How to Lay Wall-to-Wall Carpet

Clean the floor. Sweep up any debris and use a mop to clean the floor of any stuck-on dirt. Allow the floor to dry. If you are re-carpeting a room, use a pry bar to pull up the edges of the old carpet; roll up the old carpet and discard it.

Put on a pair of work gloves and knee pads.

Measure the lengths of each wall. Cut tackless strips to the lengths of each wall. If you are re-carpeting a room, remove the old tackless strips along each wall from on top of the old padding.

Secure the new tackless strips to the floor along the base of the walls into the subfloor. Move the tackless strips out from the walls 2/3 of whatever the thickness of the carpet is. For example, if your carpet is 1 inch thick, move the tackless strips 2/3 inch away from the walls before securing them to the subfloor.

Measure the dimensions of the room to get the size of the padding. If you are re-carpeting the room, decide if the old padding is clean enough to re-use; otherwise, roll it up and install new padding. Measure from the inside edges of the tackless strips, so the padding stops just short of the walls, and leave a small gap.

Cut the padding to the exact size using a straightedge such as a metal ruler and a utility knife. Roll the padding out, with the waffle side facing up. Trim any excess padding so it does not cover the tackless strips.

Using the room measurements for the padding, add 4 to 6 inches in each direction for the carpet. This allows you to trim the carpet to size. Cut the carpet to size with the straightedge and utility knife before you roll it out onto the floor.

Place the front edge of the carpet against the base of the wall where it will lay. Roll the rest of the carpet out onto the floor and into place.

Use a carpet knife to cut out any odd corners formed from adjacent walls.

Place a knee kicker on top of the carpet at the first walls. Kick the knee kicker to stretch the carpet over the tackless strip. Once the carpet is secure on the first tackless strip, move to the opposite wall.

Stretch the carpet to the other side of the room using a power stretcher. Place the base of the power stretcher at the edge of the carpet you already attached to its tackless strip. Pull and stretch the carpet across the room until it reaches the opposing tackless strip. Attach the carpet to the tackles strip. Push down with your foot to ensure it is firmly in place.

Attach the carpet to tackless strips along one of the perpendicular walls to where you started. Use the knee kicker to kick the edge of the carpet into place. Use the power stretcher as you did before, and stretch the carpet into place along the opposing wall. Secure the carpet into place on top of the tackless strips.

Trim any excess carpet first with the carpet knife. Push down and tuck the edges of the carpet beneath walls using an awl.