Carpet Installation Preparation
How to Prepare for Your Carpet Installation
Getting ready for new carpet? Learn what to move, what to clear, and how to prepare your rooms before installation day.
These are general preparation guidelines. Your specific installation requirements may vary.
Explore Carpet Installation ServicesWhat We Move and What You Clear
A smooth installation day starts with knowing who handles what. Our installers move the large furniture, and you clear the smaller items. Your agreed project scope controls exactly what is included.
Furniture Our Installers Move
These are examples of large items, not a complete or unlimited list:
- Beds and mattressesPlease remove blankets, sheets and pillows.
- China cabinetsPlease remove all items.
- DressersThese do not need to be emptied.
- Other large furnitureTables, chairs, nightstands, vanities, sofas, desks, entertainment centers and similar pieces.
To keep the work efficient, installers, on most occasions, move furniture from several rooms into one room, often the master bedroom or the largest room.
Homeowner Responsibilities
Smaller personal belongings and electronics are the homeowner’s to handle before the installers arrive. The checklist in the next section covers them.
Closet Preparation
About 3 ft
from the floor
Move shoes, dresses and other clothing, and anything on lower shelves, out of this zone.
Installers need room to work inside closets. If a closet has wire shelving held up by support poles, items must come off any shelves attached to poles that need to be removed.
Getting Your Home Ready
Most preparation comes down to small items. The installers move the large pieces of furniture, but everything small needs to be cleared before they arrive.
Preparation Checklist
With the furniture and closet steps above, these tasks get your home ready:
- Clear small items, including knick knacks, boxes, storage totes and children’s toys, from the floors of rooms and closets.
- Set aside any items or clothing you may need on installation day.
- Take down anything hanging on walls that could fall if it is not securely hung.
- Detach and store cables for TVs, computers, printers, sound systems and game consoles.
- Leave room in the driveway so the installer can park and reach the van easily.
- Keep pets in a part of the house away from the work areas and away from the front door.
- Shovel and salt the driveway and walkways when there is snow or ice.
Ready Versus Not Ready
The difference is mostly visible from the doorway.
Not ready for installation
- Clothing, bags and small items left on the bed
- Shoes, totes and boxes left on the floor
- Closets packed down to the floor
Ready for installation
- Beds stripped down to the mattress
- Floors clear of small items
- Closet floors and lower shelves cleared
Once the small items are cleared, installers can move the larger pieces of furniture and get on with installing your new carpet.
Carpet on Stairs and Paint Touch-Ups
Carpet on stairs is finished in one of two styles. Which one suits a staircase depends on the stairs themselves and on your preference.
Hollywood Style
The carpet wraps tightly around the nosing of the tread and is secured underneath. It is the usual standard for wall-to-wall stairs at Strictly Carpet & Flooring.
Waterfall Style
The carpet runs straight down the riser to the next tread without being secured under the nosing, which gives it a waterfall effect. You can request this style.
Simplified side-view illustrations of the two styles. They are not photographs of an installation.
Stair Stringers
If your stairs were finished in Waterfall Style and you switch to Hollywood Style, some areas that were covered before may become visible along the stringers, the sides of the stairs. Those areas may need painting or touch-ups.
Paint Touch-Ups
Paint touch-ups should be expected, and they are generally handled by the homeowner. Strictly Carpet & Flooring takes responsibility for careless damage caused by its installers.
Paint does not adhere well to base that was painted over without sanding first. In that case the paint can flake more while the carpet is laid, and those touch-ups are the homeowner’s to handle.
Doors and Floor Clearance
New carpet changes how a room meets its doors. What happens to each door depends on your project scope.
Door Removal and Reset
Applicable bedroom and closet doors may need to come off so the carpet can be laid. Our installers remove and reset them, putting each back the way it was after installation.
If a Door Rubs After Installation
The thickness of new carpet can make a door rub or become difficult to close. A door like that may need to be trimmed. Trimming is the homeowner’s responsibility, because Strictly Carpet & Flooring does not cut doors.
Questions Before Your Installation?
Not sure what to move or how to prepare a particular room? Contact Strictly Carpet & Flooring before installation day so we can help clarify what your project requires.