carpet. Joseph Lewitin is a flooring expert who contributed home improvement content for The Spruce for four years. Use a utility knife to cut out the rug, pressing firmly. As you move down the seam with the iron, roll over the joined seam behind the iron, using a seam roller to press the carpet edges into the tape adhesive and ensure they lie flat. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. $10.78 $ 10. The Problem: I have gone through about five different rugs in my entryway. The final result should be a carpet surface that appears nearly unbroken, with the pile threads hiding the seam. Trim off the frayed edges. Keep cutting more off the edges of the "V" until the carpet fits flat on the floor. Cutting the carpet every few feet will be useful for large or oddly-shaped rooms where you’re unable to remove it in one piece. Seaming normally occurs after the carpet pad and tackless strips are installed. Grab the cut end of carpet and pull it from the stairs using gloved hands. If you don’t have the benefit of a straightedge, try feeling for one of the seams in the underside of the backing. Don’t get into too big of a hurry—that’s how accidents happen. Regular daily vacuuming is recommended. Lay the newly cut edge of carpet back down over the uncut piece. A more permanent fix than hot glue. 3. 2. The quality of carpet pad is determined by density, not thickness. 4.4 out of 5 stars 327. Unless you’re planning on repurposing your old carpet, it can simply be thrown away once the project is complete. Repeat this process with the remaining three corners. One can even use electrical handheld equipment to cut the carpet. Mark the backing with a pencil or permanent marker to indicate where you need to cut, or simply use the intersecting seams as a handy visual reference. Next, place the tip of a utility knife against the carpet backing and press until it pierces the backing. http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/layingacarpet.htm, https://www.hunker.com/12232967/carpet-cutting-tools, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxaFrT8mcVc, http://www.ronhazelton.com/tips/how_to_cut_cleanly_with_a_utility_knife, https://www.bobvila.com/articles/how-to-cut-carpet-bob-vila-radio/#.WTGT9WjyvIU, http://www.dummies.com/home-garden/flooring/tips-for-laying-carpet/, https://www.familyhandyman.com/floor/carpet-repair/tips-for-removing-carpet/view-all, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtLy-nhh1do, http://lifehacker.com/cut-carpet-like-the-pros-and-save-your-razor-blade-1691866958, http://www.younghouselove.com/2013/05/how-to-remove-carpet/, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. The most common choices for carpet finishing are binding, serging, and fringing. Pry up the metal nosing and remove it, if present. Carpet installation—and seaming in particular—can be a somewhat tricky project for DIYers, especially beginners. A chalk line can be helpful for transferring longer measurements. Measure your workspace twice to make sure you have the dimensions right. Cut a small "V" into one corner of the carpet. (In my case I clamped a long piece of aluminum bar stock in place to the work surface with the mat in between). You might also use a handheld electric carpet cutting tool. The loops of yarn tend to get in the way, and it's much easier to botch the cut. Introducing "One Thing": A New Video Series, The Spruce Gardening & Plant Care Review Board, The Spruce Renovations and Repair Review Board. It is very useful with its features of being an easy-open knob with bail. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. On the backside, measure 1 inch in from its outer edge and mark the backing at 12-inch intervals down the length of the edge. If you're having trouble, use your utility knife to separate the carpet where it connects to the baseboards. Few homeowners will have any need to own the specialty tools required for seaming a carpet, such as the seaming iron and seam roller. Be sure to cut down a single line of backing threads as you work. A shop vac is the best way to collect dust, stray threads and other materials that are left lying around after removal. There are carpet overlockers listed in the phone directory, or try a Google search. If you’re using a utility knife with a removable blade, take a minute to insert a new one before you get started. Get daily tips and tricks for making your best home. Leave the weights on the seam for another 15 minutes before removing them. A poor job seaming a carpet results in a haphazard appearance that you'll have to live with for a long time. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Once the carpet has been cut and unfastened, you can simply roll it up, carry it out and dispose of it. There are 15 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. If your carpet is tacked down with staples or adhesive, it may take a little effort to get it started by hand. To find the inner area of the room, multiply the length of the room (in feet) by the width. Fold over the other 1/2" to the back and glue that down. It should still overlap the bottom piece by about 2 inches. With one pitiful rug pad and two overly-welcoming dogs that rush the front door every time they hear a noise — I was forever straightening, fixing and flattening the front rug. Snap a chalk line through all of the marks to create a cutting line. It's possible to cut it from the front, but much more difficult. Whatever you use, make sure the edge is nice and sharp. Use a Straight Edge. References. The seams must be secure before the carpet is stretched out over the perimeter tackless strips and trimmed to fit along the baseboards. Get the edge bound by overlocking it. Once it is in place, cut a vertical line the excess directly above the corners and trim the overlapping triangles so you can lay the carpet flat onto the gripper. Most rolls of carpet come in widths of 12 feet, so be sure to take this into account when plotting out the best way to cover the floor. FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon % of people told us that this article helped them. You should start fitting your carpet along the longest wall and work back towards to door. Finally, We Install Your Perfectly Cut Flooring. Cut out the background rug, placing the carpet on corrugated cardboard or other surface that cannot be damaged if cut with a blade. It was a long day of projects). I use a hook bill to do this. Do not use C, J, L, or U Go for X, K, T, V, and as a last resort, you can use a Y. You should be concentrating on a length … After the carpet is stretched onto the tack strip and cut to the correct size, it needs to be tucked down into the gap. Beyond that, it’s simply a matter of taking your time to avoid mishaps and see that the carpet blends seamlessly with the layout of the room. Carpet types can be divided into: c ut pile;; loop pile; or; a combination of both to create a cut and loop construction. How to Repair a Carpet With Carpet Patching, How to Convert an Acrylic or Fiberglass Shower to Ceramic Tile, A Guide to Installing Carpet Over Underpad, How to Install Tub or Shower Surround Panels With Adhesive, An Expert's Guide to Hanging Your Own Wallpaper, How to Cut Solid-Surface Material With Simple Woodworking Tools, How to Install a Ridge Vent on a Shingled Roof. Following a seam will help you make straight, steady cuts. Cut the carpet on the back edge with a carpet knife and a straightedge.