Installing carpet in your room is not always an easy task and you will not be able to perform it yourself, especially if you have to create seams between adjoining pieces of carpet. Standard type of carpet piece usually comes in 12 and 15 foot wide rolls, which in turn means, for larger rooms you will have to use two carpet pieces & seam them together. Seaming a carpet typically requires accurate cuts and proper seaming methods, for instance, you can use heat-activated carpet seaming tape as well as a seaming iron. One of the important factors to a tight-fitting as well as making seam look professional is to begin with a double-cutting method that matches the two edges perfectly.
Step By Step Instructions Of Seaming Carpet Pieces Together
At the time of installing a carpet, the best option is to go for a single large piece so that you will not have to seam it. However, this is not always possible, due to the reason that there may be larger rooms or ones that are not perfectly shaped, as a result needs seaming them together. So, in order to seam carpet pieces together, you first need to collect the items required for the process & then go through the step by step instructions carefully:
Items Needed
- Tape Measure & Pencil
- Chalk Line & Straightedge
- Carpet Knife Or Utility Knife
- Carpet Seam Roller
- Books Or Other Heavy Objects
- Carpet Seam Iron
- Scrap Board Or Strip Of Plywood
- Carpet Seaming Tape
Instructions
- Position The Carpet Pieces: First of all, place the two pieces of carpet alongside each other & make them overlap by near about 3 inches. Keep in mind that the pile should be facing in same direction in both the pieces. If in case you are not sure about the direction, then go through the back of the carpet where you will find out the arrows indicating the pile direction.
- Mark And Trim The First Edge: Now, push back the top piece of carpet. On the backside, calculate 1 inch in from its outer edge before marking the backing at 12-inch intervals down the length of the edge. Break a chalk line along all of the marks in order to create a cutting line. Put in a board or scrap of plywood below the rolled-back edge, so that you should safeguard the carpet beneath from the knife blade. Position a straightedge across the chalk line, and then trim through the carpet with the help of a carpet knife or utility knife, but make sure to use the straightedge as a lead for the knife. Trim a single line of backing threads as you proceed with your work. A very uniform, straight cutting line is extremely important to make the seam as invisible as possible.
- Trim The Second Edge: Position the recently cut edge of carpet over the uncut piece. It should still intersect the bottom piece by at least 2 inches. Lay out a straightedge through ?the edge of the cut carpet, and then with the help of a knife trim through the bottom piece of carpet, slicing across only a single row of threads, as before. Again, keep in mind to make the trim as straight as possible.
- Position The Seaming Tape: Position a line of carpet seaming tape below the two cut edges of the both the pieces of carpet, having the adhesive side positioned upwards. Place the tape along the whole length, and the two pieces of carpet properly matched along their edges. If in case you use a single piece of tape for the complete seam will help to keep the seam tight. Rigorously, adjoin the two edges of the carpet together as firmly as possible.
- Position The Seaming Iron: Now, position a carpet seaming iron beneath the two pieces of carpet, in opposition to the carpet seam tape, and plug in the iron. You might need to heat it for sometime in order to begin activating the adhesive on the seam tape, however, it is totally dependent on the type of tape you use. Go through the tape and iron manufacturer's suggestions carefully for heating times.
- Join The Seams: After that, run the iron very slowly down the seam and along the tape, letting it to stay just long enough in order to activate the adhesive at each point. As you run the iron, press the carpet pieces behind it smoothly down into the tape & at the same time pushing the pieces firmly together. As you proceed down the seam with the iron, overturn the joined seam behind the iron, with the help of a seam roller in order to press the carpet edges into the tape adhesive and make sure they lie flat. After overturning, put in some heavy objects such, as large books, over the overturned area of the seam in order to take hold of the carpet in place. Leave the weights in place as long as the adhesive sets.
- Complete The Seam: Keep seaming the carpet as long as you reach the end of the seam. Leave the weights on the seam for at least 15 minutes more before removing them. Finally, you will have a carpet surface that appears nearly unbroken, having the pile threads hiding the seam.