Ideas for Installing Carpet Underlay

By Georgia Zoe Hill on December 31, 2014

Carpet underlay is a must if you want your carpet to last for many years. This material made of foam, paper or rubber is laid under the carpet and protects it from wear, while providing superior underfoot comfort. Thin and heavier underlay is perfect for high-traffic areas in home or in an office, while thicker and softer underlay can be a life-changing addition to your home.

But installing carpet underlay is not an easy task and cannot be performed by just anyone. Not only do you need to know how to install it right using specialized tools, it may take you a lot of time, especially if you are doing it for the first time. A usual process of laying a carpet underlay takes about an hour and may require a little assistance to handle the longer pieces of carpet underlay, if using. However, here are few ideas for quick and easy carpet underlay installation (in less than an hour).

Installing Carpet Underlay

  • Before installing carpet underlay, you need to remove the old underlay, if you have one. Put on a pair of gloves to protect your hands, use a utility knife, a stapler, nails and a hammer. First you need to pull up the old carpet with pliers and then comes the hard part – removing of the glued underlay. To remove the glued underlay, you need to apply a solvent to soften the glue. Once the old underlay is removed, check if there are any holes in the surface of the ground. If yes, fill them in.

  • The next step is setting tackless strips around the perimeter of the room where you are installing carpet underlay. Use a hammer and tackless strips to mark the area for the underlay. Make sure they you cover all corners of the room, except for the front of doorways (to easily attach the carpet).

  • Proceed with unrolling the carpet underlay to cover the entire space you’ve marked with tackless strips. Mark the underlay with the tackless strips and attach them using a double-sided carpet tape. To speed up the process, instead of using underlay sections, get solid rolls which usually extend from one end of the wall instead to another.

  • Once you have the underlay in place, check if it overlaps the tackless strips as supposed. If you are installing carpet underlay on a concrete subfloor, do not use tackless strips. Duct tape is a better alternative solution for marking the area.

  • Once the installing carpet underlay process is completed, check the room corners for any extra pieces of underlay and cut them with a utility knife.

  • The last step of installing a carpet underlay is icing on the cake – take as much time as you need to admire your work. Congratulations, you do-it-yourselfer!