By Tony Chalhoub, founder of CarpetAce
Short answer: Before installation, book a free measure; we email a written quote within 24 hours of the measure, and we talk through floor preparation, the old floor, furniture and doors while we’re there. On the day, a few carpeted bedrooms and a hallway are usually laid in a day, while hard floors take longer, depending on the preparation. Afterwards, you can use stretched-in carpet and floating floors straight away, and regular vacuuming, prompt blotting, felt pads and a little sun and pest protection keep them looking good for years.
In more than 20 years of laying floors, I’ve found that most installation days go well or badly before the van arrives. This guide covers the whole job in order, with links to our detailed guides along the way.
In this guide
- Before: measure, quote and preparation
- Installation day
- The first days: when to use your rooms
- Everyday care: vacuuming, spills and rugs
- Protecting carpet: pests, sun and shading
- Restretch or replace?
- What we don’t do
- Frequently asked questions
Before: measure, quote and preparation
Free measure and written quote
Our mobile showroom brings samples to your home, so you can see them in your own light, and our Huntingdale showroom is open by private appointment. At the measure we measure every room, check the subfloor and doors, and talk you through the layout and finishes. Your written quote is emailed within 24 hours of the measure. For a rough figure beforehand, our flooring price calculator gives an instant price guide, and you can upload a floor plan.
Leave the furniture where it is for the measure; we measure around it. Tell us if you’d like us to take up the old floor or move furniture, if there are stairs, or if you have a deadline, so it’s all in your quote. In an apartment, check the owners corporation’s rules on trades, lifts and hard floors.
Floor preparation
Every hard floor and carpet tile job is subject to floor preparation, quoted at the measure once we’ve seen the subfloor. Hard floors need a flat, sound, dry base; on a slab that can mean a moisture test, grinding high spots, filling cracks and levelling. Carpet is more forgiving, but it can’t hide a lip or a step, and a damp slab can turn underlay mouldy. Our guide to the best floor covering over concrete explains what a slab needs.
Removing the old floor
- Old carpet and underlay: about $8/m² to take up and dispose of. If you lift it yourself, leave the gripper strips for the installers.
- Old carpet tiles: $15/m².
- Ceramic tiles, timber or vinyl: quoted at the measure, because tiles on a mortar bed and layered vinyl are slower to lift than they look.
- Carpet replacing a floating floor: the floating floor usually has to come up, because gripper needs a solid base to fix into.
Furniture
Our team can move furniture for $8/m² of floor. Either way, pack what only you should handle: electronics, valuables, fragile items, the contents of wardrobes, drawers and cabinets, and everything on the floor. Pianos, pool tables and fish tanks are best moved by a specialist. Our guide on what to do with furniture during flooring installation has the full list.
Doors and other details
- Doors: new carpet and underlay, or a new hard floor, are often thicker than what came out, so some doors may need trimming to swing freely. That’s quoted at the measure.
- Painting: finish it first. With carpet, paint the skirting before it’s laid. With hard floors, we remove and refit the skirting ($20/m²) or fit scotia ($10/m²), and because we don’t paint, your painter touches up afterwards.
- Access: carpet arrives as a long, heavy roll, often 3.66 m wide, so keep the driveway, front door and hallway clear, and leave parking near the door.
- Pets and children: keep them away from the work. Doors are open, and tools and gripper tacks are about.
Installation day
Carpet
- The old carpet and underlay come up, and the installers check that the subfloor is dry, sound and clean.
- Gripper strips are fixed around the edges of each room.
- New 10mm underlay is laid and fixed down; we use Airstep, Underlay King and Airlay.
- The carpet is cut from the roll. Rooms wider than the roll get a join, sealed with heat-activated seam tape, with every piece running the same way. We do our best to keep joins out of high-traffic areas.
- The carpet is power-stretched onto the gripper, then trimmed and tucked neatly against the skirting.
- Trims go in where the carpet meets tiles, timber or hybrid.
Carpet goes down quickly: a few bedrooms and a hallway are usually laid in a day, and stairs add time because each step is fitted by hand. Our carpet installation page has the full process and prices.
Hard floors
- The old floor comes up, if it’s being removed.
- The floor is prepared: grinding, filling and levelling as quoted. Levelling compound needs time to cure before the new floor goes down.
- The skirting comes off, unless you’ve chosen scotia.
- The floor is laid. Hybrid, laminate and floating timber click together with an expansion gap at the walls; direct-stick timber and glue-down vinyl are bedded in adhesive.
- The skirting is refitted, or scotia fixed, and trims go in at the doorways.
Hard floors take longer than carpet, particularly when old tiles have to come up or the subfloor needs levelling, so we give you a realistic timeframe at the measure. Our hard flooring guide explains each floor and installation method. On commercial jobs, carpet tiles can be laid in sections around your trading hours.
The first days: when to use your rooms
| Floor | Walk on it | Furniture back |
|---|---|---|
| Carpet stretched over underlay | Straight away | Same day; lift it into place, don’t drag it |
| Glue-down carpet and carpet tiles | When your installer says the adhesive has set | Once the adhesive has set |
| Floating hybrid, laminate and engineered timber | Straight away | Same day, with felt pads under every leg |
| Direct-stick timber and glue-down vinyl | Follow the adhesive’s cure time, often about a day for light traffic | Longer; your installer will tell you |
Open the windows for the first few days to clear the new-floor smell, and keep rugs off a newly glued floor until the adhesive has cured. Our guide on when to use a room after new carpet installation goes into more detail.
Everyday care: vacuuming, spills and rugs
Vacuuming
- Carpet: vacuum often in the first few months. New wool carpet sheds loose fibres, which is normal and settles with vacuuming; our guide to carpet shedding explains what to expect. Raise the head on deep cut piles, and use suction only on loop piles. If a tuft sprouts above the rest, snip it level; never pull it.
- Hard floors: sweep or vacuum with a hard-floor head, then damp-mop with a cleaner your floor’s maker recommends. Grit is what scratches hard floors, so put a good mat at each outside door. Check the care guide before using a steam mop; many makers advise against them.
Spills
- Carpet: blot straight away, from the outside in, and don’t rub. Don’t soak it: liquid that reaches the backing can wick back up as the carpet dries. Wool doesn’t like bleach or harsh cleaners; solution-dyed nylon tolerates more. For a stain you can’t shift, call a professional carpet cleaner.
- Hard floors: wipe up promptly and don’t let water sit, especially at the edges and joins. A mat at the kitchen sink helps.
Rugs and furniture
- Use a rug underlay labelled safe for your floor; many vinyl and hybrid makers warn that rubber- or latex-backed mats can stain. On carpet, a rug-to-carpet underlay stops creep. See how to stop rugs slipping.
- Fit felt pads to chair and table legs, put a chair mat under office chairs on castors, and lift furniture rather than dragging it.
- On carpet, cups under heavy legs reduce dents; shift big pieces a few centimetres now and then.
Protecting carpet: pests, sun and shading
Pests
Carpet beetle and clothes moth larvae feed on wool and other animal fibres in dark places the vacuum rarely reaches: along the skirting, under heavy furniture and inside robes. Vacuum those spots thoroughly, move heavy furniture a couple of times a year, store woollens clean and sealed, and check second-hand rugs and cut flowers before they come inside. For an established infestation, call a licensed pest controller. Our guides cover getting rid of carpet beetles and other carpet and fabric pests.
Sun and fading
Strong sun through north- and west-facing windows fades most furnishings over time. Solution-dyed nylon holds its colour very well; dyed wool can fade over the years. Blinds, curtains or UV-reducing window film help. Timber changes colour with light too, so move rugs on a hard floor now and then to avoid a rug-shaped patch.
Pile shading
Cut piles, plush especially, can look lighter or darker in patches where the pile lies in different directions. It’s a normal characteristic, not a fault, and it can’t be prevented altogether. Vacuuming in one direction helps the pile look even, and twist and loop piles show it far less; see the three main carpet types.
Restretch or replace?
Ripples, wrinkles or loose carpet usually mean it has lost its stretch, from furniture being dragged, underlay breaking down or a carpet that wasn’t stretched tightly enough in the first place. Ripples are untidy, they’re a trip hazard, and the ridges wear faster.
We restretch carpet from $450 (inc GST): a power stretcher pulls it tight, it’s rehooked onto the gripper and the excess is trimmed off. Restretching makes sense when the carpet is under about 15 years old and otherwise in good condition. Replace it instead when:
- it’s over about 15 years old; at that age we advise replacing rather than restretching
- traffic lanes are worn or matted and the pile won’t recover
- the backing shows through, or tufts pull out easily
- it’s been damaged by pests, water or stains that won’t shift
- the underlay underneath has crumbled
Restretch or replace? We’ll tell you honestly at the free measure. See our carpet restretching page, and if it’s time for new carpet, our guide on how to choose carpet.
What we don’t do
We supply and install floors, and we restretch carpet. We don’t clean carpet, patch it or repair burns, stains or seams, and we don’t repair other floors, restore water damage or do pest control. The care advice in this guide is for you to do yourself; for those services, use a specialist. If a floor is past saving, we’ll quote you a replacement.
Frequently asked questions
How long does flooring installation take?
Carpet is quick: a few bedrooms and a hallway are usually laid in a day. Hard floors take longer, depending on the area, the old floor and the preparation. We give you a realistic timeframe at the measure.
Can I stay home while new floors are installed?
Yes. With carpet, most people stay home and keep out of the room being worked on. Floors laid with adhesive, or floors that need levelling, can mean a day or so out of those rooms.
Do you take away the old carpet?
Yes, if you ask. Taking up and disposing of old carpet is about $8/m², and it goes into your written quote with the rest of the job.
Why is my carpet rippling?
It has usually lost its stretch. If the carpet is under about 15 years old and in good condition, restretching from $450 fixes it. If it’s older or worn, replacing it is the better investment.
Book a free measure and quote
We’ll bring samples to your home, measure every room and email a written quote within 24 hours of the measure. Book your free measure and quote or call 0425 552 816.