How Much Does It Cost to Fit Carpet?

Fitting new carpet in a UK home typically costs roughly £15-£50+ per square metre all-in (carpet, underlay, gripper rods, and labour), with the carpet itself usually the biggest variable — budget synthetic carpets sit at the low end, while wool and wool-blend carpets can cost considerably more.

What you're actually paying for

• The carpet itself: typically ranges from roughly £8-£15 per square metre for budget synthetic (polypropylene) carpets, up to £25-£60+ per square metre for good-quality wool or wool-blend carpets.
• Underlay: typically roughly £4-£10 per square metre depending on thickness and quality — don't skip a decent underlay, since it significantly affects both comfort and how long the carpet itself lasts.
• Gripper rods: the thin wooden strips with angled pins fixed around the room's perimeter that hold the carpet taut — a relatively small cost, but essential for a proper, professional-looking fit.
• Labour: typically roughly £5-£10 per square metre, though this varies with room shape, stairs, and how much furniture needs moving.

What affects the price beyond the basics

Stairs cost more per square metre to carpet than open floor space, since fitting around each step takes more time and skill. Rooms with lots of doorways, alcoves, or awkward shapes also cost more to fit than a simple rectangular room, due to the extra cutting and joining involved. Removing and disposing of old flooring, and moving heavy furniture, are sometimes charged separately — always check what's included in a quote.

Carpet pile types and what they mean for cost and use

• Loop pile (including Berber): hard-wearing and good for high-traffic areas, but can snag if you have pets with claws.
• Cut pile (saxony, velvet): softer underfoot, generally suits bedrooms and living rooms better than heavy-traffic areas.
• Twist pile: a popular, durable middle-ground option that hides footprints and vacuum marks well.

DIY vs professional fitting

Carpet fitting is a genuinely skilled trade — achieving a tight, wrinkle-free finish, particularly around edges, doorways, and stairs, takes practice with specialist tools like a knee kicker and power stretcher. A poorly fitted carpet stretches and wrinkles again within months, so unlike some flooring types, this is one most people find worth paying a professional for rather than attempting as a first-time DIY project.

Common mistakes

Choosing underlay purely on price is a frequent false economy — a poor underlay flattens quickly, reducing both comfort and the carpet's effective lifespan, sometimes costing more in early replacement than the underlay saved upfront. Not measuring accurately (accounting for pattern matching and pile direction across joins) is another common issue that leads to wasted material or visible seams.

Additional costs to budget for

Door trimming (shortening doors that no longer clear the new, thicker carpet and underlay) is a common extra cost that's easy to forget when budgeting. Fitting carpet on a staircase typically costs more per square metre than open floor space, and removing and disposing of old flooring is sometimes charged separately from the fitting itself — always ask whether a quote is genuinely all-in or whether these are extras.

Getting an accurate quote

The most reliable quotes come from a fitter measuring the room in person rather than working from your own measurements, since carpet is sold in fixed roll widths and awkward room shapes can mean more wastage (and therefore more carpet needed) than a simple length-times-width calculation suggests. Get at least two or three quotes for a like-for-like comparison, and make sure each one specifies the exact carpet and underlay quality being priced, since "carpet fitting" alone without those details isn't a meaningful comparison between quotes.

Carpet tiles as an alternative

Carpet tiles are a less common but genuinely practical alternative to broadloom (roll) carpet in some settings, particularly home offices or utility areas, since individual tiles can be lifted and replaced if stained or damaged without needing to replace the whole floor. They're often more of a DIY-friendly option than full carpet fitting, though the overall look tends to read as more functional than a seamless broadloom carpet in a living space.

If you're carpeting multiple rooms at once, ask whether the fitter offers a discount for the combined job — labour costs per square metre often come down slightly on larger overall jobs since setup and travel time are effectively shared across more work.

Keep a copy of your carpet's product details and the fitter's invoice somewhere safe, since both are useful if you ever need to make a warranty claim or want to match the carpet in an adjoining room later.

If you're comparing carpet against other options, see our guide to laminate, LVT and engineered wood costs, and if the room needs work before fitting can start, check whether you need subfloor preparation first.

Related reading: tiles compared with wood or laminate.