I'll planning to replace carpet in the basement and will need to install tack strips on the concrete surface. I know they sell tack strips with presettled sturdy nails for concrete. So do people normally drill holes in concrete of nail size and hammer it in? I need probably special "enforced" drill bits for this?
Concrete – drill concrete for installing tack strips
carpetconcretedrill
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Best Answer
The tackless carpet strips installed on masonry surfaces have short evenly-spaced concrete nails on every strip. They are set in position and with a well placed hammer strike the point of the nail penetrates the concrete securing the strip tightly.
Of course in the real world not every nail hit goes as planned. It's a good idea to have a few spares on hand as some tackles will be missing a nail or a bad hammer blow renders the nail useless.
If you can afford the extra time to install the strips with concrete screws (Tap-Cons) then the strips will be anchored better than nails. Use a 5/32 masonry bit for the small Tap-Con screw.
Some suggestions: If you do use screws along with nails 3-4 per strip should be enough. I found that 2 and sometimes 3 layers of tackles in long rooms will not pull loose overtime.