About Carpet Stair Treads

Have you walked into a home and look up the staircase and beheld a pretty sight? Chances are that the stairs have carpet stair trends. Have you tried "flying down" the stairs at home and the next thing you know is that you are rolling down the stairs? Do you notice discoloration, and multiple spots on your stairs due to traffic? The answer to all these is carpet stair tread.

In most homes the stairs is used to get to the upper level from down level and that means tons of traffic. In some homes and public places where the stairs may be carpeted , heavy traffic can also lead to fast wearing of the carpet. Carpet stair treads are also used in such cases to protect the carpets.

Carpet stair tread provides traction which will prevent you from slipping from the stairs. It is a form of safety measure.

Carpet stair tread is designed to be used on specific surface and condition. In highly trafficked surface such as theatres , the carpet stair treads are sturdy so as to stand high heels , splashes of drinks and oil . There are multi-purpose carpet stair treads that can be used on any type of surface. Carpet stair tread are made different materials such as; rubber, metal, polypropylene, braided fabrics, plastics. They come in various colors. Some have different line contours to hide step details such as edges. There is also a special variant called glow-in-dark treads to lit dark stair area.

For the installation, first,clean the stairs. Start from the bottom of the stair case. First secure the carpet pad to the vertical board at the bottom of the step with a staple gun. It should be held firmly to the stairs. Lift the carpet stair padding up to the stepping surface and use a wedging tool to secure the tack strip in place . Do this for all the stairs. Go back to the bottom of the stairs and place the runner on top of the fastened pad. Use the wedging tool to tack it into the joints. Do this for each stair.

Traditional carpet stair treads are not necessarily runner carpets , they come as uniform single carpets placed on each stepping surface of the stairs. Most carpet stair tread do not cover the entire stair surface ,they usually cover the center of the stairs surface where the traffic is heavy.

Carpet stair tread is an excellent way to give your stairs an affordable face lift and protection. You can call any local carpet shop for profession support.

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Carpet Stretcher:What You need to Know

You may have noticed rucking(sometimes referred as buckling or rippling) of your carpet that can easily get you tripped down when you hit your feet against them while walking across the carpet. Then it is time to use carpet stretcher. It could be wrinkles and loosening of the carpet that you notice. These are signs of the need to use carpet stretcher on the carpet.

Carpets ruck due to heavy wear as they age but can also develop prematurely as a result of poor carpet installation. Carpet stretcher is also used during carpet installation to remove any sag giving your carpet a full stretch.

Carpet stretcher can be used on all types of carpet. Common carpet stretchers are knee kicker and power carpet stretcher.

The manual carpet stretcher known as knee kicker carpet stretcher has spikes to grip the carpet , then you ram your knee with force on the padded end of the tool so as to pull the carpet forward towards the opposite wall .

The manual tool is not quite user -friendly . It can cause knee disorder and pain. It is also time consuming . There is another version of the manual stretcher that tries to tackle the problems associated with the knee kicker . It uses a hand lever instead to exert force needed to drag the carpet forward .

The second type is the power carpet stretcher which is more user -friendly and makes the work much easier and faster. You don't need to exert any force to drag the carpet ,it is done automatically by the machine . The power carpet stretcher also has tiny teeth that grab the carpet and pull it towards the wall .

Carpet stretching has to be done when due without delay. Leaving the carpet wrinkles for a long time can cause a ripping and tearing of the carpet thereby causing a permanent damage to the carpet.

Start the carpet stretching from the center of the carpet and then work to the edges of the carpet against the wall. The stretched out carpet material is then hooked unto a tackless strip. Leave about 1/2 inch of extra carpet all around the wall and tuck it is down between the tackless strip and baseboard.

In case you want to carry out the exercise yourself, you can hire the tool/machine from a local hire shop where you will also be put through on how to use the machine . Getting a professional support will be an added advantage. You can call a local carpet dealer involved in carpet installation for professional support.

Carpet stretcher can give your carpet a face lift. It can straighten out wrinkles and rucks thereby preventing your carpet from tearing.

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Why You Must Install Your Carpet with Carpet Pad

The thin line between you enjoying your carpet for a long time and it wearing out quickly could be a carpet pad.

A carpet pad is simply a cushion on which a carpet is laid. It is also called a carpet cushion. Often people budget for a carpet without considering a very important component of a carpet kit , that is a proper carpet pad. Just get this clear -if you install a carpet without a good pad , it will wear out and mat fast. Matting is the untwisting of the yarn and subsequent interweaving (tangling) of the yarn tips as a result of traffic.

Most often people settle for the standard carpet pad included in the price of the carpet. The problem with these standard carpet pads is that they are often of a low quality and won’t provide your carpet the necessary protection and give the users the maximum comfort.

There are a number of carpet pads to choose from the market. They vary in the material, treatment and finishes.
There are the fiber carpet pads, rubber carpet pads and foam carpet pads.

Fiber carpet pads come in three flavors: Natural fibers, synthetic/felt synthetic and recycled textile fiber.

Natural fibers include felt, horse hair and jute. These are highly susceptible to rottening if over-wet and develops odor fast. They shed, collect dust , mildew in damp areas such as concrete floors, and stretch out of shape. They can be uncomfortable to people with allergies.

Some felt carpet pads are now improved by coating with rubber and latex(rubberized and latexed carpet pads) so as to combat these disadvantages.

Synthetic fiber/synthetic felt pads are made with materials such as nylon , polyester, polypropylene and acrylic. They are needle-punched into relatively dense carpet pads which have firm feel.

The rubber carpet pads are of two varieties: the foam rubber and sponge rubber.

The foam rubber carpet pads are often glued to the back of kitchen carpets. They have covering on both sides. They are insect proof, mildew and moth proof, and non-allergenic.

Sponge rubber (flat and waffle) carpet pads are made from natural and/ or synthetic rubber and other chemicals. They are made into continuous sheets. They are sensitive to heat, have good resilience, damaged by dry cleaning solvents, and lose resilience with age. They are also moth, beetle, mildew proof and non-allergenic. The waffle pads hold moisture.

Foam carpet pads come in three types : Prime urethane, bonded(rebond) urethane and mechanical frothed urethane.

Prime urethane carpet pads come in three varieties :conventional prime, grafted prime and densified prime. Densified prime urethane is manufactured by changing the cell structure of prime urethane.
They are not affected by heat , non-inflammable , and not as resilient as rubber. They are not affected by dampness or insects , non-allergenic , and good for concrete slabs and basements.

Bonded (rebond) urethane: It is gotten by bonding together by pressure and gluing agents little pieces of prime urethane . It is normally associated with the problem of containing a preservative (BHT) used in many plastics and even bread .This preservative causes the yellowing of carpet fibers. Many cushion manufacturers have removed BHT from their products.

Mechanical frothed urethane: This is made with carpet backing machinery. The urethane foam is applied to non woven materials, forming a carpet pad with density and firmer feel.

Note : Carpet pads should not be too thick or too thin. If too thin then the carpet wears fast. If too thick the carpet becomes difficult to stretch and starts to ripple(buckle) over time.

You can easily test to feel the thickness. Just put layers of carpet pad under the carpet and feel its thickness. Thick carpet pads should be used in rooms with low traffic while thinner carpet pads should be used for high traffic rooms.

The quality of a carpet pad is determined by its density (weight of one cubic foot of carpet pad). Carpet pads are made virtually in different weights , to stand light , medium , and heavy traffic.

Inexpensive bonded urethane padding is sufficient for low-traffic areas while prime urethane is good for high traffic areas.
Laying a new layer of carpet pad over an old carpet pad causes the layer to be too thick and causes ripple.

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