Well, I finally bought the carpet and 2 layers of pad for the loft and had to install it to get it out of my way.  A little trick I use to get stuff done.  I’ve had the loft area, so close to being done for 6 months, and had many times I wanted to use it but couldn’t because it was just plywood, that I finally just went for it and got the carpeting.

I wanted to have a cozy, comfortable place for the kids and woman and I to hang out and relax.  The space was meant to feel like a treehouse and totally does, high above the trees with long range views, and the windows on the both sides in the summer can be opened and offers a great cross breeze.

So I bought the carpet from a high school friend that works at a carpet place.  So he gave me a good deal on the carpet and the two pads.  Yes, two pads.

Can you install a carpet with two carpet pads underneath?

BEWARE: Do not install two carpet pads under a carpet.

  1. Because the pad can bunch up
  2. Because it voids the warranty on the carpet
  3. Because it wears the carpet unevenly
  4. Because carpets will cry

So, obviously I didn’t care about those warnings and did it anyway, because this space isn’t a full height room I knew people would be spending a lot of time on their knees.  This also means they won’t be treading on it like a normal carpet which means most of the other issues might not be issues.  AND, I don’t care about the warranty anyway.  My buddy at the carpet place said, in his 20 years in the carpet business he hasn’t had a single customer actually manage to use the warranty on their carpet.  So that was good enough reason for me to dismiss it.

Once the carpet and pad was purchased and brought home, I had to prep the space by cleaning it and installing tack strip.

NOW.

If you have two carpet pads, you can’t just install tack strip normally because the carpet would have to dive down below the top pad to reach it and that would cause funky issues that we don’t like to talk about.

What I did was found a piece of “material” anything will do really, that was the exact thickness of my bottom pad.  I installed this material, for me it was 3/8″ plywood OSB, in very thin strips that were just larger than the tack strip (2-3″ wide), directly under the tack strip.  Then nailed my tack strip down, and got some more coffee.

When installing 2 layers of pad, make sure your carpet pads are of a different types – Felt + recycled rubber

The reason is to help the bunching up problem.  I also felt it gives a bit more comfort that just one type.  2 layers of rubber would be too soft, but 2 layers of felt would be to hard.

The following day, my buddy had a buddy who does carpet, come over with all his fancy tools and skills, and he installed the pad and carpet. The only tool he forgot to bring was a carpet stapler, which luckily I had rented at home depot along with some serious 9/16″ Carpet Staples. This is the kind of carpet stapler I rented and I wouldn’t do a carpet job without it, honestly.


Most of the other details are in the videos, so get to it!

Carpet Installation in the Loft
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