How to Install Carpet Around a Floor Vent

Remove any vent covers installed on the floor vents.

Unroll your carpet, and place it on the floor as you normally would when installing carpet. Allow overlap onto the walls so that the carpet can be cut to the proper size once it is stretched into place.

Press down on the carpet to locate the open vents, then mark their locations with painter's tape. The tape will serve as a reminder of the approximate location of the vents when you are stretching the carpet and are ready to start cutting holes for the vents.

Stretch the carpet, and finish installing it by securing it with glue or a tackless strip. Stretch first to one corner and then to the opposite corner, and repeat the procedure with the other corners in the room. Cut the carpet with a utility knife so that it lies flush with the walls.

Check the locations of the vents again. The tape may have moved slightly in relation to the vents when the carpet was stretched. Cut a small "X" in the carpet near the center of an open vent.

Expand the cuts in the carpet, cutting carefully to make sure that the cuts don't go past the edges of the open vent. Cut off all of the carpet that hangs over the vent, keeping the carpet as close to the outside edge of the vent as possible.

Reinstall the vent cover. The edges of the vent cover will overlap the carpet slightly, which ensures that no gaps in the carpet are visible around the vent and also reduces the likelihood of the carpet edge being caught on furniture, shoes or other objects which could pull the carpet free or tear it.