Carpet Express' Flooring Blog

Question: Should an installer check for moisture before installing Dura Ceramic on a concrete basement floor before installing?

-Jeanette

Answer: Installation issues should be checked out by the installer before any product is installed. Without knowing if the store you purchased from sold the installation with the job, or if you paid the installer directly, I can’t say if the company that sold the product is responsible or not. The installer should have used a moisture meter before installation, I believe, to make sure the product could be installed on the floor.

-Jim Young, Jr.
Carpet Express, Inc.

Question: Which product, ceramic tile or laminate flooring, will survive in a house in Wisconsin without heat in the winter months? We go south in the winter.

-Eileen
Fennimore, Wisconsin

Answer: Without heat in a home in Wisconsin, I really could not suggest ceramic or laminate. Any moisture that gets into these products could freeze and cause the tile to break or the laminate to buckle. A porcelain tile would be the best product to use, since it should not crack in freezing weather.

Thanks for the question!
Jim Young, Jr.
Carpet Express, Inc.

Question: How do I know how much carpet I need?

-Scott
Dalton, Georgia

Answer: You usually need abut 10% more carpet, and about 5% more pad, than the actual square footage you are covering. However, the following steps are absolutely necessary in order to purchase the correct amount of carpet and pad needed for your job.

First, make a simple drawing of all the areas to be covered. Include, for example, living room, den, halls, master-bedroom, 2nd and 3rd bedrooms, and closets. Then measure each room in feet and inches, and add to sketch. Now you are ready to insert the carpet into the rooms.

Be sure you know the width of your carpet. Also, remember it is usually best for carpet in adjoining rooms to run the same direction. All carpet within the same room must run the same direction.

Installation can be a bit tricky, but if you take your time and actually draw out the carpet to be cut, and place the cuts in the appropriate room, it will make more sense to beginners. Be sure to save the waste from one room to use in another room or closet. Also, try to keep seams out of door ways.

Always remember to check your square footage to be covered against the amount of carpet your installer or dealer says you need. If it’s more than 10-15% extra, this should be a HUGE RED FLAG.

If you have any questions, or need help with your measurements, feel free to contact us at (800) 922-5582. We’ll be glad to help.

Loose Lay vinyl is becoming more popular today because of the ease of installation. It doesn’t require as much floor preparation and eliminates expensive adhesives. The one thing that might make the do-it-yourselfer a little nervous is seams.

When making a seam, there is a few small tricks to help relieve this fear. The first is to make sure to match the pattern up correctly. You can do this by overlapping one sheet over the other at a grout line in the pattern. Make sure you have the pattern repeat correct. Some 9″ patterns may have a 27″ pattern repeat. If you will cut the top sheet just a hair shorter on both ends, then you can see to match up the grout line perfectly. (Make sure your quarter round will cover these cuts.)

Now you are ready to cut through both pieces at the same time. This is what we call a double cut. (DO NOT cut each edge separately and then try to butt them together. This will not work – it will cause bubbles at the seam.) Use a chisel point utility knife with a new blade to make this cut. Using a metal straight edge, you will want to make this cut in the middle of the grout line, following the edge of your straight edge. Hold your knife straight up-and-down and apply enough pressure to cut through both pieces. If you have to move your straight edge, do not remove the knife from the cut. Simply slide the straight edge down and let the knife be the start of the alignment to continue the cut.

After you have completed the cut, fold back the top layer, and then the bottom layer, gently. (Please make sure that you don’t move them when folding back.) Apply to the floor a clear, double faced tape, recommended by the manufacturer. Now fold back the bottom layer, always starting at the middle of the seam area and working your way back to the ends. Do the same with the other side, making sure to just let the vinyl fall into place. Do not push toward or away from the seam – the vinyl should line up naturally. Apply a small amount of pressure to the seam to stick the vinyl to the tape underneath.

All manufacturers have a recommended seam sealer that needs to be applied at the seam. Apply this seam sealer to the cut area, making sure to use just enough sealer to cover both edges of the cut. Don’t over-apply the sealer, letting it overflow onto the pattern. Let the sealer dry properly. This should make a beautiful seam, that will be free from bubbles and last a lifetime.

Although we do not feature any flooring accessories or trim pieces on our website, this does not mean that we don’t carry them. In fact, Carpet Express stocks a wide variety of Hardwood Flooring trim pieces and accessories. We’d like to mention a few here (you can find pictures at the bottom of this post):

• Threshold – For use with sliding glass doors adjacent to a hardwood floor or as a transition between carpet or ceramic tile. Fasten down with adhesive and/or nails.
• Quarter Round – Covers the space between the wall and hardwood flooring. Must be pre-drilled and nailed to the vertical surface, not to the floor
• T-Molding – For use as a threshold where two floors of similar thickness join. Fasten down with adhesive and/or nails.
• Stair Nosing – Add a professional look to steps and stairways. Fasten down with adhesive and nails.
• Reducer Strip – Use it at thresholds to connect a hardwood floor to vinyl or low-pile carpet. Fasten down with adhesive and/or nails.

These are just some of the options you have availabe in hardwood flooring trim and accessories. If you have something in mind that we didn’t mention here, ask us about it.

There are many reasons to choose Armstrong. Here’s a few:

Breadth of Selection: Armstrong/Bruce has over 17 exotic species and colors to choose from, with 5 more on the way in November!

Superior Durability: Only Armstrong Grand Illusions and Bruce Park Avenue provides 8 times more abrasion resistance than engineered wood.

HydraCore Plus: Armstrong’s HydraCore Construction uses only the highest quality high-density fiber core available, providing superior indentation resistance and un-paralleled moisture resistance – less than 2% swell rate.

Lock n Fold: Armstrong’s Lock n Fold locking system was first to market and provids unparalleled speed and ease of installation.

Brand Awareness: Armstrong is the #1 brand in flooring.

October is always a busy month at Carpet Express. Our annual golf tournamet, locally know as the Mike Jones Invitational, was a great success. About 50 Carpet Express employees and suppliers enjoyed a beautiful Thursday afternoon at Knob North Golf Course, testing our golfing skills. Don Martin of Beaulieu was low individual with a 69, while the team of Bin Lin (CFS), Brian Sloan (Mannington), Ken Julian (R.A. Siegel) and myself took top team honors. What a great American tradition to conduct business on the golf course on a Thursday afternoon.

Business remains a little soft, but we feel very fortunate at Carpet Express. Personal service, great prices, and a lot of hard work continue to be our game plan to get through these tough times. It seems we’re in a very over-built housing cycle that will take some time to correct. There is not a quick fix, and neither presidential candidate offers much hope. I hate to think it’s up to our federal government to get us back on track, but hopefully oil will continue to fall, credit will loosen, employment will stabilize, the stock market will go up, and home prices will rise. I know this is wishful thinking, but it is very important to keep a positive attitude.

At Carpet Express, we plan to finish this year strong. Our residential and commercial customer base continues to expand, and our Floor-Tek Installation is doing well. We strive to earn — and keep — the confidence of our customers. We are bullish on America and look forward to many more great years.

In closing, I can’t help but express my disappointment in not making the Halloween costume finals. My dramatization of the guy getting hit by Anthony Kim’s errant golf shot at the Tour Championship should have brought home the money.

Question: I have a question for you concerning hardwood installation. We have a large space that makes up several rooms. We are thinking about laying one section out in a diagonal (I know it makes things difficult). But my question is this: Between the “straight” area and the diagonal I was going to install a perpendicular board as a transition. Do I need that, or can you butt up the edge of the diagonal board to the straight one? In either case, do I need to slot the end of the cut diagonal board to accept the groove (of either the transition board or the straight boards)? If so, what is the best way to do that?

Thanks,
Mark

Answer: Mark,

I think what you’re asking is how to join the diagonal wood to the wood that is straight. First of all, you don’t have to make a new tongue or groove to join the two together. You could put a board between the two, or you could use a t-mold between both ends. Either way should give you a nice transition.

Let us know if you need any help.

Sincerely,
Mike Jones

Question: My wife and I are building a new home. To save money, we decided to make a few upgrades ourselves (myself) instead of having the builder charge us for them. My first project will be to build a mantel and tile surround for our fireplace. Basically I need to remove a small section of  carpet (about 6′x2′) for the tile in front of the fireplace. It will be located on one end of a fairly large carpeted room (about 20′x15′). To be clear, I’ll be removing abour 6′ in the middle of a 15′ wall.

My question: Is it going to be a major task re-stretching the carpet for the whole room after I’m done with the tile, or will it mostly stay in place because it will still be attached at the wall on either side of the fireplace? Is there any risk of ripping or damaging the carpet by cutting inside corners while it’s in tension? I actually feel pretty confident about finishing the edge up to the tile, I’m just worried about causing problems to the carpet in the entire room.

If all it will require is a little knee-kicking, I fell OK doing it myself. Otherwise, I’ll probably have a professional installer do it. If this job will require the help of a professional, should I consult him before starting? Or can I just cut the carpet, leaving extra room, lay my tile, and then call him to have it re-stretched and finished?

Thanks for your help
Brian

Answer: Brian,

I understand that you want to remove your carpet away from one wall so that you can install some ceramic tile in front of your fireplace. If this is correct, then yes, I would recommend that you power stretch your carpet back into place. This will prevent bubbles in the future, especially around the new tile in front of the fireplace. You can rent a power stretcher (they’re not that hard to operate), or you can hire a professional installer. Also, you can look online at www.doityourself.com for more info.

-Mike Jones

We found this article about installing your own Laminate Flooring on DoItYourself.com, and thought it would be quite useful to our readers. Let us know what you think in the comments box.

Prep-work:

1. Measure the floor area you want to cover and add 10 percent for waste.

2. Installation kits for laminate flooring are available wherever laminate flooring is sold. They cost less than $20 and include specialized tools like a tapping block and a pry bar for working in close to walls plus some spacers to keep the laminate away from the wall. They’re well worth the price.

3. Laminate is usually installed running the length of a room; however, some people prefer to run it parallel to the light entering the room (see photo).

4. Be sure to bring your laminate flooring into the house at least 48 hours before you begin installation. This will allow it to acclimatize to the humidity level in your home and the boards won’t move after the floor is installed.

Installation:

1. Take off baseboards and moldings all around the room and remove any doors in the room.

2. Fasten down any loose or squeaking floorboards and use leveling compound to get rid of any dips in the floor. If you have taken up carpet, make sure you remove any nails or tacks that might be left.

3. Install the underlay – it usually comes in 36″ or 42″ wide rolls – by rolling it out in rows butted against each other (not overlapping). Tape the seams with duct tape. If you are putting the laminate directly on top of a concrete floor, first put down a plastic sheet to act as a vapor barrier, before putting down the underlay.

4. The height of the new laminate flooring may mean your doorframes need to be modified. Check by laying a piece of the flooring on top of the underlay and see if it fits below the jamb. If not, mark the jamb and cut it so the flooring can slide under it.

5. Starting at the far side of the room, measure across the room to determine out if you need to rip the first plank. You want to end up with the pieces on both sides of the room approximately the same width.

6. Lay the first boards against your starting wall, groove side towards the wall. If you do need to rip the first row of boards to width, cut off the groove side. Use spacers (or a piece of flooring on edge) to ensure you leave a 1/4″ gap between the flooring and the wall. You need to leave this 1/4″ gap between the flooring and the wall all around the room to allow for minor seasonal variations in the boards themselves.

A specially designed pry bar helps lock tongue-and-groove laminate boards together.

7. Lay out the first three rows as follows: The first board in the first row needs to be a full board. The first board in the second row should be 2/3 of a board and the first board in the third row should be 1/3 of a board. Fill in the rows with full boards and boards cut to fit the remaining space. Repeat the pattern as you move across the room, ensuring that joints are always at least 8″ from each other.

8. Join the boards together by inserting the tongue into the groove at a high angle and then pushing down. The boards will click together. Tapping gently with a hammer and the tapping block may be necessary to make sure the boards lock together.

9. When you are working close to the wall, the pry bar specially designed to work with laminate flooring helps pull the boards into place end to end (see photo). Never use the hammer directly on the pieces of laminate – you could damage the edge of a piece so badly nothing will be able to fit with it.

10. Cut laminate flooring with a circular saw with a fine tooth blade or a jig saw. Using a power saw, cut laminate good side down, to reduce tear out on the cuts.

11. Once the floor is down, reinstall your baseboards and moldings, making sure you nail them to the wall and not the laminate flooring. This will cover that 1/4-inch gap you left around the perimeter of the room.