Carpet Installation

Flooring serves as a foundation for your home design and comfort. It binds the whole space together, adding that final touch you’ve been searching for in your house. However, when it comes to flooring, there are many different options you can choose, depending on your room, goal, budget, installation process, and maintenance.

With this in mind, you can opt for hardwood, laminate, vinyl, ceramic, or carpet flooring (among many others). And it’s the carpet floor we want to cover in this article. It’s one of the most popular flooring types in Australia for a reason, and many claim carpets are the secret to cosy and comfy living. To be fair, they’re not far from the truth.

Indeed, carpeting comes with a plethora of benefits other floors can’t match. If you’ve been thinking about installing carpet in your house, this guide will provide you with all the information. Ranging from carpet flooring advantages to carpet installation costs, here’s the ultimate guide to carpet installation.

Benefits of a New Carpet Flooring

As mentioned briefly, carpet floors come with several benefits compared to other surfaces. Among the many reasons why you should consider having a new carpet installed, we can include:

Improved comfort: Comfort is the first thing that comes to mind when talking about carpet floors. Carpets offer flexibility underfoot, acting as a shock absorber for your steps. On top of that, carpet flooring is simply nice to walk, sit, or lay on.
Style: Although hard surfaces such as hardwood are on the rise, carpet has that unique style no other floor can match. Carpets can give any room an entirely different feel, making it more elegant, welcoming, or comfy, depending on the style of the laid carpet.
Insulation and warmth: Carpet provides tremendous insulation value to space, allowing your floor to maintain warmth for much longer than hard floors. And since it reduces heat loss, it helps you save money on energy costs.
Safety: Hard surfaces aren’t the most pleasant to land on when you slip or fall, to say the least. If you fall hard, it’s easy to break or twist something. Carpet, on the other hand, not only provides a much safer landing surface but also prevents some falls from occurring.
Noise reduction: Sound absorption is one of the most significant advantages of carpet floors. Carpets contribute to a much quieter space, which can come in handy, especially if you live in an apartment complex.
Lower costs: We’ll cover this later in the guide, but in general, installing carpet is a much cheaper option than hardwood or vinyl, which in addition to higher costs, involve floor preparation. Maintenance costs are also lower when it comes to carpet.

Of course, despite these many advantages, carpet also has some disadvantages that are worth mentioning. Firstly, carpets tend to accumulate dust, which can aggravate allergies. Secondly, they require a deep clean at least once or twice a year. They also have a shorter lifespan than hard surfaces, meaning you will need to replace your carpet eventually. And finally, carpet doesn’t work well in rooms like bathrooms or kitchens.

Still, these cons certainly don’t outweigh the pros, and you can rest assured that installing carpet will be a good choice for your home.

Types of Carpets and Other Considerations

Choosing carpet can be a daunting task, as there is a wide variety of carpet styles, fibre types, patterns, and construction variations. All of them come with different prices, life expectancy, and other features, so it’s a good idea to know a thing or two about them before deciding on the carpet installation. We’ve covered them briefly below:

Carpet materials: Generally speaking, there are four main types of carpet fibre you can choose from – nylon, polyester, olefin, and wool. Nylon is the most universal of these, as it’s stain-resistant, durable, and perfect for homes with pets and children. Polyester and olefin are also relatively universal. Wool, on the other hand, looks the most stylish, but is also expensive and requires more regular maintenance.
Carpet construction: Construction has a significant impact on carpet’s life expectancy. Here, we can distinguish two factors – twist and density. The tighter the yarn is twisted, the more the carpet will withstand. As for density, the closer together fibres are placed, the better it will perform. Make sure to check these factors before making your final decision regarding the new carpet.
Carpet textures: As for carpet textures, you can choose between the cut pile, loop, or cut-loop. Cut pile is the most comfortable texture, loop offers strength and soil hiding capabilities, and cut-loop is the combination of the two.

Carpet Installation Cost

Now that we’ve got the basics behind, it’s time to get to the main part of the article, which is answering the question of how much does carpet installation cost? When it comes to this, the answer is not as straightforward as many people think.

The overall cost of installation will vary depending on several factors. Firstly, there’s the carpet material, which is probably the most defining factor of carpet installation cost. In general, you can expect to pay:

Around $20 per square metre for polypropylene carpet
Between $40 and $60 per square metre for nylon or wool carpeting
$100 – $150 (or more) per square metre for high-quality wool carpet

Keep in mind that various carpet installers can have different prices.

The second thing to keep in mind is that businesses may charge you an additional fee for certain services. Some carpet installers charge extra for carpet removal and disposal, furniture removal, or laying carpet on stairs.

In general, it’s always a good idea to ask for a quote before advancing with carpet laying straight away. This way, you’ll avoid any unpleasant surprises. Also, there’s always a possibility of DIY carpet installation. It will save you money on installation services but also poses a threat of making a costly mistake. You should also have professional equipment.

Flooring products

Choosing Your Carpet Installer

As mentioned, if you feel like it, you can always install carpet yourself. This, however, requires hard work and some basic DIY knowledge and experience. The safest option here is to get in touch with flooring experts with the best quote for their carpet installation services.

The industry is full of professional carpet installers, so it’s crucial you do the research. For this, you should consider the following factors:

Experience: It’s always a good idea to work with an experienced carpet fitter. With this in mind, make sure you ask about job qualifications.
Customer reviews: To gain more information about a carpet installation service, check their customer reviews. If a specific business has more positive reviews than others, it means that it’s worth giving them a call.
Quote: The next thing you need to do is to get an itemised quote. This ensures you’re clear regarding the work involved and the overall installation cost.
Warranty: As a rule of thumb, you should always work with tradesmen who offer a warranty or some sort of guarantee.

The Carpet Installation Step-by-Step Guide

If you decide to lay carpet yourself or are simply interested in learning more about installing carpet, the whole installation looks as follows:

Remove the old carpet and check the subfloor to make sure it’s level and clean.
Fit a carpet gripper around the perimeter of the room – leave a gap of 15mm between the wall.
Lay the underfelt and cut it to size using a knife.
Use a staple hammer to secure the underfelt by its edges and add another layer.
Roll out the carpet, measure it accurately, and cut it to size using a sharp knife.
Secure the carpet into place between the gripper and skirting board with a knee kicker.
Using a carpet tucker, push any excess of the carpet further onto the gripper.

And that’s about it. However, keep in mind that even though the carpet installation might not look that complicated when you read about it, it requires precision and hard work only an experienced carpet laying crew can deliver.

Choose Integra Direct for Your Carpet Installation Needs

When looking for a reliable and top-quality carpet installation service, Integra Direct has got you covered. With over 20 years of experience, we know all the ins and outs of the flooring industry, allowing us to provide our customers with the best experience possible.

Here at Integra Direct Flooring, we offer the full carpet installation service, which includes five steps:

Carpet selection – visit our Helensvale showroom or browse our website to choose your preferred carpeting.
Measure & quote – we’ll come to your house and measure your space to provide you with an accurate quote.
Quote acceptance – if you’re happy with our quote, you’ll be required to sign it off and place a deposit. We’ll take care of the rest from there.
Installation – our professional and experienced team will start the carpet installation, staying in touch with you throughout the entire process to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Finish – once the installation is complete, the one last thing to do is sit back and enjoy your new floor.

Key Takeaways

Newly installed carpet can give a new life to any room. Not to mention carpet tends to be much cheaper than hard types of flooring. On top of that, carpet comes with numerous benefits, including improved insulation, comfort, and safety. Considering all this, it shouldn’t come as a surprise why so many Australians still love the good old carpet flooring.

And if you’ve been thinking about installing carpet in your house, make sure to choose Integra Direct for your carpet installation needs. We’ll provide you with top-quality products, an accurate quote, and reliable installation service handled by our team of experienced professionals. Contact us today and get your quote!

FAQ

How long does a carpet installation take?

It’s difficult to estimate the right time of carpet installation, as there are many factors affecting the process, including the carpeting space, size of the team, and the carpet type. On average, a standard-size team of carpet installers lay 14 metres of carpet per hour.

Is carpet the wrong choice for people with allergies?

There’s always been a debate regarding the potential negative effects of carpet on people with asthma and allergies. And while carpet does accumulate dust, materials used today are perfectly safe for allergy or asthma sufferers.

What is the best carpet material?

There’s no such thing as the “best” carpet fabric. It all depends on your budget and needs. For instance, if you opt for durability and lower costs, the best choice is polypropylene. However, if you have more money to spend on installation, we’d recommend getting nylon or wool carpeting.

How often do I need to clean my carpet?

The correct carpet maintenance is essential if you want it to stay in the best condition possible. Regular vacuuming and deep cleaning twice a year is a must. You can also rearrange your furniture to ensure more even wearing. Another thing is to protect your carpet from the sunlight to prevent it from fading. Doing all this will allow your carpet to serve you for many years.