laying carpet

I'm about to lay new carpet in a bedroom. The room is small, 12ft x 15ft, and I want to do it myself. My main question is what is the easiest way to cut the carpet? Also, I've been talking to some contractors who say they don't stretch the carpet unless it's going in a heavy traffic area. Should I stretch it or take their advice?

 

Use a razor knife to cut the carpet, and if it is a loop pile, scissors help cut the yarn after you cut the backing with the razor knife. When trimming in the walls without a wall trimmer, Fold the carpet back from the baseboard and cut it from the back. Never cut against the baseboards!

The contractors are wrong! If you don't stretch it, you will have bubbles and wrinkles very soon.

You could do what's called double stick. Where you full spread glue the special pad down and then full spread glue the carpet on top of the pad. It wouldn't be stretched in then.

 

Perry:
What is a "wall trimmer"??

 

A wall trimmer is a carpet tool used to speed up trimming the excess that's up the wall after stretching. There are lots of "HACKS" out there who will cut your baseboards up, by not using a wall trimmer, or folding and cutting the backing. They cut against the baseboards, which is a no-no in my book.

Using a wall trimmer, I can trim out a 30' wall in less then a minute. Without one it would take 5 or more minutes, cutting from the back and tucking it with a Hook knife or Stair tool.