Before we start, we would always recommend that a professional carpet fitter is employed to ensure the best possible job, however for those hard & fast d.i.y enthusiasts.

One word of warning before you go any further, if you were to damage the carpet yourself then the carpet retailer would not be required to replace it.

Preparing the Floor:

Before any installation begins some preparation is needed.

Give the floor a good sweep & vacuum, if a wood floor make sure that all loose floorboards are secured & any protruding nails are knocked down, if there are any heating ducts, you could remove the duct covers ready to cut around

Carpet Gripper

Nail the strips around each wall with the tacks facing the wall, leaving a gap of ¼ inch approx between the skirting & the gripper.

Metal Door trim

At this stage it would be advantageous to put in the door trim.

To do this measure the rebate of the door ( the bit the door fits in ). Cut the door trim to length, cut the door trim from underneath to avoid scratching the surface, if fitting a carpet to carpet trim cut off a corner of the base on the same side to allow it to fit around the door frame.

Underlay

Lay the underlay against the back of the gripper & cut off to length, lay the next length of underlay against the first & so on. If a wood floor staple the underlay, if concrete it will sticking with adhesive, spray adhesive is good for this. Once you`ve laid out your underlay trim in at the back of the gripper. To ensure the joints don`t pull apart cover with heavy contract carpet or duct tape.

Cutting the Carpet:

When you open the carpet out always allow approximately 5 – 10 cm for trimming in.

The pile of the carpet should always go towards the main source of light which is usually your main window.  Once your satisfied that there is enough allowance & will meet with other carpets & flooring in the doorways you can begin cutting.  Crease the carpet into the skirting, lift the surplus & then put your knife into the carpet at a 45 degree angle pushing through to where the skirting & floor meet then lift the knife pushing your hand firmly against the surplus, keeping the pressure on cut along the wall.

When cutting around fireplaces make sure you give yourself surplus to trim in.

Use a knee kicker to secure the carpet onto the carpet gripper & to put tension on the carpet preventing ruttling. Use a blunt chisel to tuck the carpet in between the skirting & gripper, once tucked in run the chisel across the top of the gripper to take the tips off the tacks.

Vinyl

This is far more difficult to fit than carpet, cut wrong it cannot be stretched up to the skirting like a carpet, the floor preparation has to be perfect or it will ruin the finished effect, we would strongly recommend you employ the services of a professional floor layer. Wooden floors will require ply lining or hardboard, concrete floors may require priming & screeding.     

When seeking a carpet retailer, ensure they know if you intend to lay the carpet yourself, although many people prefer carpets shops to do the carpet laying for them.