How to choose new carpet wisely and avoid common retail scams - Carpet Professor

How To Buy Carpet and Flooring Wisely

 

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Carpet Measuring Guide &

Room Yardage Chart

 

 

Why Measure For Carpet Yourself? 

There are a few unscrupulous carpet retailers who may try to sell you more carpet than you actually need. This is a very common carpet scam and rip-off. 

 

This room yardage chart will help you verify the measurements of any bids or estimates you receive. For example, if you get three free estimates and they all show a different amount of material your job requires, my Room Yardage Chart can help you identify the bid or estimate that is the most accurate.

 

 

Different Measuring Estimates?

Experienced carpet salespeople are better at measuring than newbies. When carpeting more than one room, leftover carpet from one room can be used to fill another area. An experienced estimator can strategically save you money by limiting the amount of material waste.

 

Some carpet salespeople are inexperienced and fear not ordering enough material to finish the job. To prevent embarrassment and save face, they may add a few extra yards to your order.

 

Measuring for carpet yourself is a smart way to protect yourself from over-measuring and save money on your new carpet purchase. However, this is only ONE of dozens of scams that you  need to be aware of.

 

How To Measure For Carpet in 4 simple steps

 

 

Room Yardage Chart

 

Instructions: 

Measure your room length and width carefully and make sure you measure all the way into closets and through doorways. Add 3 extra inches to the length and width for trimming purposes. This will give you a close estimate of how many yards of carpet your room requires. To calculate the square footage, just multiply the yardage amount by 9. Always round up.

 

(10 square yards is the same as 90 square feet. 10 X 9 = 90)

 

1. Find your room WIDTH (in feet)

2. Find your room LENGTH (in feet)

3. Discover the amount of Square Yards

 

(click on image to view or print)

 

room yardage table chart

 

NOTE: You usually have to buy carpet in widths of 12 feet. If you have a room that is 10 feet by 10 feet you will have to buy a rug that is 12 feet by 10 feet. To convert square yards to square feet, multiply SY by 9. ( 12 sy  x 9  =  108 sf )

Expect to have some material waste. You usually have to buy carpet in widths of 12 feet. For example, if you have a room that is 10 feet by 10 feet you will have to buy a carpet that is 12 feet wide by 10 feet long. That will create some leftover material waste.

 

 

Necessary Carpet Seams

If you have a room wider than 12 feet you will need to have a seam. For example: A room 15 feet wide by 16 feet long will require a 3 foot by 16 foot seam along one side of the room. 

 

There must be enough extra carpet to do the seams. Usually 5 to 10% more depending on the size of your rooms and the number of seams used to fill the space. 

 

 

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