Is it cheaper to recarpet your house yourself, or to pay someone to do it? What is a good price for 1000sqft?

Answer 1

I think if you've never done it before it would be cheaper to hire someone for a whole house. A few bad cuts and tapes and you'll be looking for someone anyway.

Try one room first and see how it goes.

Answer 2

I've been doing this kind of thing for a long time and I have some thoughts and suggestions.

First,,,do you have a way to dispose of old carpet and padding, and any tack strips you might have to replace?

Ok that said,,,,

Have you priced carpet and installation? An average price even from Home Depot can be $3.85 a sq. ft. installed, with pad and removal of the old.

Do you have the skills or knowledge to do the job? No offense meant at all.

Certainly you could get remnants or a job lot from a commercial job that ran over, at a distributor of bargain carpet, but it may not be exactly the color or fit you need.

To measure each room is most important, beyond just the total Sq. ft. Most carpet is sold 12 ft wide, some 15 ft. That equates to sq. yds. of carpet as sold,,,not as installed.

If you have rooms that are 12 ft or less then measure them at the longer of two distances and figure out the amount needed for each room individually as you move through the Virtual install.

Depending on your budget, you'll need the carpet certainly, then a razor/utility knife,,,and buy a 100 pack of blades. You'll need tack strip if any of yours is degraded. You may need a "Kicker" and knee pads. You may need a framing square or a long straight edge. You may need a snap line.

You should plan on replacing the padding.

You may get away with cutting, out on your drive, carpet upside down, lined out and then trimmed to fit. A professional might also have extra they trim in the house.

If this is all the same carpet in the entire space, you will likely need the adhesive tape and an electric flat iron to melt the adhesive and press down the carpet at any seams.

You may need thresholds/borders/mouldings for places where the carpet ends or butts up to kitchen or bath tile?

You may want help, if you have people who are willing, and make it an event?

You will have to move all the furniture one room, or more, at a time, to accomplish the goal.

I can go on, but the point is,,,even if you don't consider a value to your labor/effort/time... it does exist.

I won't insult you to say you seek a Cheap way out, but very often,,especially for a DIY,,,you get what you pay for. It can be that $3000 plus sounds expensive, and I know in hunting you can bring that price down for installed. What I often discover is that when a DIY adds up the not installed, the padding,,,often free with carpet purchase/install, the tools needed, the time and energy expended, the disposal, usually included, and some level of a warrantee, the cost is often equal at least.

Rev. Steven

I'll be happy to chat about it more if you wish.

Rev. Steven

Answer 3

It's going to be cheaper to have a professional do the job for you. You can save money by moving the furniture yourself; removing the old carpet and padding; and having the floors ready to install the new materials. Call someone in the business - get a reference from a friend - let them measure everything - and ask if they will give you a discount for moving the furniture and old carpet and padding. Most reputable guys will work with you !! They can give you a good price and a good job - remember - they want good referrals from you !!

Answer 4

it is easier just to pay someone to do it correctly. they should provide a warranty if something is wrong.

how much it costs depends on the type of carpet. it can be from $2 per SF to what ever.

call around to get pricing. go to a carpet store, look on the back of the sample, copy down the manufacturer, color, and style number then call around for pricing. Be sure to find out if padding and installation are included in the price per square foot

Answer 5

Kay, I remodeled my house and went with tile instead of carpet. If I were going to put carpet in, I would have done it myself. Its easy, as all you really need is a sharp blade to cut the carpet. You also should make sure the tack board is still solid prior to putting down the new carpet. And as for price, check all the places that sell carpet and go from there. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

It is always cheaper to do it yourself, but when it comes to carpeting it is faster and easier to let the pros do it. Not much more expensive. Many places include the installation and padding in the price.

Answer 7

I completely agree with Rev. Steve. We looked into doing it ourselves and found out that to do it ourselves would cost in the end exactly $25 cheaper than by contractor. We got it from Floors To Go $2/sq.ft installed. Lifetime warranty, & carpet disposal included.

Answer 8

Unless you are in the business you CAN NOT do it as well OR as inexpensively as a pro installer. Most of your cost will be in the carpet/padding vs the labor so there is precious little room for savings.

Answer 9

if you know what you are doing than do it yourself,
but if not it's better to hire someone, they can have it don't on about a day, just call around for prices

Answer 10

you can do it yourself but you have to have some very specil tools to do it rent them at home depot and ask question about seaming , thats the hardest part if you don't want to see them. about $2.00 a yard any more than that and you are being taken.