subject: Outdoor Carpet Laying [print this page] In the era of 1970s there were not many options for outdoor carpeting, except for the all famous and monotonous green turf. Things have drastically changed and improved since then due to the advent and usage of outdoor carpeting. Such outdoor carpeting comes in varying shapes, sizes, designs, patterns and colors ranging from the plush form used as an item of luxury to the very fundamental and basic shape for day to day usage with greater durability and longevity. There are many types of flooring options too like vinyl flooring, safety flooring, carpet tiles etc etc.
It is imperative to be knowledgeable about the installation of outdoor carpets. Also, the installation tools are equally important and you should have all of them for a perfect fit and installation. Such tools include carpet roller of ideal weight of 50 pounds (this is an optional tool but is renowned for providing a tight seal), straight edge, spreader (adhesive in nature), scissors (varying sizes), utility knife with a sharp blade and tape measure.
Other important materials for the outdoor carpet installation include but are not limited to double faced carpet tape, an appropriate solvent to cause and ensure that the surface where the carpet is being installed in clean, adhesive solvent (mild in content and effect), adhesive (seam and the other). Always be careful with the use of adhesives as they can be flammable and should not be used around or near lights, open flames, cigarettes etc.
Since it is an outdoor carpet, it will be heavily exposed to external weather and conditions (particularly moisture, wetness, rain etc), you should cause and ensure that you save the carpet from such dampness as much as possible and at all times for the obvious reasons. Moreover, such carpet should have an underlayment of a weather marine backing which is moisture proof (not all such backings which claim to be weather proof are up to the mark, so always be wary of that).
The standard widths for outdoor carpet are six foot or 12 foot, depending on the area you intend to cover.
Similarly, in case of excessive sunlight or other form of heat that the outdoor carpet may be exposed to (in a sun deck for example), always cause and ensure that the adhesive used to stick the carpet is of utmost quality and a professional and a good job has been done to ensure it sticks to the surface of the ground to avoid any problems later on, which may include rotting of the carpet or attracting fungus or bacteria etc.
