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- 1). Take several photographs of the room to be carpeted and draw a rough sketch, including details of doorways, coves and archways. Measure the length and width of the area. Add an extra three inches to the measurements to allow for doorways and overlapping boundaries. Take the pictures, sketch and measurements to a carpet store and ask the retail assistant for advice on the most suitable type and size of carpet for your room. Ask the store to cut the carpet to the right size.
- 2). Walk across the room and listen for squeaks. Mark the creaking areas with tape. Insert a drywall screw into the subfloor at each marked point. Make sure the screw goes into the floor joist.
- 3). Use a wide tack strip as this makes the carpet installation easier. Align the tack strip around the perimeter of the room. The arrows on the strip should be pointing towards the wall. Hammer in the tack strip leaving a 3/8 inch gap between the tack strip and the baseboard. Check there are at least two nails in every piece of tack strip.
- 4). Use high quality, thick carpet cushion to make your carpet soft underfoot. Roll out the carpet cushion across the floor. Trim the edges as close to the tack strip as possible. Cut the carpet cushion so it fits around doorways. Insert staples every two feet where the carpet cushion meets the tack strip.
- 5). Install the carpet. Start in a corner of the room. Hammer a nail halfway into the carpet at five-inch intervals. Tack down the carpet in the space between the tack strip and the wall. Do not hammer into the tack strip as the tacks will break.
- 6). Use a power stretcher to attach the carpet to the tack strip. Check you are using the right power stretcher head for your carpet. Use a pinhead if you are using pile carpet and a cottonhead for loop pile carpet.
- 7). Trim the carpet against the baseboard using a trimmer machine. Vacuum the carpet to give it a finished look.
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