Posted by David Hunt on December 09, 1999 at 21:12:16:
In Reply to: seagrass! posted by Selena on December 09, 1999 at 15:09:57:
: I'm installing 320 yds of this stuff, direct glue, wall to wall in a 200 year old house. I'd love to get my hands on the person who decided that this grass is actually installable.
: I've been installing fulltime for about 5 years now, and nothing has me as frustrated as this does. The end result is gorgeous, but the work is taking about 3 times the time to install. Any tips would be appreciated. Also, what is a reasonable price per yard to charge?
: Thanks,
: Selena
Howdy!
Seagrass is a very installable product. During a wall to wall installation, acclimation (24hrs min) is a MUST. Equally important is a suitable premium adhesive and proper size trowell. No guessing or hoping your old trowel will work. If you miss with the adhesive the entire job is shot and there is no fixing it.
Seagrass is demensionally unstalbe compared with tufted carpets. Use this flexability to your advantage. Match the pattern on the seam. Oh yeah the seams, for glue down, unravel three or four rows and trim the warps and excess backing off with shears. Now seal the edges, as you do with all carpets, only this time with contact cement. Cross grain seams are possible. They do require more detail and they are very visible. But thats OK because this, afterall, is woven grass full of striations, knots and irregularities.
Place the trimmed and sealed edges atop the spread adhesive. First one, then the other stopping about 1/4" shy of butting. Now with knee kicker and stay nails, the pattern can be easily matched and the contact cement will join the seam edges to each other and remain in place while the adhesive sets up. Allow at least three hours befor removing stay nails. It is useful to keep a narrow pointed object to adjust and plant any stray fibers. Some tools that work well for this are hook knifes, ice picks, turning awl or a small putty knife.
There are several different ways to trim Seagrass and none of them involves a wall trimmer. Don't even try. If this is an unfamiliar product notice how flexible the product is. Knowing the moisture from the adhesive is only going to make it more flexible, trim your walls before the adhesive sets up or gets tacky. This way, should you trim it too short, you can adjust it with a knee kicker. Be certain to check and recheck any problem areas for shrinkage and adjust as needed.
Hope this helps. Just remember its NOT carpet. Its a woven grass matting and as such it requires special handling different then that expected with traditional tufted carpet. Due to the additional time required to install this product and the skills and care required an installation cost of between seven to nine dollars per yard should be not only expected but insisted upon. Anyless and your working for free. No kdding, do the math.
Hey I do wish you all well.
Respectfully,
David