Rugs, Carpets and Carpeting - Do the nails on the tack strip need to be totally vertical?

I am replacing the carpet in my 7'7"x5'3" bathroom. I have pulled up the old carpet and have cut the new piece. I plan to use the tack strips that are already in place. When I pulled up the old carpet, I noticed that the nails are bent downward. Is that the way I use them or do they need to be totally vertical? I have never done ANYTHING like this before and quite frankly I'm not even really sure how to begin. So, any and all input is greatly welcome.

OK, I'm going to be a bit simplistic with this reply, so please don't be offended. There are two "pointy" things in tack strip, nails and pins. The nails are what hold the strip to the floor and the pins are what the carpet hangs on when stretched. The nails are vertical, get pounded into the floor, and only the heads show on top the strip. The pins come in from the bottom side of the strip and the business end sticks up to engage the back of the carpet. These are supposed to be at an angle, aimed toward the wall. If they are sticking straight up, replace the strip because they won't be able to do their job. Also, if they have been some how flattened down, replace the strip because the carpet won't be able to engage them. If this is understandable, great. If not, let me know and I'll try to re-word it. As to the rest of the install, if you need help, holler.

While others may have been offended, believe me, I am okay with admitting that I am quite ignorant on the subject and therefore NOT offended by your simplistic approach whatsoever. I do take pride in the fact that I am doing it myself (and thus learning more and more) as opposed to hiring someone to do it for me. Now I know that what I was actually asking about are not 'nails' but 'pins.' lol As I mentioned, I have cut the new piece. However, that is as far as I have gotten. Do you have any suggestions on how I should start and/or go about it? I do have kickers but wonder if they were intended to be used in such a small area.

Back in the day, when carpet had jute backing, kickers were the primary installation tool. In today's world, with the stiffer backing carpet has, a kicker is only an installation aid. You really need a stretcher in order to "do it right". I put that in italics because situations vary and this is a do it yourself project. Some folks are happy with any result while others won't accept anything less than perfection and many fall somewhere in between. You'll also need a rubber mallet, a stair tool, and a good knife to trim the carpet. I need to meet a customer and will pick this up when I get back.

I have all of the tools you mention as well as a stretcher. In case I happen to forget later, I want to thank you now for your all of your help. It is GREATLY appreciated.

OK, I'm back. I know you appreciate the help. How do I know that? Because I've also appreciated all the help I've gotten on this forum. You're welcome. On to the install.

Does the carpet get installed around the toilet or is it in an alcove, sitting on a more suitable flooring material? Any chance of some pictures so I can see the layout of the room in order to determine the best starting point? Assuming no pictures are forthcoming, I'm going to make some assumptions here. Hopefully, this may be close enough you'll be able to adapt to your actual situation. Most bathrooms I've dealt with have an entry door and the vanity or cabinet is just inside the door on one side or the other. Opposite this cabinet is a wall that is usually unobstructed and the door swings into the room and against this wall. The toilet will be on into the room next to the cabinet, between it and the shower, and the shower will be on the far end from the door, running along that far wall. First, rules for using a stretcher. 1) Stretch away from the garbage. 2) Stretch in an "L" shape. 3) Pay attention to "short wall, long wall", and, 4) stretch away from seams whenever possible.

1) Stretch in an "L" shape. In a simple, rectangular room, lets letter the corners for ease of reference. The entry door will be the starting point. As you're standing in the door way, looking into the room, letter the corners from "A" to "D" starting with the corner to your immediate left and going around the room clockwise. The corner to your immediate left will be "A" and the one to your immediate right will be "D". Stretch in an "L" shape means you'll be starting in corner "A" and stretching to corner "D". Then you'll go back to "A" and stretch to "B". You'll then finish the wall between "A" and "D" by kicking the carpet onto the pins and trimming and stuffing this wall. You'll then do the same thing with the wall from "A" to "B". The result will be two walls, in an "L" shape, that are finished. This gives you two established walls to stretch off that are now hung on the pins and not going anywhere when you stretch away from them. If you start in corner "A", you'll be working into corner "C" which is the corner diagonally opposite your starting point. You'll be moving all the carpet slack or "fullness" out of corner "A" and into corner "C". If your starting point is a different corner in reality, the process is the same with different corners as the starting point and the goal corner. Put the foot of your stretcher in the starting corner and the head on the opposite wall, working into the opposite diagonal corner. Keep the stretcher at about a fifteen degree angle, angled toward the goal corner, as you work along. Make a stretch, leave the tension on the stretcher as you use your stair tool to work the carpet onto the pins, hold the carpet onto the pins and slowly release the tension on the stretcher. As the carpet tries to bound back, it will be held in place with the strip creating a drum tight floor. Move the stretcher toward the goal corner one stretcher head width and repeat the process. Do this until you reach the goal corner. Make the last stretch into this corner and then leave the tension on the stretcher while you trim and stuff the last foot or so of this wall, on into the goal corner. Then release the tension. This "locks" the carpet onto the strip so it doesn't zipper it's way off the strip before you have a chance to finish this wall. Trim and stuff this wall. You should now be ready to stretch in the last wall. Go back to the starting corner with the foot of the stretcher, put the head at the remaining wall to be stretched in, and repeat the process, working your way into the goal corner. This is the basic process for stretching. The other rules help determine which corner is the starting corner, how to avoid bubbles in the carpet on corners, and a method to help minimize seam peaking.

2) Stretch away from the garbage means to have the foot of the stretcher on the wall with irregularities, such as the wall with the cabinet and toilet, and the head on the wall with the least number of irregularities, such as the wall the door opens against in the bathroom. Say you were stretching in a room with a serpentine shaped wall on one side and a straight wall opposite it. You'd want the stretcher foot on the serpentine wall and the head on the straight wall opposite it.

3) In the case of your bathroom, you may not be able to observe this rule because it would mean stretching off the cabinet which may not tolerate the pressure. In this case, "short wall, long wall" will come into play. Say the cabinet is directly to your left as you're standing in the doorway, looking into the room, and the toilet is just beyond it on the same wall. This puts these items on the wall from corner "A" to corner "B". In this instance, You'd start in corner "D" and stretch into corner "A". The distance from "D" to "A" at this point is less than the distance from the wall from "D" / "C" to wall "A" / "B" between the cabinet and the shower that runs behind the toilet. This makes the toe kick of the cabinet the short wall. As you stretch your way along the cabinet, eventually you'll get past the cabinet and have to add length to the stretcher to reach the rest of the wall. That part of the wall is the long wall. If you try to stretch the longer stretch first and then the shorter one, you'll build a bubble at the corner of the cabinet. Any time you have a wall with short stretching distances and longer stretching distances, all on the one wall, always try to stretch the shorter distances first.

You shouldn't have any seams so I'll spare you that part for now. As I read what I've just typed, my eyes are glazing over so I can imagine it's worse for you. I think I'll stop here and give you a chance to digest all this. Feel free to ask questions until you're comfortable with the concepts.

Unfortunately, I am not able to provide you any pictures. However, I will describe the room to you and see if the information you just gave is still the way to proceed. As the door opens into the room, the bathtub is (5'3" ahead) straight ahead. The sink cabinet is on the wall behind the bathtub fixtures on the left side of the room. Directly in front of the sink (and directly to the left of the door) is the toilet. There is also a ventilation pipe between the toilet and the wall. There is a furnace vent between the door and the toilet. The right side of the doorway is not even the width of the door itself as it does not allow the door to open flush to the wall. Also, I was wondering, given that it is such a small work area, if there would be any benefit to cutting out where the toilet and ventilation pipe (using the old piece of carpet) are prior to trying to install the carpet.

Actually, that's a great idea. If I have it available, I do that all the time in situations like yours. Lay the old carpet out, face down, on top of the new carpet, also face down. Use a marker of some sort and trace it all out. Remove the old carpet and cut out the pattern you've just created, but leave some extra for trimming. In other words, the new piece will be a couple inches bigger than the old. If you think you can handle it with the previous instructions, go for it. If not, post back and we'll keep at it until you're confident.