How to Carpet Your Home

Clean the floor where the carpet is to be installed. Sweep or shop vacuum the floor to make sure any debris is removed that could end up beneath the carpet.

Install tack strips if they are not already installed. Tack strips are wood slats with tack ends sticking up to catch the carpet and hold it tight against the wall. The tack ends should be installed so they are angled toward the wall. Tack strips are nailed to the floor about 1/2 inch away from the wall. Begin in a corner and work your way around the perimeter of the room. Tack strips are usually 3 feet long; cut them as necessary to fit. Do not install tack strips in a doorway.

Measure the floor space between the tack strips, and note the dimensions on a piece of paper. Using the chalk line, mark your carpet pad and cut it to fit. The carpet pad is installed inside the tack strips, not on top of them. Roll out the pad and trim to fit where necessary. It can butt up against the edges of the tack strips or there can be a minor gap of up to 1/2 inch but no more or you may get ripples in the carpet. Carpet pad often comes in rolls that are shorter than carpet, so this may be installed in strips. Use the slap stapler to adhere the pad to the floor by placing staples about one every two square feet.

Measure the carpet to fit the dimensions of the room. Add about 4 inches per side to the measurements to ensure the carpet is not too short and that you get a tight fit. Use the chalk line to mark your cutting lines on the carpet's backing.

Seam carpet together if it is not large enough to cover the entire room. Cut two pieces of carpet that will fit the dimensions plus your added 4 inches per side. Lay the pieces side by side, with the grain of the carpet running the same way it will be laid in the room, face up. Overlap the seam edge by two inches. Mark a chalk line for the seam in the center of your overlap and cut through both pieces at the same time so you have a smooth even line. Lay a piece of seaming tape that runs the entire length of the seam centered beneath the carpet, adhesive side up. Use the seam iron to heat the tape, running it slowly along the seam to seal the edges. Take your time with this step as a wobbly or uneven seam will be visible in your carpet.

Begin at one corner and stretch the carpet into the the tack strips by using the knee kicker tool. This has tack ends that grab into the carpet, and you kick into it with your knee, pushing the carpet forward. The carpet needs to catch on the tack strips attached to the floor. Don't worry about the excess carpet along the wall until you have installed the entire perimeter of the room and the carpet is stretched and tacked into place.

Stretch the carpet to the opposite side of the room with the power stretcher. When the first corner is hooked, use the power stretcher to stretch the carpet to the opposite wall. Place the base of the power stretcher at the wall that was just hooked with the knee kicker, and use a piece of scrap carpet to pad the wall where it rests. Dig the teeth of the power stretcher into the carpet about 6 inches from the opposite wall. Press down the lever and lock it. This stretches the carpet and attaches it to the tack strips. Now use the power stretcher to hook the corner opposite the first corner hooked, and follow the same steps.

Cut the excess carpet with the edge cutting tool. This cuts the carpet along the wall, and should leave enough to tuck beneath the baseboard. Use the tuck tool to go around the perimeter of the room, pressing on the carpet where the joint of the baseboard meets the floor, pushing the carpet beneath the edge of the baseboard. The carpet should be stretched and neatly tucked beneath the baseboard everywhere except the doorway.

Finish the doorway by either seaming the carpet that will run in the hallway or next room at the door, or by cutting the carpet evenly in the center of the doorway and adding a wood or metal transition strip. These are pre-measured strips that attach across the center of the doorway creating a smooth cap over the raw edge of the carpet and other flooring it is attached to. They screw down through the strip with screws provided with the piece when you purchase it.

Repeat the steps for all rooms of the home to be carpeted.