A device for gripping and stretching a carpet or like floor covering, said device comprising a first face for engaging the upper surface of the floor covering and a second face for abutment against a wall in a room or against skirting on said wall, said first and second faces defining an obtuse angle therebetween, such that when the device is placed over the edge of the floor covering adjacent a wall/skirting the uppermost edge of the second face of the device abuts the wall/skirting, the lowermost edge of the second face being spaced from the wall/skirting, such that said uppermost edge provides a fulcrum about which the device pivots, in use, when a fastening means is inserted through the device in a direction substantially tangentially to an arc centred about said uppermost edge of the second face, and into either the wall/skirting or floor, causing the first face of the device to move downwardly and inwardly (towards the wall/skirting) such that the floor covering is gripped by the device and is urged towards the wall/skirting in order to pull the floor covering towards the wall/skirting.