How to measure your floor

Standard 'rectangular' rooms

• Find the two widest areas (a and b)
• Multiply the two dimensions
• 5.25m x 6.35m
• Total metres required = 33.3375

L Shaped room

• The easiest way is to divide the room into two rectangles (see dotted line above)
• Treat the room as two separate rooms
• 'Room 1' dimensions 3.25(a) x 5.35(b)
• Total for 'Room 1' = 17.3875
• 'Room 2' dimensions 2.25(c) x 4.50(d)
• Total for 'Room 2' = 10.125
• Add the two results together - 17.3875 + 10.125
• Total metres required = 27.5125

Hallway

• The easiest way is to divide the room into three rectangles (see dotted line above)
• Treat the room as three seperate rooms
• 'Room 1' dimensions 1.0(a) x 1.5(b)
• Total for 'Room 1' =1.50
• 'Room 2' dimensions 2.5(c) x 5.0(d)
• Total for 'Room 2' = 12.50
• 'Room 3' dimensions 1.0(e) x 1.5(f)
• Total for 'Room 3' =1.50
• Add the three results together - 1.50 + 1.50 + 12.50
• Total metres required = 15.50

How do you measure for carpets?

One important point to remember when measuring you room for carpets is that all carpets supplied come in a fixed width, which can be 2 metres, 4 metres or 5 metres. When ordering you need to know which width your chosen product is available in and what length you wish to buy.

When measuring your room you always need to measure the widest and longest areas (be mindful of bay windows, alcoves and always measure into the door ways) as the carpet will come in one piece. We suggest you should allow a minimum of around 10cm for waste on both the length and width.

After you have completed your measurement (remember to measure twice, cut once) draw an accurate plan of the area.

My carpet has a pattern

Another consideration is if your chosen carpet has a design feature as the design always flows down the length of the carpet. So before you measure your room you need to take into account the above and decide which way round the design goes.

How to save money!

When you draw out your plan of the areas required you have an opportunity to maybe use the waste from one room to fit in another, particularly for the stairs. The reason being you can only buy the flooring in a specific width. So for example if you have a 2.12m x 1.65m room you'll be left with waste pieces of carpet 1.88m x 2.35m and 2.12m x 0.7m.


For your stairs you can easily incorporate joints in the installation which you cannot notice (most carpet fitters do this as a rule anyway). The join will be between the tread and riser. So if you cut the 1.88m x 2.35m piece of waste carpet in half again and put the pieces end on end you'll have enough carpet to cover 3.76m x 1.175m on the stairs. The smaller piece will be waste, unless you have somewhere else it can fit.

Hall, stairs and landings

Hall, stairs and landing are the hardest areas to measure in the home but the principles are the same. Measure each area separately. When measuring the landing taking into account the first riser of the stair as this needs to be attached to the landing piece. The riser is the area of the stair you don't step on. In this example the hall is 3.2m long, by 2.4m wide, The length for the stair in both the tread (the bit you do step on) and the riser added together multiplied by the number of steps. Make sure to remember the design goes down the length! If you have a bullnose tread and riser at the bottom of your stairs this can be fitted separately from the rest of the stairway.