New carpet is one of the most budget-friendly flooring options available. The benefits of carpet don’t stop there either. Imagine a frigid winter morning without the luxury of stepping out of bed onto a warm and plush floor covering. If you’re planning on having new carpet installed, you might wonder what you should expect on the day of your carpet installation.

Some things must come before carpet installation

The very first thing that the carpet installation crew will do is to measure the space where your new carpet will lay. They have to measure the length of the room and the width of the room. These two values multiplied together equal the square feet of the room. The measurement might have to be taken in smaller sections if the room isn’t a square. Once you have the total square feet, you can add 20 percent and place an order for the carpet of your choosing. 

Preparing the floor beneath the carpet

On installation day, or in the days leading up to it, the subfloor will have to be prepped for new carpet. This might include removing old carpet or other types of pre-existing flooring. Any required repairs will be completed and the subfloor will be cleaned. Carpet tacks will be applied to the perimeter of the space. They are nailed to the subfloor to ensure they stay in place. 

Next comes the padding for carpet installation

Once the tack strips are affixed, carpet padding will follow. Carpet padding provides the cushion you feel when walking on the carpet, insulation value, and even reduces noise. The edge of the padding will meet the edge of the tack strips, and corners of the padding will be taped together to ensure they stay in place.   

Measure twice and cut once

After the padding and tack strips are put in place, the crew will cut the carpet to the size of the space. It’s a good idea to add several inches from the measurement to the cut just to give a little more carpet to work with. The cut carpet will then be laid in place, and using a knee kicker, the crew will secure the carpet edges to the tack strip and underneath the baseboard.