Carpets are attached floor coverings used to create a soft padding whilst walking around your home, as well as to help keep heat in you home by adding insulation to stop draughts creeping up through the floor. Carpets also help by retaining heat collected from surroundings. Carpets are usually woven or felted, often wool, but may also be made from cotton, hemp, straw, or a sympathetic counterpart.

Wall-to-wall carpeting is the most popular method of carpeting a room, which basically mean carpeting a room entirely so there is no other floor to be seen. However, contrary to popular belief many people like to have partly carpeted rooms, mixing wood flooring with carpets to add variety. This is particularly used in kitchens with a area for dining as it creates a nicer atmosphere and saves the floor from chairs being constantly scraped along it.

Carpets are more than just a single item, and anyone that has attempted to install them will realise that it is not as easy as simply putting the carpeting in the room. It has to be cut the exact size of the room, so as not to leave gaps at the edges, which can be very tricky as you have to stand on it to size it up and fit it. Then you need to ensure you have the correct fittings for door frames, as there are different types depending on the floor covering on the other side of the door.

It has become very popular recently to use underlay underneath carpets which adds to the comfort whilst walking on top. This is basically a thin layer of foamy rubber that is ribbed and very soft. It also helps stop the carpet slipping. Another method used in carpet fitting to stop the carpet sliding around is to use ‘nail blocks’ around the outside of the room. The carpet is basically stapled to these runners, which are in turn stapled to the floor to make it effectively anti-slip.

As well as the normal roll of carpet that is the most popular, you can also by carpet tiles, which are squares of carpet, usually about a foot square that can either be glued (the more popular method) or stapled to the floor beneath. These are especially popular in business offices because they are cheaper than carpet rolls and can cover a larger area more easily without having to worry about hiding gaps as they are meant to 'slot together'.