Carpet Grippers

About Carpet Grippers

Carpet grippers are fixed around the room perimeter and are used to stretch the carpet with the correct tension, which would hold it in place. Carpet grippers also stop the underlay and the carpet from rippling, crumpling and moving.

For the maintenance of your carpeted floors, carpet grippers are widely available in the market. However, there are proper installation methods that have to be applied to keep the best condition of your carpets and so that they will not be damaged easily. To get the best results, it is best to follow a step by step procedure.

Carpet grippers are also called tackless strips in UK and are typically made of wood attached with metallic teeth. Carpet grippers can be installed easily, and if done properly, the tension will hold it fast to the sub-floor.

Using Carpet Grippers

Always remember to wear protective work gloves when working with carpet grippers as the metal teeth could damage your hands. The first thing to do is to measure carpet grippers and the area where you will place them. Start measuring from the wall, going across the subfloor, which should have about 2/3 of the thickness of the carpet. Mark your measurements across the perimeter of the room using white chalk. Put the carpet grippers strip with the metal teeth aligned and directed to your wall. Using a utility hammer, nail the grippers that are usually included in the set.

Using a handsaw, cut the strips you need to fit the carpet grippers. Continue the process mentioned earlier until you are able to cover the entire perimeter. The usual method of fitting the grippers to a wooden floor is by simply nailing them to the floorboards, but if you have a solid concrete floor, you can use nails and Grip-fill which is multipurpose glue used to fill gaps.

If you cannot nail the carpet grippers down because you have under floor heating or pipes winding around your house, you can cut the carpet grippers into sections of six inches. You can do this with tin snips and then glue the sections down with beads of Grip-fill. Experts and installers do this by applying approximately 3 feet of Grip-fill to the flooring, then placing the carpet grippers firmly into the gap filling glue. Allow the carpet grippers to dry overnight. If you are constrained by time, there are brands of rapid drying gap filling glue in the market that dries out just after an hour of application.

If you cannot find carpet grippers in your locality, you can also browse online for more information on where you can find them. There are many online retailers and suppliers from where you can order sets to fill what you need. It is best to read the product specifications prior to purchasing, so that you won’t have to reject or return them during the installation. It is also a good idea to read the seller description and reviews, which will give you an opportunity to assess whether you are buying from a trusted supplier or not.