How to Measure for Carpet

Carpet measuring basics

When measuring a room for carpet it is important to remember that most residential carpet comes in twelve (12) foot wide rolls.  These rolls may be laid parallel to each other and seamed together using carpet seam tape and a seaming iron.  Carpet rolls should seldom, if ever, be laid perpendicular to each other.  The weave pattern does not match if one roll of carpet is installed adjacent to another roll of carpet which lies 45, 90, 135, or180 degrees relative to the first roll.  For example, if the carpet is unrolled toward the north, any rooms which directly seam up to the first drop must roll out toward the north as well.  Carpet drops in rooms which are separated by stairs or other flooring material are excluded from these rules.

Quick Tips:

• Most carpet is manufactured in 12 feet wide rolls.

• There will be material waste (remnant carpet) in a room is less than 12 ft wide.

• You must account for seams when a room is wider than 12 feet.

• All carpet in connecting rooms must run in the same direction.

This diagram does not need to be exact.  Sketch out the rooms using a straight edge.  Try to be fairly accurate with your proportions, but don’t worry if they aren’t perfect.  Label each room and write in the dimensions.  Label rooms that are not getting carpet or that are getting some other flooring material.  Notice the grey shaded areas are labeled “tile.”

Remember that the direction of the carpet drops needs to remain consistent when installed in connecting rooms.  No matter which direction you decide is best, always write measurements as width then length.

As you physically measure the room, record the measurements on an organized drop sheet.  Use the same drop sheet layout as is shown below in the example.  Drop sheets may be hand written.

Make sure to cover all your fills.  Begin by checking remnant sizes.  Since the 2x15 remnant is not wide enough to cover any fills, another drop is necessary.  Create another drop (#5) large enough to cover all fills.

Next find the sum of the lengths of all the drops (20+17+15+16+17=85).  This means we will need a roll of carpet that is twelve (12) feet wide by eighty-five (85) feet long. Multiply the width of the carpet roll by the length (12 X 85 = 1020) to get the square footage of the carpet roll needed.  Because there are nine (9) square feet in one yard, divide the square footage of the carpet by nine (1020 ÷ 9 = 133.3333) to get the total square yardage needed and round to the nearest hundredth.  For the above layout, we will need 133.33 yards of carpet.

For this room we will use 2 drops, one 12x15, the other 12x15 with a 3x15 remnant

For this room we will have 2 drops, each 12x15 with no fills or remnants.

This room requires two drops of 12x15 with two separate remnants.  Either one of 2x11 and one of 7x4, or one of 2x15 and one of 5x4.

This room requires a drop of 12x16 and a fill of 3x7.  Notice how the width is always recorded first.

Carpet Measuring Photos

This layout requires 2 drops and a fill.  Be sure to figure on running the carpet the same direction in all connecting rooms.

The exact measurement of the carpeted area in the above photo is 7 feet, 2 inches.  When measuring, always round up to the nearest 3 inch increment.  When measuring carpet, add an additional 3 inches onto the end of each measurement.  That would mean that this measurement would be recorded as seven feet six inches or 7’6” (7’2” rounded to the nearest increment of 3” = 7’3” plus an additional 3” for carpet = 7’6”).

In the above photo the measurement or the carpeted area is exactly 7 feet.  Because 7 feet is the same as 84 inches (which is a multiple of 3”) no additional rounding is required.  Add the additional 3 inches that is added onto all carpet measurements.  Record this measurement as 7’3”.

The actual width of the stairway is 3’6”.  This is a multiple of 3” so no additional rounding is needed.  Add 3” to the measurement for a width of 3’9”.

Measure the tread and riser length together, as shown in the above photo.  The length of one tread plus one riser is 1’6”.  Add 3” for a length of 1’9”.  Take the measurement of the width of the stairs by the measurement of the length of one step (tread plus riser) and record them together i.e. 3’9”x 1’9”.  Count the number of risers and write it as 3’9”x 1’9”x 15 (15 risers @ 3’9”x 1’9” each).  Multiply the number of risers by the length of each step by converting the measurement into a decimal (1’9” can be written as 1.75 Therefore 1.75 x 15risers = 26.25).  This means you will need a fill of 3’9”x 26’3” to cover the staircase.  The above staircase is a custom stair case built on site with no runners.  If your stair case has runners, you will need to add 1 foot by the length of the runner.