Choosing a carpet fitter

To make the most of your carpet and give it a professional finish, it’s usually worth hiring a skilled fitter to install it for you.

While keen DIYers could do the job themselves, we'd recommend using an installer if you’re not experienced with DIY, your room is an irregular shape or you’re carpeting tricky areas such as stairs. A good carpet installer will make sure you get a professional finish.

If you’re still shopping for carpet, read our guide to types of carpet and take our quiz to find out which style is right for you.

How to find carpet installers

Your carpet retailer may well suggest a recommended fitting service. Alternatively, you may be looking for an independent fitter yourself.

Either way, these are the key things you should look out for before signing on the dotted line:

Use an approved installer

First, make sure the carpet fitter has been accredited or endorsed by an organisation that you can trust. This can include professional trade associations such as the National Institute of Carpet and Floorlayers (NICF).

Which? Trusted Traders also vets and endorses flooring businesses and fitters. To qualify, they have to pass an assessment process including background checks and an inspection by Trading Standards professionals.

Trade associations and endorsement bodies usually set standards for the conduct of their members and offer an independent complaint resolution service, which can help you resolve problems if anything goes wrong.

Don’t just take the fitter’s word that they’re a member of any associations or schemes – check that they’re listed on the organisation’s website.

Get recommendations and check reviews

Ask around among friends and family to see if anyone has used a fitter that they would recommend. You may even be able to visit their home to see the trader’s work firsthand.

If this isn’t an option, look at the customer reviews of traders you’re considering, to see what other customers thought of them. If the installer is a Which? Trusted Trader, you can read customer reviews on our website. Our team moderates every review that's submitted, to verify its authenticity.

Try to be objective when looking at reviews. Do the comments sound genuine? If there are any negative comments, what are the reasons and has the trader responded to try to resolve the issue?

Find out how to spot a fake review.

Hiring a carpet fitter

Once you've found a fitter, ask them for a quote. You'll need to discuss and agree the following:

• the position of joins in carpets (if any are needed)
• who will be responsible for moving furniture before and after installation
• who will remove and dispose of old flooring
• whether the doors into the room will need to be adjusted.

A good installer will factor these into their quote, so ask to make sure that's the case before you get the final figure.

Paying for carpet fitting

You’ll often have to pay for your carpet and underlay up front, and then pay separately for the labour involved in the fitting when the carpet is laid, even if you’re getting all the services from the same company. 

So make sure you know what you'll have to pay for, and when, before placing an order.

If you're hiring a fitter separately to your supplier, ask them when they'll need to be paid, and how, so that you're ready on the day.