Explore by Career/Construction and Extraction
Carpet Installers
Lay and install carpet from rolls or blocks on floors. Install padding and trim flooring materials.
- Median pay
- $49,850
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- -9.6%
- Declining
- Typical entry
- No formal educational credential
Key skills
- Monitoring
- Coordination
- Mathematics
- Critical Thinking
- Quality Control Analysis
- Time Management
- Active Listening
- Speaking
What they do
- Inspect the surface to be covered to determine its condition, and correct any imperfections that might show through carpet or cause carpet to wear unevenly.
- Roll out, measure, mark, and cut carpeting to size with a carpet knife, following floor sketches and allowing extra carpet for final fitting.
- Join edges of carpet and seam edges where necessary, by sewing or by using tape with glue and heated carpet iron.
- Cut and trim carpet to fit along wall edges, openings, and projections, finishing the edges with a wall trimmer.
- Plan the layout of the carpet, allowing for expected traffic patterns and placing seams for best appearance and longest wear.
- Stretch carpet to align with walls and ensure a smooth surface, and press carpet in place over tack strips or use staples, tape, tacks or glue to hold carpet in place.
- Take measurements and study floor sketches to calculate the area to be carpeted and the amount of material needed.
- Install carpet on some floors using adhesive, following prescribed method.
- Clean up before and after installation, including vacuuming carpet and discarding remnant pieces.
- Measure, cut and install tackless strips along the baseboard or wall.
Majors that lead here
No mapped majors yet.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.