Thinking of fitting a carpet yourself – or found a carpet you like but want to know if it’s within budget? Then it pays to know some top tips.
While we would always advise you get your carpet professionally measured – so you don’t end up ordering too much or too little – if you would like to do it yourself, here’s some helpful hints on how to work out how much carpet you need for your room...
Grab a tape measure, calculator, pencil and paper and draw a simple diagram of the room. It doesn’t have to be perfect but be as accurate as you can with the measurements. If the room is square or rectangular, it can easily be calculated by multiplying the width by the length e.g. 5m x 4m equals 20 square metres of carpet.
If your room includes chimney breasts, recesses or bay windows you will still need to measure at the longest and widest points. The carpet will be cut to fit around them. Equally, don’t forget to measure into the middle of the doorway rather than just the door.
Take extra care when it comes to stairs and the landing or hall. Measure the height and depth of each stair to give you the length before multiplying by the width. This will give you the area of each step. Again, don’t forget to allow for 10% waste and error as stairs can be tricky. With landings or hallways where you have stairs leading down, be sure to measure around the nosing (the ledge at the top of the first step).
If you’re putting carpet in one room, getting the final amount of carpet you need should be fairly easily. If you’re laying the same carpet in several rooms, measure each individual area and mark on your diagram. Then add together at the end to get the total amount of carpet you need. Remember to allow for wastes and seams etc, so add 5% to the total figure.
To avoid mistakes, we recommend you measure twice to confirm you’ve got it right! And to be completely sure you’re ordering the correct amount, ask a professional to come and measure up ahead of confirming your order.
