I have a lower level hallway in my house that is currently carpeted all the way through the hallway and into the adjacent Den room. See outline drawing below:
This hallway is a high traffic area from the garage, which is beyond the laundry room, and up the stairs to the mid level of the house. I have a desire to remove the carpet in the hallway and replace with a click-lock style of laminate flooring. This new flooring would extend into the shown bathroom and the computer room.
I want to retain the existing carpet in the Den room so I would anticipate cutting the carpet along the green line in the above outline drawing.
The question here is what to do with the method to secure the carpet and provide for an edging for the carpet?
Normally carpet has a tack strip underneath the edges that would be inset some from the edge. How would I go about installing some tack strip after I cut the carpet at the green line? Would I need to rent a carpet stretcher to secure the carpet to the new tack strip. And finally, after the new laminate flooring is installed what would be the typical type of transition to use from the carpet to the laminate flooring?
Best Answer
There are many options for the transition from hard flooring to carpet, and the method of securing the carpet depends on the option you choose.
You could have the cut carpet edge end in a metal strip of the color you prefer. In this case, there are strips that act as a tack strip, wherein the carpet is gripped by the strip itself and tucked under a decorative cover. For these, the metal strip would butt directly against the edge of the hard flooring:
You could use a traditional tack strip and cover the edge of the wood and the cut carpet edge with a rabbeted wood strip, stained and varnished to meet your aesthetic: