Tools for the job

Top Tips

• Carpet is laid in a single piece wherever possible, unlike a floor covering such as carpet tiles, therefore to accommodate corners and nooks in the layout of a room there is often some considerable wastage.
• Carpet manufacturers often produce rolls of carpet to just a few standard widths, most commonly up to 3660mm (12ft) wide, and more rarely up to 4570mm (15ft) wide.
• Try to avoid placing seams in thoroughfares.
• Remember that colour is often difficult to match between batches of carpet, so purchase all you need from the same shop and the same roll.
• Carpet pattern and pile must be matched to ensure they run in the same direction.
• Any pattern should run parallel to the main axis of the room.

Measuring your room(s)

Often the best approach is to sketch the layout of the room(s) you wish to carpet and measure the fullest length and width of each. Then add 75mm (3in) to each measurement to allow for fitting.

• Don’t forget to account for alcoves, bay windows and doorways when measuring.
• If carpet is to run in one continuous piece, take the combined total length and width of all rooms to calculate the total square metres of carpet (total length x total width)
• If the carpet cannot cover all rooms continuously, or door bars are to cover breaks between rooms, calculate square metres for each room and then add these together

If carpet is not available in a width large enough to cover either dimension of a room in one seamless piece, a seam will have to be included.

If in any doubt, take your sketch of the room’s floorplan and dimensions to your carpet retailer and they will advise you on the most economical way to cover the area.

Carpeting stairs

To calculate the length of carpet required to cover a stair case, measure the height of each vertical riser and the depth of each horizontal tread. Add these figures together and multiply the result by the total number of steps. Then add another 450mm (1ft 6in) to allow for fitting.

Further information and useful links

• Carpet materials
• Types of carpet
• Guide to installing a fitted carpet
• More floors topics

• Find a Carpet supplier near you
• Find a Carpet Fitter near you