Replacing carpet and trim, which order ?

[buckeye95]

All,

We are renovating 2 rooms in our home including painting, new trim, and new carpet. The question I have is what order should the carpet / trim be replaced ?

Since we are painting the walls and ceiling, my first though is to get the old carpet out. Then once everything is all painted get the new carpet in and then the trim. Some have told me, however, that the trim should be in first since the carpet must be tucked under it to look right. Additionally, I have been told that trim is hard to get level across the room if carpet is already in. If I put the trim after the painting but with the carpet removed, I assume I must somehow shim it up to leave room for the carpet. Wouldn't it get banged up when the carpet gets installed then ?

I would appreciate any feedback on the proper order to do the trim / carpet so that things look right.

Regards,

Pete
Buckeye95

[maxparot]

I'd do the trim last regardless. The carpet will get closer to the wall with the trim out of the way. The tackless strips will hold the carpet to the wall and keep it from coming up. The trim is just to finish the look and is not a requirement to hold the carpet.

[monte]

I'd also do the trim last. With the trim not installed the carpet should be able to be installed closer to the wall and you shouldn't have any problems installing the trim after the carpeting is in place.

[DaveS]

I will throw in a different point of view:

Do the trim first - that way you can set up the saw in the room you are working on without worrying about messing up the carpet.

It will take 1/4th the time (depending on where the room is and its proximity to the nearest door outside) without having to (1) measure, (2) walk down the hall out the door (3) cut, (4) bring in the 8' piece of relatively unweildy and fragile trim (5) put it in place, (6) swear, because it is 1/8" too long, repeat steps 1-5.

In addition, if there is any finish, or touch up that needs to happen on trim, you will be happy that the carpet is not in when you drip.

The carpet guys have no problem installing the carpet under the trim, they do it all the time.

Call your installer and ask how high he wants it off the floor. When I finished the basement, I used the fat side of a couple little blocks of base trim to space the trim up off the floor.

[cgallery]

(1) Remove carpet
(2) Remove trim
(3) Paint walls
(4) Paint new trim before installing
(5) Install new trim
(6) Touch-up paint on newly installed trim
(7) Install carpeting

This is the standard order in new construction.

Make certain that the carpeting you purchase now and in the future has a trim-safe backing layer. Normal backings are very rough and will sratch paint or poly or anything else they come into contact with during installation. The soft backing available on some newer carpetings prevents this.

[crokett]

I'm with Dave. Carpet last. A good carpet installer will have no problems making the carpeting look good with the trim installed. They are used to doing it this way, and you don't worry about messing up the new carpet. My basement guest room is going to have the trim installed before the carpet.

[Tequila]

When I remodelled my living room 2 years ago, here's the order I used:

(1) Remove carpet
(2) Remove trim
(3) Paint walls
(4) Cut new trim
(5) Paint new trim before installing
(6) Install carpeting
(7) Install new trim
(8) Touch-up paint on newly installed trim

I'd definitely recommend installing the trim AFTER the carpet is done. I think it's a cleaner look, and it's much easier to vaccuum along the walls since there's no "tuck" for dirt to ge stuck in.

Joe

[offthemark]

My uncle used to own a carpet store. If I recall, the preferred way for trim installation and carpet is to "float" the trim a little off the floor (maybe 1/4 or 1/2 inch). This way, the tack strip and carpet go up under the trim and all looks neater. Otherwise, the carpet has to "bow" downward at the wall to tuck under.

With that approach, the trim does go up first. Talk to someone who lays carpet for a living.

[430752]

hmm... seems like a split decision so far. I'm also (thankfully) going to be in this predicament within a week or two. I always assumed trim last to get carpet closer, but can see the view on the other way arouund. Plus, then I can put the saw in the room and make trim install easier. but, seems odd.

still, would like more answers. Any carpet installers out there?

curt j.

[Tom Miller]

Just went through a basement finish and a remodel (by a contractor). He did it in the following order:

Paint
Finish trim
Install trim
Carpet

I think having to cut trim "off site" would be very inconvenient. And it's easier to reference the trim height off a hard surface, rather than carpet. Also, the carpet installers had no problem with doing it this way.

And it gives you more time to see the walls up close to see if they need any extra work that you wouldn't want to do with carpet down.

Regards,
Tom

[Jim-Iowa]

I have done it both ways. But will do any further carpeting after the trim is down. Masking carpet to apply finish to trim is an exercise in frustration. Not to mention that any slight pucker in the carpet makes it difficult to get the trim level and straight.
It is flexible enough to look wavy if your not very careful.

[Thom2]

The carpet I just removed was the original carpet from when the house was built, the baseboard was installed on the floor and then the carpet laid to butt against it.

Since we decided on new flooring, I wanted to paint the room before pulling the carpet, but wanted to pull the baseboards before painting since they'd need to be moved anyway. Boy did I ever get a rude awakening when I 'thought' I'd just 'pop' the baseboards off and paint ... not even being remotely ready to remove the carpet yet, I had to run around the room and pull all the carpet strips because the baseboard was trapped between the strip and the wall. The installation sure looked good, but I ran outta bad words trying to get ready to paint that room.


Thom
potty-mouth in PA

[Tom Miller]

quote:Originally posted by Thom2
I had to run around the room and pull all the carpet strips because the baseboard was trapped between the strip and the wall.

And this is exactly how I would have installed it, until I saw how professionals do it.

Another advantage to having a gap: it's just the perfect size to hide a phone cord that you should have made a jack for on the opposite wall. DAMHIKT!

Regards,
Tom

[billwmeyer]

I just finished ripping up some carpet in a room where the trim was put on last. Have you ever tried to get carpet pulled out of tack strips that are under the baseboard? I will put the trim up first when I do a room after that experience.
Bill

[Jim-Iowa]

Another thing you might want to consider?
When I remodeled my in-laws house, There was a lot of moulding and mopboard to go down. Some painted and some poly finished.
I prefinished it in the garage, before taking the sticks into the house.
That way the only mess in the house was minimized to touch up of cut ends.