Accurately measuring a room for carpet

If the time has come to replace your flooring and you are currently browsing the multitude of carpets available online, having accurate measurements to hand will make it far easier to estimate how much you will need to spend. While you can get a decent idea of costs by using rough measurements, you will need to know the exact dimensions of your space when the time comes to place an order. You don’t want to spend more than you need to by ordering too much carpet; even worse, you don’t want to fail to order enough to cover your whole floor.

There is no standard method for measuring up a room for a carpet; however, there are a few simple tips to help make sure you end up with the correct measurements.

Regular-shaped rooms – those that are perfect squares or rectangles and don’t have any alcoves, bays or unusual architectural features that affect the floor area – are the easiest the measure up, as you simply measure the room’s width and length and multiply them to get the floor area. Many rooms are not so easy to measure, however, and require slightly more effort. Depending on the exact shape and size of the room, it may be easier to measure your floor in sections. If you have a very large room with a number of alcoves, for example, measuring each section of floor separately and then adding all the measurements together will ensure you get an accurate result.

As most carpets are supplied by manufacturers in standard widths, such as 12 feet or 13 feet, you might need more than one section of carpet if you have a large room. This can become very complicated if you are ordering a patterned carpet; in this case, it is usually best to leave the measuring and fitting to a professional carpet fitter, especially if the carpet has a fairly infrequent pattern repeat. You will almost certainly need to order more carpet if you choose a patterned variety over a plain one, so be sure to factor this in when setting your budget. There is nothing worse than spending a small fortune on your dream carpet and then realising that due to the pattern requirement, you did not order enough to ensure a neat finish.

Finally, remember to keep your measurements somewhere safe for next time you need to replace your flooring! Keep a record of the exact dimensions and also how much carpet you used.