Rugs, Carpets and Carpeting - Carpet installation problems/ baseboard?

Hi. This is my first post here, I hope it's in the right place.

My boyfriend bought a house and since neither of us know how to do much in the way of repairs, he has hired a guy to do a bunch of stuff.

He was anticipating payment for the carpet install a couple days ago (we've been paying him as he completes jobs), and when we inspected it we were appalled.

It seems as though the carpet is not attached to the floor. My DBF's dad said carpet is usually stretched, which this carpet is not. There are tack strips around the room, and the carpet is on top of it, but when I lifted the carpet from the corner, I was able to pull it all up without any effort. When I put it back down it looked no different from when I had picked it up.

In one room the tack strip had not penetrated the cement. Also, it appears the guy didn't measure right because in a couple spots there are strips to fill in gaps (about 2" wide!). There are many smaller gaps all around the room.

We e-mailed him a long list of problems that we want corrected, including the carpet issues. He replied:

"As far as a lot of the carpet problems, as I previously dicussed with you the best way to do the carpet is to replace the baseboards but you did not want to do that, that is why the carpet has some gaps"

My questions are, is new baseboard standard with carpet installation? Would this really cause gaps around the room? What would he need to do to remedy the problem, so we know what to ask for, and if he won't do it, is this something that requires special tools and professional experience, or could we somehow fix it ourselves?

Thank you in advance!

(I am delighted to have discovered this site today, as I would like to start some of the less urgent home improvement projects when my DBF moves in.)

i would have to see pics. but it sounds like a "hack job" to me.

my new carpet is a lot thicker than the old. and it fit in just fine, though it was a tight fit under the baseboards.
new baseboards ARE NOT common with new carpet. he is BS'ing you. again, i would have to see pics.

if the carpet wasn't stretched, you could be in luck. as when a good carpet guy finishes the job, the stretching likely will fill in the gaps.

im no pro at carpet installing ive done it quite afew times and have afew friends that are actually carpet installers it sounds like he just doesnt know what he is doing and is trying to rip you off.

Okay, thanks. That's kind of what we were thinking. I guess it's time to find someone who can fix it.