Carpet Installation | Carpet Repair | Pricing

Purchasing new carpeting can be an anxious business, but a few considerations on pricing and what to expect with installation can be helpful. Carpet is usually priced by the square yard, so you need to figure out how many square yards you are planning to purchase.  Remember those high school geometry classes where you figured out the area?  Now is the time to use those lessons: length of room x width of room (in feet) gives you the square footage. Now divide by nine to get the square yardage.

Carpet pricing is going to vary depending on the type of carpet. The quality of a carpet is based on density and pile. Don’t forget to include carpet padding and installation costs when you are checking out prices.  Prices can vary from $.39 a square foot for self adhesive, stick-on carpet squares to hundreds of dollars for premium carpets. A good, mid-grade carpet will run anywhere from $15 to $35 dollars per square yard.  Padding and installation will be an additional $4 to $10 per square yard. 

Carpet installation needs to be done by a professional, as special tools and skill are involved.  Given that, there are several basic steps.  First, the old Carpeting is removed and the subfloor is thoroughly vacummed. Next, new tack strips are installed adjacent to the old tack strips. Padding adhesive is applied to the floor, padding is laid down, and the seams are duct taped.  The carpet is then rolled out and cut to fit the corners.  Latex seam sealer is applied to cut seams and allowed to dry.  Seams are aligned and a heat sealer used to bond the seams. A knee kicker is used to hook the carpeting onto the tack strips, and a stair chisel to force the carpeting down onto the tacks.  Excess carpeting is trimmed, and then a power stretcher is used to pull the carpet tightly toward the walls. Transition molding is used to secure the carpeting at doors.  After installation, carpeting should be thoroughly vacummed to remove all loose fibers.