How to lay a carpet

For that extra added comfort around the home and to give a room a new look, here's what you need to do to lay a carpet.

Level of difficulty

Level 2: Intermediate

What you need

• Tape measure
• Carpet
• Underlay
• Knee-kicker carpet stretcher
• Double-sided tape
• Trimming knife
• Gripper strip
• Hammer
• Nails
• Threshold strip

The steps to follow

I. Lay foam-backed carpet on the floor

1. Unroll the underlay across the room.
2. Secure it either with double-sided tape or staples (for wood floors).
3. Stick double-sided tape all around the perimeter of the room.
4. Lay the carpet with one edge against the longest side of the wall.
5. With the knee-kicker carpet stretcher, stretch the carpet from the centre towards the wall.
6. Trim the carpet at a 45-degreeangle, leaving about 50 mm (2 in) at the ends.
7. Peel the backing of the double-sided tapes and press the edges of the carpet firmly.

II. Lay hessian-backed carpet on the floor

1. Hammer in the gripper strips around the room. The strips will have to be 3 mm (1/8 in) away from skirting board. For concrete flooring, you'll have to glue the strips with a glue-gun.
2. Cover your floor surface with underlay before you start laying the carpet. Trim it right up to the grippers and fix it to the floor either with double-sided tape or staples.
3. Lay the carpet and trim it at a 45 degree angle to fit the room, leaving an extra 50 mm (2 in) for trimming.
4. Trim the carpet to size and use a carpet bolster to tuck the edge between the gripper strip and skirting board.
5. Stretch the carpet with a knee-kicker carpet stretcher onto the gripper pins.
6. Trim and fit it.
7. Secure the carpet beneath the threshold strip.