Installing Carpet Tiles #2

We installed another 500 sq ft of the carpet tiles this afternoon. Here are a few pictures showing the results...







You can still see the seams between most of the tiles - the camera flash fades them out - but these should disappear after some use.

All in all, the tiles are pretty easy to install. Here are some things we figured out (or already knew to do from similar projects):

We spent a couple of hours getting the layout right. We made sure that there would be no small strips of carpet by the walls, which took some balancing of the rooms. We also double checked our main chalk lines to ensure they were square.

A one pound rubber mallet allows you to set the tiles solidly into the double-sided carpet tape. You can also use the mallet to align the tiles.

Get a bulk package of razor blade for your knife. You go through a lot of them - and dull ones are a pain.

Lay all the whole tiles then come back and do all the cuts.

Sweep the bare floor, vacuum, then vacuum again. Get rid of as much dust a possible before starting.

If you cut for a tight fit, you can butt the tiles right up to tile without any metal strips.

We have about 400 feet more to go to finish the family room and small hallway. Once we are done there, the additional tiles should arrive so we can do all the kids beadrooms.

Installing Carpet Tiles #1

As part of our basement remodel, we have been planning on putting in new carpet for quite a while. At about 1800 sq. ft. of carpet, it is not a small investment. After doing a bunch of research, we decided to go with commercial grade carpet tiles.

We ordered the tiles from iCarpettiles.com, and we were not disappointed.


For about $2.30 a square foot (delivered), we bought pad-backed carpet tiles rated for extreme wear conditions: Mohawk Ecoflex. They are also a green product and LEED rated for recycled content. The service from iCarpettiles was excellent: good phone support, quick delivery, and based on our order size, they found a cheaper alternative for delivery. They are definitely on my "good supplier" list.

Here are the cases of carpet tiles...


This picture shows the first few tiles installed. They go in fairly easily with double-sided carpet tape. We decided to run long strips of tape on the main layout lines, and also at each of the corner of the tiles - similar to the Flor tiles installation method.


We go started and installed about 200 sq. ft. in a couple of hours, which wasn't bad. This included closets and a lot of detailed cutting.

The hardest part of the installation was removing the old clumps of glue and carpet pad from the concrete floor. After tying a scraper and heat gun (lots of work), I found that my 4" grinder with a wire brush attachment did the trick with almost no effort.

Hopefully, we can get the rest of the main basement area done tomorrow.

My normal disclaimer: When I feature a supplier, service or product, it's based on my own experience. I don't take payment to place anything on my blog.

Back from Nicaragua

My daughter and I spent a couple of weeks on a mission trip with our church to Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. We had the chance to help build some modest houses and finish a medical clinic. The highlight of the trip was getting to know the local people and spend a good deal of time at an orphanage run by the Verbo Church. It's basically impossible not to fall in love with the kids there.


The man shown in this picture is Pastor Earl. He is the leader of the church that gives so much to help the local people. The area is burdened with extreme poverty, but the people I met there where rich in love and compassion for each other and their community. They are involved in getting people homes, developing small businesses and providing clean water. We saw God working there daily, and I feel like I got much more out of the experience than I gave.

I encourage all who read this, regardless of your belief system, to take the time to get out and help others as you have the opportunity.

New stone fireplace hearth

As long as I have been laying stone in the back yard, I decided to go ahead and add a raised hearth to our upstairs fireplace. When we originally built the fireplace, I decided to put the hearth on the floor, as shown in this picture...


It looked fine, but ended up being too modern looking for our taste. We wanted something that was more traditional / rustic.

Here is a picture with the new hearth added:


The mud is still wet, so it's dark. Once it dries it will be the same color as the rest of the stone. I took my DW and I about 2 hours put in the structure and hearth stones, then about 4 hours to lay and finish the rest, including cleanup.


I am hoping to design and fabricate glass doors before winter, so we can effectively burn wood this winter.