One of the most beautiful and of course practical decorations that you can add to your house is a nice carpet. While they do feel and look nice, carpet installation can be quite the undertaking and isn’t necessarily the most intuitive process in the world. There is a decent bit of work and thought that goes into installing a new carpet in a room so we’ve made this text to hopefully help you get it done more easily. It will be hard to match the efficiency of professional carpet layers but you can get it done yourself, albeit far more slowly and with a decent bit of work.

Step 1: Prepare the Subfloor

A very important preparatory step that you need to take before you decide to do anything else is preparing the subfloor. If it’s made out of concrete then you need to check if there are any holes or cracks in it and if there are then patch them up. If you have a wooden subfloor then we recommend inspecting all the planks and replacing any parts which have rotted away or are otherwise damaged in some way. Once you’ve done this you can add a layer over it that prevents moisture from seeping through the floor into the future carpet.

Step 2: Measure the Room

After the preparations are done you’ll need to measure the length and width of the room so you can calculate the actual area that will be covered. Remember that you if you have things such as closets or anything else which will not have carpet underneath it you will need to subtract their size from the area you’ve calculated and of course keep the shape in mind.

Step 3: Purchase Carpet and Supplies

Now that you’ve got all those measurements ready you can go ahead and purchase supplies. Of course you’ll need to buy the correct amount of carpet, as well as a carpet padding, seam tape, and a knee kicker. The padding will provide additional cushioning and insulation, while the seam tape and knee kicker will be used to hold the carpet in place.

Step 4: Install the Carpet Padding

With all of those supplies you can actually begin installing everything. The first step is to install the carpet padding. Make sure to cover the entire area you’ll be needing and to double-check that you’ve left no gaps as those may cause issues down the line. It’s a relatively simple process compared  to what you’ll be doing afterwards so make sure you do it properly.

Step 5: Cut and Lay the Carpet

Now we can install the thing we’ve been waiting for. Start by laying it out in the room, with the backing facing up. Make sure that everything is centered in the room, and that there is an equal amount on either side of the room. Next, use the knee kicker to stretch it out tight and secure it in place, starting from one end of the room and working towards the other. This part can be quite fun in our opinion.

Step 6: Join Carpet Pieces

If it isn’t isn’t wide enough to cover the entire width of the room, you’ll need to join the pieces together. To do this, you’ll need to use a seam roller and seam tape. First, overlap the two pieces and use the seam roller to press them together. Next, apply the seam tape to the underside, making sure that it is centered in the seam. Use the seam roller to press the tape firmly into place, ensuring that the two pieces of are joined together securely.

Step 7: Trim the Carpet

Once everything is in place, you’ll need to trim any excess around the edges of the room. Use a utility knife or purchase a cutter to cut things, making sure that you don’t damage the floor underneath or cut too much off. You’ve probably heard of the expression “measure twice, cut once” and it is worth keeping in mind here. If you cut off too little that isn’t a big deal, but cutting off too much is something that you can’t really go back and fix easily. This is probably the part where a mistake would impact you the most so we recommend taking it nice and slow.