Carpet Stretching Safety

Tack Strips

• Be careful when working to remove an old carpet’s tack strips before stretching new carpet on your room’s floor. These strips bear nails that are partially sticking up in the air. When striving to remove tack strips, place the edge of a pry bar under the track strips, and force the pry bar farther under the strips by tapping it forcefully with a hammer, being careful not to strike yourself with the hammer. This will loosen the tack strip so that you easily can pull it up with your gloved hands.
  
  

Knife/Cutter

• When stretching a carpet, you may need to use a utility knife. For instance, use this type of knife to trim your carpet padding at the ends so that the pad butts up against the tack strips. When using a utility knife, make sure the blade is not dull, which will cause you to use more force than necessary when making a cut. In addition, do not pick up a knife with an exposed blade unless you plan to use it immediately, and keep the hand holding the carpet padding out of the way of the moving utility knife blade. When trimming the edges off of a newly placed carpet using a carpet cutter, keep your hands out of the way of this instrument’s blade, as well.
  
  

Carpet

• Instead of using a device called a knee-kicker, use a power stretcher to stretch your carpet effectively. Only use a knee-kicker in very small areas or simply to make the carpet edges attach to tack strips, as using a knee-kicker to forcefully stretch carpet often leads to knee disorders. Use the power stretcher carefully by digging the teeth of the tool’s head in the carpet about 6 inches away from the wall and then stretching the carpet. Follow the product manufacturer’s instructions carefully.
  
  

Other Information

• Apply staples to your carpet padding around the perimeter before laying the carpet you wish to stretch. When putting in staples using a staple gun, do not engage the trigger unless the staple gun is directed exactly where you want it, and do not point the tool toward anyone else in the room. Wear safety goggles to protect yourself from debris such as staples and tacks during your carpet stretching project, as well.