Question ~ Paint first, or install new carpet?

Maureen: I do a lot of recarpeting and painting for both home staging and interior design clients. We always paint first and carpet after, with the understanding that the painter will come back for any touch-ups. I have them build that into their bid.

Often when you recarpet the base shoe molding (quarter round) has to be replaced. It works best to prepaint the new molding before installing it, and then touch up the nail holes once it is installed, rather than trying to paint it after it has been installed (and not get any paint on the new carpet).

Maureen,

I vote for painting 1st.  You can protect the moldings and if you get a few dings they can usually be touched up pretty easily.

congrats on a featured post -- I can't even begin to take the time to read all the responses; but I do know the answer:

Carpet first ( even if they try to be careful, it is difficult

Paint last -- and gues what -- any good painter (at least her in the South) will tell you that.  A good painter won't leave paint dripings anywhere . . . ever . . . no matter what the condition of the floor is.  If you you have one tell you otherwise . . . well, just do not use him -- He's scamming on you, for sure!

I grew up in a trades family, my dad, uncle, grandfather and my brother all painted professionally.  Now that I am staging homes, my brother and I do lots of painting.  He has taught me well.  We tarp every inch of flooring with impervious covers.  We tape baseboards with 3M 2 inch cream masking tape and a special technique to seal out any seeps and leaks of paint onto the base boards. We are meticulous whether the carpet is new or old.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

Maureen , paint first and carpet last makes sense to me....except... we had carpet installed after fresh paint and the roll of carpet scratched the wall when installers were unrolling it. Oh well, we thought we had it all figured out! I'd still vote for paint first though!

Wendy Casey - Vancouver, BC

I worked on large residential construction sites and suggest you do what the professionals do when lining up your trades. Paint first, floor 2nd. These methods are tried and true and when you are building over 5,000 houses a year it must be done this way for a reason. 

Michelle Finnamore  CSP   www.advantagestaging.ca 

What a difference...great work and good luck

As a home stager and painter I am often times coordinating the carpet install and doing the painting.  Because I offer turn key services to my clients, I will always return to touch up any nicks or scuffs (takes less than 10 minutes) caused by the carpet installers.  My installers are also very meticulous because I give them lots of work.