How we chose
We started from the carpet fitters Google Maps shows across Telford, matched each name at Companies House and read its own website for range, area and terms. Scheme memberships were sourced from the NICF directory, the Carpet Foundation, Buy With Confidence and TrustMark, each firm's own website and the platforms checked [4] [5] [11]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Ten firms met all three, with two more researched outside the table. We looked first at what customers say, then qualifications, then trading history and cover, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated September 2026.
How to hire
Match the firm to the job first. A carpet fitter supplies and fits carpet, and most Telford shops in this table also lay vinyl, laminate and wood flooring; a deep clean or a repair-only job belongs to a carpet cleaner or repair specialist instead. No mandatory registration applies to carpet fitting, so any badge a firm shows is voluntary. For workplace floors, the Contract Flooring Association keeps a directory of contractor members that have passed its vetting process [3]. When you first enquire, say which rooms, which floors and whether stairs are involved.
For fitters, the trade body is the National Institute of Carpet and Floorlayers, whose directory lists installers and retailers across the country [11]. Type the business name into the directory search and check the listing matches the firm quoting you. For shops, the Carpet Foundation lists independent local experts whose stores follow a code approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute [1]. Its local-expert search takes your postcode and returns the nearest member shops [2]. Only the leader in this table shows any scheme membership on record, so treat every other claim as something to check rather than assume.
Buy With Confidence lists businesses checked by Trading Standards officers, with a Carpets and Flooring category and results in nearest-first order [4]. Enter your postcode, pick the category and check the name that comes back matches your quote. TrustMark runs a similar postcode search under its government-endorsed quality scheme [5]. If the firm is a limited company, type its name into the Companies House search and check it shows active with a matching address [7].
Telford and Wrekin adds little paperwork to a carpet job. Laying new carpet inside your home should need no planning permission: the Planning Portal's position is that internal alterations need none [12]. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including Wellington and the Severn Gorge around Ironbridge [14], but those controls bite on outward changes, not on floor coverings. The exception is a listed home, where significant internal works need listed building consent whether inside or out [13]. Flats and rented homes are simpler: the lease or tenancy decides what you may change, so read it and get the landlord's agreement in writing before ordering.
Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same measured scope. Each should name every room in square metres, the carpet and underlay as separate lines, grippers and door bars, uplift and disposal of the old carpet, door trimming, furniture moving, the start date and payment stages, with VAT shown as included or added [6] [9]. A deposit for ordered carpet is normal, while full payment before fitting is not. Treat an outlier far above or below the rest as a question, and ask what is included or excluded [10].
A typical job runs the same course. First contact sets out the rooms, the floors and whether stairs are involved; then comes the home measure, then the written quote to compare against one or two more on the same scope. Agree the fitting date, the arrival time and where the van can park, and clear small furniture and breakables unless moving them is on the quote. On the day, the fitters uplift the old carpet, prepare the subfloor, lay underlay and carpet, then refit doors and thresholds. Walk every room with them before they leave: seams should sit flat, joins should fall where agreed, and doors should swing clear.
If the quote includes uplift, ask who takes the old carpet and where it goes. Any firm carrying waste away should appear on the Environment Agency register of waste carriers, which you can search by business name [8]. Clear small furniture and breakables before the fitters arrive unless moving them is agreed on the quote. If the quote leaves disposal to you, the council runs a bookable bulky-item collection for borough homes, and its recycling centres at Hortonwood and Halesfield take household waste without pre-booking [15].
Keep the quote, the invoice and the receipt together with the room measurements, since you will need them if seams pucker or doors catch after fitting. Carpet Foundation members promise a written quotation and access to free conciliation with low-cost arbitration if a dispute follows [2]. If anything arrives damaged or mis-measured, stop the fitting and ask for the paperwork before you pay the balance.
When the work is done, the paperwork matters as much as the finish. The final invoice should match the quote line for line, with any extras agreed along the way shown separately and the VAT position stated. Get a receipt marked paid in full and file it with the quote and the room measurements, and ask what written guarantee covers the fitting itself and how long it runs. Carpet Foundation members promise a written quotation with free conciliation and low-cost arbitration if a dispute follows [2]. If a fault shows later, that file is what turns a phone call into a case.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough figures from a national retailer's cost guide published in July 2025 run like this: fitting at around £5.50 per square metre, or about £520 to fit a three-bedroom house [6]. A mid-range carpet for that house runs about £2,400 for the carpet alone, or about £4,700 with underlay, accessories, fitting, uplift and disposal included [6]. Budget carpet starts near £5 per square metre and luxury grades run past £50 [6].
Expect extras on top: underlay from £8.99 per square metre, grippers around £2.50 per metre, door bars near £13 each, door trimming from £30 a door, uplift of the old carpet from £1.50 per square metre and disposal at £4 per square metre [6]. Wellington Carpets advertises its own local anchor, whole-house carpet with fitting included at a single headline price, confirmed on its quote.
Stairs and landings move the price most, with cutting, joins and gripper work on every step. Subfloor repairs, levelling compound, moving heavy furniture, parking and access on Telford streets and the disposal trip all add or subtract. Shops that measure free of charge take this variation in before they quote.
Ask whether each figure includes VAT, charged at the standard rate of twenty per cent on most goods and services [9]. Get the scope in writing before anyone lifts a tool: the rooms, the materials, the extras, the start date, payment stages and what changes the price if the subfloor is worse than expected [10].
A single bedroom is the smallest common job. The carpet grade sets the base price, while underlay, grippers, furniture moving and disposal stack fixed extras onto a small area [6]. A clear floor trims the labour; a room full of wardrobes adds it back. Get the extras as separate lines so two bedroom quotes compare like for like.
Stairs and landings carry the most labour for their size. Every step needs cutting, folding and gripper work, with joins on the landing, so two identical carpets can cost very different totals once the staircase is counted. Tell each shop the step count and whether the landing runs on, and check the quote prices the staircase as its own line rather than folding it into a per-room figure.
Whole-house jobs and mixed floors reward one supplier. A single measure, one delivery and one fitting visit spread the fixed costs, hence headline fitted prices for large areas. Where vinyl or laminate joins the order, the subfloor decides the extras: flat floors keep the price near the carpet lines, while uneven boards add preparation first. Confirm each floor covering appears on the quote with a preparation line each.
Red flags
Quotes per room or per house without measuring, asking for sizes or requesting photos of the stairs.
A firm with no address, no landline and no website, reachable only by mobile or message.
Will not put carpet, underlay, grippers, uplift, disposal and VAT on one written quote [6] [9].
Asks for the full price in cash before the carpet is ordered or delivered.
Plans to take your old carpet away but cannot say where it goes or show a waste carrier registration [8].
Starts cutting with grippers, underlay and door bars still undecided and unpriced.
Offers no written route if seams pucker, thresholds rattle or doors catch after fitting.
Measures from the doorway by eye and prices a staircase without climbing it.
Arrives to fit without confirming the carpet colour, size and underlay against the quote.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.