Guide · For the trade
Rug installation and delivery: how rugs ship, who places them, and what to tell the site
Rug installation, for an area rug, is a two-person job of an hour or two: the rug arrives rolled on a tube, pile in, the pad is cut 1 inch inside the rug on all four sides, the rug is unrolled onto it, squared to the room and the furniture set back on it. Rugs ship from the mill or our finisher by parcel under about 8x10 and by LTL freight above that, and a 12x15 or larger rug needs 14 to 18 feet of clear path from the truck to the room. Interiors delivers and installs anywhere in the United States through our installer network; a bound broadloom rug or a stair runner is installed by a carpet crew.
This guide is for the designer or the junior scheduling the end of a rug order: how rugs are packed and shipped, the three delivery levels, what the installer does on the day, what the site needs ready, and how installation is priced for a project. Carpet from measure to seams is in the carpet installation checklist; stairs are in the stair runner installation guide. This page is rugs.
How rugs are shipped
Every rug we sell ships from the mill, the importer or our finishing shop, and how it is packed depends on what it is. A machine-woven or hand-tufted rug up to 9x12 is rolled on a 3 inch tube, pile in, wrapped in poly, and ships by parcel carrier; a 9x12 wool rug is a 70 to 100 pound tube about 10 feet long. Above 9x12, and for any bound broadloom rug, the roll goes LTL freight on a pallet, with a liftgate if there is no dock. Hand-knotted rugs from India, Nepal and Turkey ship by air folded in a compressed bale or by sea rolled; a folded rug needs a week flat before the creases drop, and we build that into the schedule. Stair runners and custom runners ship as rolled broadloom, uncut, so the installer cuts on site.
The three delivery levels
| Level | What happens | Specify it when |
|---|---|---|
| Curbside or dock | The carrier leaves the roll at the curb, the garage or the loading dock; someone on site signs and moves it | A job site with a crew on hand, or a client's receiver or warehouse |
| Inside delivery | Two carriers bring the roll into the room of choice, no unpacking | The designer's installer will place it later, or the furniture is not in yet |
| Delivery and installation | Our installer receives the rug, inspects it, lays the pad, places the rug, moves the furniture back and takes the packaging | Every occupied residence, every rug over 8x10, every layered or hide rug |
For an occupied house, specify delivery and installation. A 9x12 wool rug cannot be unrolled and squared by one person, and a client who tries will call about the creases and the corner that will not lie down.
What the installer does on the day
- Inspects the roll before it is cut open: label against the order, size, colorway, freight damage, photographed before signing.
- Clears the floor. Furniture moves out or to one side; the floor is vacuumed, and a hard floor is dry.
- Cuts the pad: felt and rubber, 1/4 inch under a pile rug, 1/8 inch under a flatweave or a hide, 1 inch inside the rug on every side so no pad shows.
- Unrolls the rug onto the pad, pile direction as drawn (pile toward the main doorway reads darkest and richest from it), and squares it to the room: 18 inches of floor at the walls, or the dimension on the plan.
- Settles it. Rolled creases drop in a day or two, folded creases in a week; a corner that lifts is weighted for 48 hours, then taped under the pad. The installer does not steam or iron a rug.
- Sets the furniture back with the front legs of the seating on the rug as drawn, and removes the packaging.
For a bound broadloom rug, a custom runner or a stair runner the crew is a carpet crew: pad, tackless where a runner is stretched, cutting to length on site, and seams if the rug exceeds the roll width; see the custom size rugs guide and the stair guide.
What the site needs ready
Measure the path, not just the room. A 12x15 rug rolled is a 12 foot tube that has to turn the stair landing or the hall corner; where it cannot, the installer folds it once for the carry, which is fine for a tufted or machine-woven rug and not for a hand-knotted silk. New hardwood needs 72 hours after the last coat before a pad goes down; new tile, 48 hours after grout. Someone with authority to accept should be there, or the designer sends the plan with the rug's position and pile direction marked. Pets out of the room.
Timing from order to install
A finished rug the mill has on hand leaves in 1 to 5 business days; most rugs are woven to order. Made-to-order sizes from a mill line, 2 to 6 weeks. Cut-and-bound custom sizes, 3 to 5 weeks. Hand-made custom, 18 to 20 weeks of production after the strike-off, then 2 to 6 weeks of freight. We book the installer when the rug has a tracking number, and hold the rug at the installer's shop if the site is not ready.
How rug installation is priced for a project
We quote delivery and installation to trade accounts with the rug, as a line, not as a surprise on the invoice. What moves it: size and weight, freight distance and whether a liftgate or inside delivery is needed, the floor of the building and the elevator, the pad, the number of pieces placed on one visit, and whether furniture has to be moved. A bound broadloom rug or a runner is priced as carpet installation, by the yard or the stair. Prices are not published and depend on the client's city; send the ship-to address and we quote the same day.
Questions designers ask
What does it cost to install a rug?
It is quoted with the rug to trade accounts, based on size, weight, delivery distance, access, the pad and the number of pieces placed in one visit. An area rug on a pad is a short job; a bound broadloom rug or a runner is priced like carpet installation. The client's city is the biggest variable.
What does it cost to carpet a 12 by 12 room, as opposed to placing a rug?
A 12 by 12 room takes 16 square yards of 12 foot broadloom plus pad, tackless and labor, and the carpet is most of the number; a 9x12 rug on a pad covers 108 square feet of the same room with no tackless, no seams and an hour of labor. Which is cheaper depends on the carpet or rug chosen, so we quote both when a client is deciding; see the wall to wall vs area rug guide.
How does showroom installation differ from a big-box store's carpet installation?
A big-box installation is a subcontracted carpet stretch-in priced per room with that store's carpet; it does not cover a rug, a pad cut to a rug or a bordered runner. Our installer receives the specific rug, inspects it against the order, places it to the plan and handles the pad, the creases and the furniture, anywhere in the country, with one point of contact if anything is wrong.
How are large rugs shipped and brought into the house?
Rolled on a tube the length of the short side, pile in, by LTL freight on a pallet for anything over about 9x12. The installer carries it in; a 12 foot tube needs a clear path and a turn radius, which we check against the plan before it ships.
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