Seam placement – planning out where you seams will go, will help calculate how much product is needed.

Product size – broadloom carpet typically comes in 12 foot or 15 foot good. Carpet tile comes in a variety of sizes. Product size is important to consider when calculating how much product is needed.

Waste – depending on direction of installation, room layout, and pattern repeat, you will need to calculate how much additional product may be needed to fill in spots. Typically adding 5-10% extra material should cover waste, but your specific layout will need to be considered.

Carpet padding is not very complicated process, but ensure that it is done properly is important to the performance of your carpet. It all starts selecting the best product for you. Carpet padding homes in a variety of weight and thickness. In additional to different thicknesses, you can also purchase padding with different moisture barriers. You can select options with no moisture barrier, a moisture barrier on one side and options with moisture barriers on both sides. Your selection will depend on your project and what you are looking for out of your product.

Your padding should be stapled to the edge of the tackstrip boarding the area. The padding seams can then be tapped together securely. Optionally,  you can adhere the padding directly to the subfloor with glue, though it is not necessary and may make it more difficult to remove when you’re ready for a change.

Make sure there is not debris trapped under the padding and that the padding is installed evenly and excess is trimmed. Any lump or bumps in your padding, can cause your carpet to ripple or bulge.

Properly stretching and securing your carpet properly is essential in completing a successful installation. Once your carpet is cut to size and seams are secured, you can use a kick in stretcher, which is used by manually kicking the tool with you knee to stretch carpet into position so I can be tacked down. If this option is out of your scope of abilities, you can also use a more sophisticated carpet stretcher that takes out a lot of the manual labor.

Once the carpet is properly stretched in, it needs to be secured down to the tackstrip. The kind of trackstrip required will depend on your subfloor. It is available in a concrete and wood option. Do your research to ensure that the tackstrip is installed properly. Tackstrip that is not properly secured can come undone once carpet is stretched in due to added tension. Carpet that is not secured appropriately can come loose and become a tripping hazard. Completing all necessary research will give you a leg up.

Carpet Glue – this applies to glued down carpet product.

Carpet Knife – you will need a knife sharp enough to cut through thick carpet. Make sure to have plenty of replacement blades as well.

Carpet Seam Iron – If you installation required seems, you will need a seem iron to heat up the seem tape and create a strong bond.

Carpet Tape – also know as seem tape, this is used to begin the carpet seaming process.

Carpet Power Stretcher – This is used to stretch your carpet in  You can also use a knee kicker, but it will be a bit more labor intensive.