Carpet Calculator

Broadloom carpeting is manufactured and sold by textile mills in standard roll widths of 12 feet (4 yards) or 15 feet (5 yards), with pricing historically quoted per square yard. One square yard equals 9 square feet. While modern rooms are measured in square feet, converting to square yards (Square Feet ÷ 9) allows accurate comparison with retail roll prices and manufacturer roll packaging.

If your room width exceeds standard roll width (12 or 15 feet), seams must be introduced. Even if a room is only 13 feet wide, ordering a 12-foot roll requires a second roll cut and cross-seam to cover the remaining 1 foot, generating cut waste. Our calculator simulates 12-foot and 15-foot roll cuts to determine whether purchasing a 15-foot roll eliminates unnecessary seams and reduces overall scrap waste.

Carpet fibers naturally slant in a single direction (the nap or pile sweep). If two pieces of carpet are seamed together with opposite or perpendicular pile directions, light reflection will make the two pieces appear to be completely different dye lots or shades, creating an unsightly visible seam line. All cuts must run in identical pile orientation toward the primary room entrance.

Carpet padding (underlayment) is purchased to match the net square footage of the room plus 5% for trimming seams, typically sold in 6-foot wide rolls (270 sq ft or 30 sq yds per roll). Tackless carpet strips are installed around the entire perimeter of the room except across doorways; calculate linear perimeter minus door widths and divide by standard 4-foot strip lengths to find the number of tack strips needed.

Add a minimum of 10% waste for simple rectangular rooms with standard 12-foot widths. For multi-room layouts, rooms with angled walls, closets, hallways, or patterned carpets requiring repeat matching (such as geometric berber or floral weaves), increase your waste allowance to 15% to 20% to accommodate directional cutting, door thresholds, and roll trimming.