By
eHow Home & Garden Editor
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Step1
Decide which areas of your home you want to carpet.
Step2
Measure the rooms that you want to carpet.
Step3
Go to several vendors. Try both carpet-only showrooms and general home centers. Ask about installation costs unless you plan to lay the carpet yourself.
Step4
Consider the various grades of carpeting available. Are you carpeting a high-traffic location or a less frequented area of your home?
Step5
Consider your long-term needs. Is it worth paying more for carpeting that will last 10 years instead of 5? Do you expect to move or remodel within that time?
Step6
Take samples of any carpet you are considering so you can view them with your walls and furniture.
Step7
Expect carpet prices to vary considerably with quality and style. Typically sold by the square yard, carpeting can cost from $10 to $15 per square yard for basic carpet and upward of $30 per square yard for luxury carpeting (not including installation).
Step8
Make your selection after considering cost, style, color and durability.
Step9
Decide what type of padding you want under the carpeting. Often, a certain level of padding will be included in the installation price, and you will have the option to upgrade.
Step10
Have the vendor send someone to your home to measure the area to be carpeted.
Step11
Clean and empty the room before the installers arrive.
Step12
Check the carpet to make sure that it is clean and properly installed before signing an invoice.
Comments
gillsamm said
on 10/4/2007 When you measure your space you must consider the width of the carpet that you are buying and the direction that the carpet will be laid. For instance, if you have a 12' x 15' room and buy carpet with a width of 12', you will waste carpet if you lay the 12' width along the 15' width of the room. In a house with a hallway, you will want to lay the carpet in the same direction as the hallway, and the same way throughout the rest of that floor of the house.
netdog1 said
on 9/29/2007 Carpet Measurement - make sure you do your homework on this. We are currently replacing all of our upstairs carpet and have asked a local store to measure for a nice carpet we picked out. I did my own measurements first and did not let them know beforehand what we came up with. My measurements totalled 76.5 yards. The carpet store's measurement was for 113.5 yards. At $27 per yard, you can see a giant ripoff in the making. I've found that you should expect somewhere between 10% and 15% difference from your own calculations (depending on the width of the carpet). But certainly not 32%, as in my situation. Dennis Robbins, Lawrenceville, GA, 9/29*07
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 I have found many stores will bring you in with a low cost for the carpet but then you get gouged on the padding and the labor. Keep your options open. Don't be scared to buy the carpet at one store, the padding at another, and have a totally different company do the installation. I just bought carpet at Lowes, (much cheaper than other competitors in my area), I bought the padding at Home Depot (it was $246 less than the Lowes Padding), and I hired an installer to do the job from a referral (this saved me $480 in labor over what Lowes would have charged). The total savings from the all-in price Lowes quoted me was $726.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 Always check with the flooring store on warranty information and cleaning. So many people void their warranties by using a cleaning product that is not recommended for their particular carpet.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 The most important factor in selecting pad cushion is "density." Carpet mills only honor warranties on carpet layed over pad which is 6 lb.(per sq. ft.) or greater. The higher the density, firmer the pad. The thickness should not exceed 1/2 in.