Carpet a room
Floors & tile

Carpet a room

DIY OK
Tack strip, pad, seams and stretching — the full stretch-in install.
Sheet A-1 · Carpet a room

20′ × 16′ room

DIY OK
Carpet
44
sq yd
Pad
37.4
sq yd
Tack strip
19
4 ft pieces
Seams
1
16′ each
15–24 h of work
One long day for a bedroom.
Draft
The rules behind this Sheet are waiting for a licensed pro’s sign-off.
Get an install quote before renting tools
Stores often quote carpet installation. Compare it with renting a power stretcher and seaming iron.
12′ roll: least carpet
The Sheet picked the roll width. 12′ roll: 2 pieces, 1 seam, 44 sq yd. 15′ roll: 2 pieces, 1 seam, 55 sq yd. Change it under “Carpet roll width”.

Drawing

Edge detail + layout
1
Tack strip The wood strip with angled pins — this is what grips the carpet. Also called tackless strip.
2
Pins face the wall Carpet stretched toward the wall hooks on them.
3
Gully Gap between strip and wall, slightly less than the carpet’s thickness. The edge tucks in here.
4
Pad Stops at the strip — never over it.
5
Carpet Hooked on the pins, trimmed and tucked.
6
Baseboard Set about ½″ above the subfloor so the carpet slides under.
7
Seam Hot-melt taped. Keep seams out of doorways.
8
Pile direction Same way on every piece or the colors look different.
9
Transition Metal strip at each doorway to a hard floor.
The edge detail is what’s hidden under every baseboard of a carpeted room.

What to buy

9 items
Save to your jobs to check things off in the store.
Get the whole room from one roll (one dye lot) — two rolls rarely match.
Fasteners
Staples ½″
½″, for your stapler
1 box
For stapling carpet pad to wood.
Flooring
Carpet
12′ roll width, plain
44 sq yd (396 sq ft)
Sold by the square yard or foot in 12 ft or 15 ft rolls.
Carpet pad (cushion)
7/16″ 6-lb rebond
37.4 sq yd (336 sq ft)
Goes under the carpet, inside the tack strip.
Tack strip (“tackless strip”)
4 ft pieces
19 strips
The thin wood strip with angled pins that grips the carpet edge. Pins face the wall.
Duct tape (pad seams)
roll
1 roll
Joins pad pieces.
Hot-melt seam tape
hot-melt
18 ft
Glue-coated tape the seaming iron melts to join carpet.
Latex seam sealer
small bottle
1
Seals cut carpet edges at seams so they don’t fray.
Carpet-to-hard-floor transition
36″
1 strip
Metal or wood strip that finishes carpet at a doorway.
Supplies
Contractor bags + duct tape
heavy-duty
1 pack + 1 roll
For rolling up and hauling the old carpet.

Tools

You own 0 of 17 must-haves
Tap the ones you already own. That builds your Tool Shed as you go — no setup.

Must have

The job stalls without it.

Rent it

Costly to buy for one job. Rent it for a day.

Nice to have

Faster or cleaner, not required.

Order of work

15–24 h of work
01
Pull the old carpet and pad; pull staples. Keep tack strip that’s solid with sharp pins.
02
Screw down squeaky subfloor to the joists.
03
Nail tack strip around the room: a gap from the wall of slightly less than the carpet’s thickness (max ⅜″), pins angled toward the wall. Skip doorways.
Check first
Pins angled toward the wall; gap from the wall a little less than the carpet’s thickness (max ⅜″).
04
Lay pad, staple it along the inside edge of the strip, and trim it flush — never over the strip. Tape the seams.
Check first
Pad trimmed to the inside edge of the tack strip — never over it.
05
Rough-cut carpet with 3″ extra at every wall. Seams run with the traffic and away from doorways.
Check first
Seams (if any) run with the traffic, away from doorways and not across the light from the main window.
06
Seal the cut edges, center hot-melt tape under the seam, run the seaming iron, roll and weight it.
07
Hook one corner with the knee kicker, then power-stretch toward the far walls.
Check first
Power stretcher on hand (rent it) — a knee kicker alone leaves ripples within months.
08
Trim with the wall trimmer, tuck into the gully with the stair tool. Install transitions; cut out vents.

Mistakes that ruin the job

3 mistakes
1
Pad over the tack strip
The pins can’t grab the carpet backing and the edge pulls loose. Trim pad to the strip’s inside edge.
2
Stretching with only a knee kicker
Ripples within months. The carpet install standard (CRI 105) makes a power stretcher mandatory.
3
Seams in the wrong place
Seams across a doorway or across the traffic path fray and show. Run them with traffic, and not across the light from the main window.

Plan it

The load

To haul
200 lb
from the store to the room
On your knees
12–19 h
wear knee pads
Helpers
1
for some steps
Heaviest
Carpet · 44 sq yd · 176 lb
Carpet pad (cushion) · 37.4 sq yd · 19 lb
Bring a helper: carry and unroll the carpet
The roll for this room is about 175 lb and 12 ft wide — it folds in half if one person carries it.
Rent: Power stretcher, Carpet seaming iron

When you’ll finish

Pick when you can start and how many hours you have.
Hours you can work
Each weekday evening
0
h
Each weekend day
8
h
Saved for every Sheet. Waits run overnight and on days off; work only fills the hours you have.

DIY vs hiring it out

Estimate
Typical US store prices and labor rates, not a quote. A real price can differ a lot.

Do it yourself

Materials
$1,050–$1,450
Tools to buy
17 must-haves you don’t own
Knee kicker, Carpet knife, Utility knife + blades, Carpet wall trimmer, …
Rentals
2
About $40–$90 a day each
Your time
15–24 h
Total
$1,050–$1,450 + tools

Hire a pro

Materials + 15%
$1,250–$1,650
Pros mark up what they buy
Labor
7.7 h × $65–$95
$500–$730
Their time
7.7 hours
Permits
usually none
Total
$1,750–$2,400

Before you go

0 of 4 checked
The small stuff that causes a second trip to the store.

Rules used

5 rules · Draft
Every number on this Sheet comes from these rules. A licensed pro reviews each one before a Sheet is marked verified.

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Project
Carpet a room
Sheet
A-1
Date
Scale
Not to scale
DIY time
15–24 h
Rules
Draft — pending pro review
Other common sizes
10×10
10×12
12×12
12×14
14×16