"Tricks of the Carpet Trade," in the Floorcovering Installation & Maintenance Tips forum, begins: "-DJ- said
NEVER TOUCH CHINA! ...DJ
I agree with that 100%...or any type of breakable or collectable..."
I learned a new trick yesterday and it is awesome. What is one of the hardest pieces of furniture to move? A HIDEABED RIGHT? Well working with my friend Rick who used to work alone showed me this one. He carries plactic wrappers with him all the time. Here's how it goes. Take a nice clean plastic wrapper a big one and double it over. Lay it out on the floor and stand the hideabed up in the middle of it, remove the legs so it goes through the door, grab one end and pull away. The thing slides like K-Y on a door knob. When moving back grab the opposite end and away you goe. Oh DON'T forget to tie the bed in so it don't open up on ya. I had that happen one time and ended up buying a new designer solarium kitchen floor. It came untied I used bungie straps.
Don't know if it's a trick or not, but here it goes
sometimes I get concrete wrap around steps, which they want pad on it, meaning I have to install tackstrips on the back part, however nailing the tackstrips only cause the steps to start chipping and the tackstrip won't stay put. another option would be to use hot glue, or that special adhesive for tackstrip or liquid nails, but it takes a bit of time to dry and sometimes it fails,
what I do is place the tackstrip on the back of the stair and wrap it around with filament tape (very strong and cheap) all arond the stair. I wrapped it on both ends and it has worked for me very well in the past.
I've mentioned it before, but heavy plastic under the carpet make sliding and positioning a breeze for a one man operation. even this 34 foot long rough backed woven over rubber pad. When you have it positioned pull out the plastic.......easier if you cut the plastic into a couple of pieces.
I guess this qualifies as a trick of the trade, Alot of the members here use pro-knees, and this is something we generally do, so I am unsure if this will help anyone. If you are on a job that has alot of prep work, and or the floor is just nasty, like a VCT rip up/a poorly done abatement/ active adhesive/lots of prep (heavy patch/double skim)/etc. in these cases I try to keep some C+A carpet cut to fit the shell of the Pro-knees so once the messy work is done you can peel it off and not have to worry about cleaning them before working on the finished product, barring that we will take duct tape and use 3 -4 pieces to cover the surface of the outer shell, so you can accomplish the same thing.
I sent a suggestion to the makers of them, that they should make some kind of easy clip on clip off protector, just for this reason
To avoid seam cupping or peaking, I put a piece pf carpet(upside down) over my iron. I cut a wedge in the middle and trim it to fit the iron. I've been doing this for a number of years now and it works perfectly. I also blow any steam coming out from the seam as the iron moves down the track. Since the backing is usually made of plastic, it does not like heat, so this is a great solution. BTW, I'm known for my invisible seams.
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Re: tricks of the trade
Taurus Flooring said
To avoid seam cupping or peaking, I put a piece pf carpet(upside down) over my iron. I cut a wedge in the middle and trim it to fit the iron. I've been doing this for a number of years now and it works perfectly. I also blow any steam coming out from the seam as the iron moves down the track. Since the backing is usually made of plastic, it does not like heat, so this is a great solution. BTW, I'm known for my invisible seams.
I think someone invented that years ago, it was called...............
I also blow any steam coming out from the seam as the iron moves down the track.
That's what I do. I like to run my iron a little hot on longer seams, which is fine IMHO as long as I keep up a good pace, If I get to a spot where I have to let it sit a little longer I blow out the hot air. It may sound silly but it works.
For what they pay to install carpets, I will never buy one. My iron works great done this way and I never have a problem and the seaming tape is even cheaper. As far as a heat shield goes, I also have one, but found there was still enough heat coming from the top to affect the end result. I've been doing my seams this way for about six years now and I always get praise for my invisible seams. Remember, it's not the tool that does the job, it's how the tool is used that counts.
I used to cut a piece of cardboard and use it in conjuction with the irons metal heat shield. It worked very well, and kept the backing cool until placed in the adhesive.
