Carpet gripper rods

[GoferBlue1947]

Can anyone please help me regarding the thickness of underlay relative to the thickness of the gripper rod. I have an 11mm thick underlay which I am putting on top of an aluminium foil faced PE foam which is 5 mm thick - total thickness 16 mm. Obviously this is much thicker than a gripper rod which is about 6 mm.

My question is - how much packing do I need to put under the gripper rod? i.e. with what does the top of the underlay have to line up with: exactly with the top of the wood of the gripper (excluding the spikes), or just above or just below the wood?

Thanks.

 

[crazydaze]

No matter how high you fix the gripper rod, the flex in the underlay is likely to encourage the carpet to lift off the gripper. Better to stick to the 11mm or even better something like Axminster Axfelt65, if you are putting a deep, soft carpet down, the thickness will have far less affect on the feel of the carpet than a thinner twist etc.

 

[GoferBlue1947]

No matter how high you fix the gripper rod, the flex in the underlay is likely to encourage the carpet to lift off the gripper. Better to stick to the 11mm or even better something like Axminster Axfelt65, if you are putting a deep, soft carpet down, the thickness will have far less affect on the feel of the carpet than a thinner twist etc.

Thanks for your reply Crazydaze. The underlay we have gone for is actually quite a firm one compared to some, being a bilayer jobbie (Duralay Kensington) with a recycled rubber crumb base and an 80% recycled wool layer on the top. My main concern is thermal resistance rather than "softness" and this stuff has the highest tog rating I could find. (Hence the aluminium foil faced PE foam underneath the underlay - absolutely OTT I know!). The carpet will be an 80% wool mixture with a shortish pile.

 

[GoferBlue1947]

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spammer removed

Thanks for your response. Have been away for a week or so hence the tardiness in my reply. The carpet is not going under the skirting board and I did go ahead and cut some strips of ply! Still waiting arrival of the new carpet so unable to report back on the state of play.

 

[GoferBlue1947]

Update: new carpet laid successfully. The PE foam-backed alu foil was tricky to lay flat on the screed but we managed it. The recycled rubber backed wool/mixed fibre underlay went down ok and was level with the top of the wood of the gripper rod as planned. Scanning with an infra-red thermometer shows heat loss through the floor is much diminished with the coldest spots being near the edges of the room (unsurprisingly as three of the four walls are exterior walls).

The carpet fitters were not too happy with the underlay as the rather coarse hessian backing on the carpet tended to snag against the woolly surface of the underlay making it more difficult to stretch into place I guess.

 

[Ben565]

Hi how did it go with the grippers? did you pack them out?

I'm in the same boat I have a high tog rated 15mm felt underlay to go down.