Adding a border color to the outside perimeter of a room can really add a touch of class. Experienced carpet installers are generally familiar with the steps involved. It's fairly straight forward. You may be new to rug fabrication, if so, then here are two quick and concise step by step techniques that are guaranteed to get the job done. In this case we'll imagine that you are installing new carpet in a 12' x 12' room, you are also going to add a complimentary 12" border around the perimeter.
Beginners technique - keep reading for a more advanced technique. Step 1. Precut your borders, 4 @ 12' x 12" in., prep and clean floor. Install tackless strips and padding. Step 2.
Drop your carpet, install & powerstretch. Step 3. Measure from the wall 12" - cut through & mark on each end of the carpet. Mark the backside.
Step 4. Flip back the carpet, just enough to cut the 12" strip & remove with your straight edge. Step 5. Repeat on wall #2. Step 6. Put your borders in place on walls 1 & 2.
Step 7. Using a seaming iron, seam borders to the main carpet, wait a few minutes. Step 8.
Use a kneekicker to re-install the carpet on walls 1 & 2. Step 9. Repeat these steps for walls 3 & 4. While there is some wasted carpet involved with this technique, it's still the easiest & fool proof way to get the job done. Advanced Technique- Step 1. Precut your borders, 4 @ 13" x 12', prep and clean floor.
Install tackless strips and padding Step 2. Cut field carpet to size - 10' x 10'. Place field piece into center of room. Step 4. Layout your borders and seam to the field piece with a seaming iron, wait a few minutes before installing. Step 5.
Install with a power-stretcher. Be careful, gently stretch the carpet until you have 1" excess to trim. This approach requires more precision during the installation. The benefits are that you have no wasted carpet.
The overall Install can be faster as well. Quick Tips- Tip #1- Some rooms may have several 'jogs' or 'legs' that interfere with your nice straight borders. For example: a doorway, or sliding door, or connection to another room can force your border 'out or in' a couple of inches or more. Make it easy on yourself. Don't bother making adjustments that small. Imagine the field piece within the room to be as straight as possible.
Your borders will then vary slightly in widths as they absorb the 'jogs'. It looks better too! Tip #2 - Pre-fabricate and bevel multiple borders before installing. It's always easier to produce these custom rugs in your workshop prior to going 'on-site'. Do as much pre-fabricating as possible. If you are comfortable pre-fabricating the whole project and the rooms are not too large, then doing so can save you time and increase your profits. Go for it.
Russell Webb, your friendly expert Custom Carpet Maker. If you're ready to launch your own creative and exciting home based business as a custom rug fabricator, and have fun doing it, subscribe to my FREE 4 part minicourse at http://www.erugmakers.com
