Carpet Adhesive

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Ictalurus

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Got a question for you all.

I'm going to be using carpet on my latest project. I've done this before, four times on three boats, but the last go-round I had some issues. The carpet was thinner than what I usually get, the new carpet is the thick kind (lowes), and when it would get wet (wet from a 5-year old climbing in from swimming) the glue would bleed through.

I believe I had used Roberts or Henry in the past w/o issues, note the carpet never got as wet until my kids got older and we swim from the boat, the stuff with issues is the iTEC or TEC from Lowes. I see HD has Roberts. Also thinking about using a thinner trowel or trying to really thin it out for the new project.

So my question, what do/have you all used that worked well and how did you apply it.

Thanks for the insight,

Ictalurus
 
That is exactly what I experienced with my last glue down.
I used TEC Skill Set Outdoor Carpet Adhesive for outdoor carpet.
I guess this is a Lowe's brand. https://www.tecskillset.com/carpet-and-vinyl/step-2/outdoor-carpet-adhesive.html#.VbeagfmrHN8
Looking at the label on the front, it right out says "interior and exterior use"....
BUT - the fine print on the back says "Do Not use on painted, varnished or sealed
wood, metal or old adhesive residue". "Do Not use with vinyl, urethane or fiberglass
backed carpets". "NOT FOR MARINE USE" where carpet is exposed to standing water.

and I only saw that AFTER I had the whole boat carpeted.

I do not recommend this product - and, others like it.
But, after 6 months, it is holding okay. No lifting or bleed through.
The boat stays outside with no cover. (cover will be soon when budget permits).
The boat is tilted up quite a bit for drainage, so the carpet doesn't really have
puddles that last for long. But for the past week, it has poured cats & dogs every day.

READ THE FINE PRINT ON THE BACK of any adhesive you are thinking about using.

LOL and I violated (or, just took for granted) my own rule as to
Read, Understand and Follow all the instructions on the label.
This one may come back to bite me.

jus my Dos Centavos
 
That's what I bought, said the new stuff was marine grade. When I got home, found out the old stuff (the one that bleed through) was also TEC. I think I'll return it.

After some searching and reviews, Mrgos (sp) and Bobberboy have both used and recommend contact cement for carpet ashesive. I think I may go this route. Thoughts?
 
I have used literally gallons, gallons and gallons of contact cement
over the past 40 years or so. For laminates - - - only one time for carpet.
The one issue that I think most people don't take into consideration
of contact cement is the INSTANT bonding that takes place when the
two properly glued surfaces are mated together. And I do mean INSTANT.
doing a large area, such a boat deck, alone, can only lead to some serious frustrations.

Again, I advocate practice, practice and practice some more when attempting
to use any material you are not familiar with ..... and contact cement is at the top of that list.
Once it is stuck, it is STUCK - - very difficult to pick it up and reposition it or
worse yet, remove wrinkles without cutting them out.


jus my Dos Centavos on that there
 
Ictalurus,

I spent a half hour looking at adhesives at Lowe's and read all the products labels carefully, before deciding on contact cement. It was the only one that I could find that said it could be used around the elements. Cant remember the brand name, think its a 3M product. I am going to be using it for my trailer bunks.
 
A tip from a guy who has laid down a bit of contact cement over the years (usually on laminates).

Get a couple of large pieces of brown butcher paper. After doing all of the proper measuring and dry fitting .....apply the contact cement to both pieces ( deck and carpet/laminate)

After both sides are touch-dry......slip the brown paper on top of the deck. It won't stick if you have waited the right time for both pieces to properly dry. Lay the carpet on top of the brown paper and position it where you want it.

Slowly remove the brown paper by sliding it off beneath the carpet. If you have everything properly aligned, your carpet will be glued flat and right where you want it. Try this process on a couple of pieces of scrap first.

regards, richg99
 
Good tip, Rich!

I have a slightly different way of doing it, this is how we used to lay really large areas of carpet in commercial buildings when gluing to concrete:

1. cut your carpet to fit exactly how you want it with no glue. This is a dry fit.
2. Make sure it is laying exactly where you want it, then on one half of the carpet place some heavy objects. We used 5 gallon pails of glue doing floors, I used batteries when doing my boat. Just make sure it's heavy enough that the carpet won't move at all when doing a bit of pulling on the free half of the carpet.
3. fold back the free end of the carpet and apply your contact cement on the deck and the carpet. Wait the recommended time.
4. slowly fold/roll your carpet down, rubbing it with your hand/foot as you go along to make sure there's a good bond with no bubbles/wrinkles.
5. Once this half is done, move your weights over to the other half and repeat. Technically you shouldn't even need weight on the already-glued half, but I figure it can't hurt anything to just move them over while doing the other half.

This works like a charm and if it's done properly (it's hard to screw up), your carpet will be perfectly placed where it was when you had it dry fitted. Just do any necessary minor trimming once it's done.

If this doesn't make sense in print, I could make a doodle. Seems like a simple concept, but I never thought of it until we were laying nearly full rolls of carpet all at once in large buildings.
 
I researched carpet glue for a good while and ended up using Henry's 263. You can't hardly find it online and for sure not at hd or lowes. Everybody that used it including me had to get it at a carpet store. Easy to work with and has a decent working time. Haven't had any issues with it in two years in my bass boat. Just another suggestion.
 
mgros483 said:
If this doesn't make sense in print, I could make a doodle. Seems like a simple concept, but I never thought of it until we were laying nearly full rolls of carpet all at once in large buildings.

Would love to see a doodle, since I am more of a visual learner. I thought the cement I purchased was a 3M product, but it is not. Its called DAP. Here is a link to it: https://www.lowes.com/pd_41161-68-00271_0__?productId=3033216

It says its, "High heat resistant and Water resistant when dry."

Great tips Rich and Mgros =D>
 
Great tips indeed! =D> =D>

Thanks everyone, this is all great information and very helpful.
 
Shoedawg said:
Would love to see a doodle, since I am more of a visual learner. =D>


At the risk of being way too detailed, here's some pics. Sorry for the delay, I just checked back in to this thread.

So, I'm at the office, but imagine if you can that you have some yellow carpet and a white bow deck...
Carpet by Photo 144, on Flickr


Place your carpet on the deck and cut it so it fits just right without any glue, then put a weight (full 5 gallon pails/batteries/anything heavy enough to keep it in place) on one side of the carpet.

Carpet by Photo 144, on Flickr

Fold back your carpet as shown and apply contact cement/glue/pink highlighter to the deck and the carpet.

Carpet by Photo 144, on Flickr


Wait the required time to tack up if using contact cement, then roll your carpet down as shown while smoothing it out as you go to ensure there aren't any wrinkles or anything. Just don't flop the thing down there and you'll be fine.

Carpet by Photo 144, on Flickr

Now move your weight to the other side (not really necessary if using contact cement, but it can't hurt) and repeat the process for the other side.

Carpet by Photo 144, on Flickr

Then you're done. The only real way to screw up would be if you had a really uneven line of glue when you laid down your first patch of cement, that could leave areas that you can't get glued. When we did commercial buildings we would snap a chalk line and then trowel the glue right up to the line, but on the boat I just wing it and it turns out fine.

I know that contact cement is some serious stuff when it sticks together, but it isn't like it's welded on there. If you really need to you can pull it apart a bit to get some glue in if your line isn't quite straight.

Hope this is helpful to people. I can't imagine trying to lay carpet any other way and getting it to line up properly.
 
Barefoot_Johnny said:
Thanks Marty, But I am not the one that asked that question LOL.


Yeah, that post was directed at Shoedawg.

Also, my yellow carpet thing was meant to be a joke because I was using yellow legal paper.

My wife regularly tells me that no one gets my sense of humor....
 
mgros483 said:
Barefoot_Johnny said:
Thanks Marty, But I am not the one that asked that question LOL.


Yeah, that post was directed at Shoedawg.

Also, my yellow carpet thing was meant to be a joke because I was using yellow legal paper.

My wife regularly tells me that no one gets my sense of humor....


Thanks for the reply Mgros483. =D> =D> =D> Man that cleared things up a lot for me and makes sense now. I really like this technique, and will try it when I do my carpet install. Do you think a rolling pin will help flatten and smooth it out better, than using your hands??

I got you humor too, bro........ :roll: :roll: :roll:
 
As far as a roller for the carpet I used the j-roller like used when laying laminate countertops. It was nice for getting into the corners and such. Rolling pin would work great in the middle.
 

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