danandlova

Hello! I'm new here. We did a " walk-through" on our brand new house yesterday and we re scheduled to settle next Wednesday. We have carpet in the family room and hardwood in the kitchen. We stepped on painful tack strips where the carpet and hardwood meet. We also felt some on the stairs and by the walk-out basement door. Our Realtor and the builder's Rep keep saying its normal-and that he's just going to hammer the sharp strips down...Is that right?

Im very bothered by this-because I'm afraid hammering the strips down could not fix the real issue and could wear our carpet. I asked the builder if they can install a wood transition where carpet and hardwood meet and they refuse to do it, saying--its installed properly and that they re just hammering it down...

If they hammer them down, is it guaranteed that the strips wont poke through the carpet in the future?
Anybody has any idea on how to deal with this?

sublime2

There shouldn't even be any tac strips between the carpet and hardwood. There should be a threshold to transition between the 2 materials.

joecaption

Just rubbing over them with a ahmmer should bend then over enough to make them hold better and not stick up.
It's done all the time.
http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/har...ood-floors.htm

danandlova

Really? this is the reply l I got from the builder's rep when I asked for the transition :

"We only use metal transition strips between vinyl and carpet. And only wood transitions between hardwood and ceramic. The transitions between carpet and tile is done correctly in your home with a ceramic threshold. The carpet and hardwood transitions are also done correctly with the carpet being tack stripped down along the finished hardwood edges.
There may be an after market solution that you may be able to install after movein. Our flooring installers currently do not provide any other option. I will go through your home as promised and flatten any Sharp points in all those locations you have mentioned."

I believe that the tack strips shouldn't be hurting our feet if its properly installed. Our Inspector gave the report later today and recommends wood transition-- Is there something they can do about it so we dont step on those tack strips anymore?

danandlova

Would a wood transition fix this issue?

joecaption

It will cover them up for sure but the carpet would need to be redone to install them.
Most people do not want a trip hazzard on the floor.
Just rolling over them or tapping then over will also work and do no harm to the carpet.

danandlova

What is T molding transition? Would they have to remove the whole carpet if they did that too?

When you say rolling over and tapping, what do you mean? (excuse my ignorance, I'm a stay at home mom :-))

Do you think hammering it down would make the strips bent down for good?

joecaption

Once bent there not going to move, there just going to lock onto the carpet backing.
No one here can see what you have there. But here's just a few of the avalible styles of moulding.
http://www.installerstore.com/Johnso...on-Strips.html
There's dozens of others in differant colors, and materials.


What you have now may look something like this.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...=carpet+strips

rusty baker

It violates carpet installation standards to have tack strip across any opening. If you pound them down, they will not hold the stretch properly. Do not accept this.
CRI 105
Residential carpet installation standards

"Installation of tackstrip across door openings and/or sills should be avoided."

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danandlova

Rusty Baker: Thank you so much. What would be the best solution for this? Does the standard apply to transition between carpet and wood? When I asked them what they're going to do, this is their reply:

"We only use metal transition strips between vinyl and carpet. And only wood transitions between hardwood and ceramic. The transitions between carpet and tile is done correctly in your home with a ceramic threshold. The carpet and hardwood transitions are also done correctly with the carpet being tack stripped down along the finished hardwood edges.
There may be an after market solution that you may be able to install after movein. Our flooring installers currently do not provide any other option. I will go through your home as promised and flatten any Sharp points in all those locations you have mentioned."

zakany

CRI Carpet Installation Standard 2011
Section 6.2
excerpted

To prevent possible injury to building occupants, it
is required that the pins on tack strip not protrude through the carpet being
installed.

Avoid installing tack strip across door openings and/or sills.

Section 6.7

Transition Molding – Where carpet meets other floor coverings create a smooth transition and adequately protect edges with a transition molding that meets all carpet manufacturer and ADA requirements.

It sounds like the builder doesn't employ the best installers. This standard is only 36 pages (total) and is available free online.

The builder's claim that the carpet installation is "done correctly" has no factual basis, since the installation is deficient per industry standards.

AllanJ

You can hammer down the individual tack points. Correctly the tack ends will bend over but occasionally the wood strip will split and a tack supposedly bent over tilts back up.

You can take up the carpet at the threshold, remove the tack strip, iron on a cloth carpet splicing/joining strip on the underside for strength, and tack the carpet edge back in place (tacks pointed down as if you were upholstering the carpet to the subfloor; a bear to tear up years later if needed.) You will need almost as many tacks as there were points in the original tack strip.

You could take up the carpet at the threshold, remove the tack strip, and use a metal threshold carpet edging strip that uses a row of hanging chad instead of tacks to hold the carpet on.

__________________
Stick to your lawn watering schedule until it really starts to pour. After the storm you have only the same number of rest days you always had and then you need to start watering again.

zakany

Oh CRI-105 was also mentioned. Here it is.

It's a bit older and the section numbers are different, but it says pretty much the same thing.

rusty baker

Just tell them that you will not accept it, that it violates installation standards. It will also void the carpet warranty.

__________________
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Installing since 1973

danandlova

Thank you all so much for your useful responses. I personally contacted the Carpet and Rug Institute and it is indeed a violation of the installation standards
that the pins on the tack strips are poking through the carpet. I forwarded the builder the link of CRI 105 standards and am waiting for him to get back to him. I'm very curious what he's going to say next. Hammering the tack strips down would wear the carpet and would make it difficult for the stretch to hold.