Carpet laying

Fitted carpet is coming back to bedrooms, children’s rooms and offices because it is warm, softens footsteps and does away with the need for a rug. It only looks good, though, when it lies without ripples or humps and the seams do not catch the eye. Carpet laying is priced per square metre.

How carpet is laid

The handyman starts with the subfloor. Carpet shows every bump, so holes and steps are levelled first and the floor is vacuumed. Then the carpet is unrolled to relax and flatten, cut with a margin and trimmed in at the walls.

• loose-laid or on double-sided tape: good for small rooms and rented flats, and easy to lift later;
• fully glued: for offices, large areas and anywhere chairs on castors roll about;
• skirting and threshold strips at the end so the edges do not curl up at the doorway.

Seams and pile direction

Carpet has a pile direction. Lay two pieces facing opposite ways and in daylight they look like two different colours. So in rooms wider than the roll, the handyman plans the seam away from the main line of light from the window and away from the walkway. The edges are joined with seaming tape or adhesive.

What to prepare

• carpet on a roll of a suitable width, with extra for trimming;
• an empty room: furniture that stays is moved from one side to the other as the work goes on;
• details of the subfloor: concrete, laminate, parquet or old floor covering;
• the room dimensions in the job.

Common questions