Poll of the Day > Question about finishing a basement

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm trying to figure out where I put the tack strips down. I just went to Home Depot and bought $360 worth of carpeting stuff figuring it out on the way.

I want to put down carpets asap, but the walls are cement. That's a problem, because I want to futureproof in the case that we eventually put dry wall there. Should I have it a foot away? I think maybe I'll just put down the padding and carpet without any tack strips for now.

You don't usually need a foot of space for drywall. Drywall shouldn't be thicker than 8 inches anyways (well, doubled up 2x4s with a panel on both the front and back, and even then the back panel is optional)

I guess a foot could be ok... .... cuz contextually I don't know what carpet tacks are.
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Lokarin posted...

You don't usually need a foot of space for drywall. Drywall shouldn't be thicker than 8 inches anyways (well, doubled up 2x4s with a panel on both the front and back, and even then the back panel is optional)

I guess a foot could be ok... .... cuz contextually I don't know what carpet tacks are.

Carpet tacks are the nails that point upwards on floors you're going to put carpet on, they keep the carpet there permanently. They're apparently supposed to be right next to the wall.

I'm just going to skip the tacks for now and lay down that carpet. I don't even like the idea of drilling holes in the cement foundation either, I think I'll use some kind of epoxy even though the guys up at the hardware store told me to drill holes. The basement is dry enough to keep carpets, I'd like to keep it that way.

Oh and by the way, I was arguing with two teenage girls that worked up there on how much padding I needed. I have a 12*11 foot carpet, and the padding comes in rolls of 6*8. They were trying to convince me I only needed two rolls, and I was like, no, I need three.

"6*8 + 6*8 makes a 12*16 guy"

I'm not a carpet guy, but I have a fair amount of experience with construction. My suggestion would be to just put the tack strips around the perimeter anyway. You don't want to try and measure your way around the perimeter because you'll definitely fuck it up. Anyone would.

So I would just use the strips about a half inch from the concrete like you normally would and when you're ready to put walls up, just tear them out and put in new ones. They're easy to install and cheap so it shouldn't be a problem. I'd be a little wary about using epoxy on the floor because it's going to be a pain in the ass to remove down the line. Don't wanna have to scrape that shit off when you need to put up the walls.

Also, you're putting in carpet pad right? You should definitely do carpet pad on a concrete floor.

Alternatively put down a couple of rugs and wait until you're ready to do the whole shebang.
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Smarkil posted...

I'd be a little wary about using epoxy on the floor because it's going to be a pain in the ass to remove down the line. Don't wanna have to scrape that shit off when you need to put up the walls.

Yeah but the only alternative is actually drilling through the concrete, which I hate the idea of. This house is pretty well taken care of and I don't want to mess it up. It's really not easy getting those tack strips down on cement with screws and there's no room for error. I spent half an hour drilling a single hole with my cheap drill and I see myself bending the bit very quickly like that.

Smarkil posted...

Also, you're putting in carpet pad right?

Yup. I think no matter what I do for the walls, I'll need the center of the padding stuck to the ground in the middle.

I think because you're right in that I shouldn't try to estimate, I'll just skip all the edges and epoxy any other place where I need it stuck down. Then when I'm ready for the walls I'll lift up the carpet and put in the tack strips where they should be.

You can always just put the dry wall over the carpet

Put the carpet all the way to the walls with no space left

Put the dry wall over the carpet if you decide to put dry wall in
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Why not read the how to site?

Lil69Leo posted...

Why not read the how to site?

It would probably assume I'm doing carpets last, most of them do. I think I've got the gist of this though.

SmokeMassTree posted...

You can always just put the dry wall over the carpet

Put the carpet all the way to the walls with no space left

Put the dry wall over the carpet if you decide to put dry wall in

Nah that's just not the right way to do it.

https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/46573/framing-a-wall-over-a-carpeted-floor

It wouldn't be sanitary and it would look strange.