In 1938, Roy Roberts came up with an idea of how to install wall-to-wall carpet without using
the traditional method of using tacks around the edges of the room. Roy Roberts, Hugh Livie and
Ken Bishop each put up $1,000 and invested in some plywood, a Sears-Roebuck table saw, a keg
of shingle nails, pliers, hammers and similar essentials. And so, the story of ROBERTS and the
ROBERTS carpet gripper was born.
While traveling around the country selling and training installers on how to use ‘tackless
carpet strip’, the three partners gained tremendous knowledge about carpet installation.
It gave them an opportunity to see firsthand what other materials and products might be
necessary to help modernize carpet installation techniques for the whole industry. There was
an obvious need for modern tools and techniques. The partners obtained national sales rights
for the most modern knee-kickers and extension stretchers they could find. They then acquired
manufacturing rights and made improvements under the ROBERTS label. The company held
early patents on knee kickers, carpet seaming irons, loop pile carpet cutters, carpet knives,
a carpet binding machine and tack strip. As they developed new tools and new ways to install
flooring, they continued to educate carpet installers on newer methods of installations.
The carpet industry had also just begun to use liquid latex for carpet seaming and repair,
so the newly formed company developed a new latex formula of its own and labeled it Rubberedge,
laying the groundwork for today’s thriving adhesives division of Roberts Consolidated
Industries, Inc.
Now, 80 years later and with locations and product lines known throughout the world,
generations of installers have grown up using ROBERTS adhesives, carpet installation tools
and accessories. Worldwide, the ROBERTS name continues to be the manufacturer of choice for
installation professionals who demand quality and reliability.
Supporting Professional Installers
- Since 1938 -