Measuring carpet for your own new carpet installation may seem scary at first, but once you understand the basic principles you'll quickly become a carpet measure pro. If you are considering buying carpet online from a Dalton, GA carpet wholesaler, there are several options you can use to get the correct carpet measurements.

1. During the course of shopping for carpet locally, have a local carpet retailer come to your home and evaluate the amount of carpet you will need. This is the least desirable option. Smart carpet retailers rarely give you the diagram of how they arrive at the carpet square yards needed and using the total carpet square yard figure only may create shortages/overages if the carpet is installed in a different direction. Local carpet retailers are under a great deal of pressure to be profitable and remain solvent. If you must, use their showrooms to select your carpet style and then shop for competitive price.
2. Contact a Dalton, Georgia discount carpet wholesaler and have them contact a local carpet installer to come to your house and perform the carpet measure. All retailers and carpet wholesalers have access to a national carpet installation certification service and finding a local installer is as easy as plugging in your zip code. This assures you that the carpet installer that performs the carpet measure will know which direction the carpet should be installed.
3. Draw a detailed diagram or supply a blueprint of your home to the Dalton, GA carpet wholesaler and allow them to determine the square yard or square foot amount required needed for carpet installation.
4. Finally, you can perform the carpet measure yourself. This option should not appear frightening. Once you understand a few simple principles, you can do this as a part-time job. Can you believe there is a job category for simply doing carpet measurements for local retailers?

To perform your own carpet measure, you will need a tape measure, a clipboard or notebook, a calculator, and a pencil. For $15 in carpet measure materials you are ready to begin saving hundreds of dollars on your own carpet installation.

The first step in establishing carpet requirements is to diagram the area to be carpeted and perform an informal "lay-out" to determine the amount of carpet needed. This layout is to be used for your own rough estimation purposes! Before buying carpet, always insist that the retailer or carpet installer come to your home, make a visual site inspection, and create his or her own carpet installation diagram.

This diagram does not have to be elaborate, but principal traffic patterns, closets, natural lighting sources (such as windows), and doorways should be noted. Keep in mind that carpet is manufactured in a linear fashion and the direction of manufacture must be consistent throughout the carpet installation to maintain texture, pattern, and even color consistency. While this will be explained in more detail later, at present you should be aware that the carpet pile leans in the direction of manufacture. When the direction of this pile lean is altered, light is reflected differently which causes a slight color change. When the pile direction is turned during carpet installation, it may appear that the color changes at the seam.

Carpet is manufactured in variety of widths, (12 ft, 13'6", and 15 ft) but most carpet is manufactured in 12-foot widths only. Simply measuring the dimensions of a room may not provide an accurate carpet measurement of the amount required. For example, a 10-ft by 10-ft room provides an area of 100 square feet. Since carpet is manufactured in 12-foot widths, 100 square feet equals 12 ft (width) by 8' 4" (length) of carpet. Purchasing only 100 square ft of carpet would require seaming the 2 foot waste on from the 12 foot width as six 2 ft by 1' 8" seams across the length of the carpet to fit the 10 ft by 10 ft room. In this instance, 120 square feet of carpet would be required to properly install a 100 square foot room.

To compensate for these variables, it is best use a diagram to lay out the carpet, using scrap in closets and keeping in mind that the direction of manufacture must remain the same throughout the carpet installation.

The layout of carpet is much the same as laying out a puzzle, except rather than having a predetermined place where the pieces go, the primary rule is that all carpet must be laid in the same manufactured direction. A few other rules should be considered:

• Seams should never fall perpendicular to doorways
• Seams should run toward primary light sources when possible
• Except in the case of stairs, which can be quarter turned, carpet should always run in the same direction.
• Begin measurements in the center of doorways rather than at the base of walls.
• Patterned goods, such as Berber Carpet, require an additional 10% overage for pattern matching.

Obtaining Square Yard/Square Foot

After establishing the estimated linear footage (12' x 44'), this number must be converted to square yards (square feet in some geographical areas). To obtain square feet needed, simply multiply the length (44 feet) by the width (12 feet) to obtain 528 square feet. To convert square feet to sq yards, you simply divide by 9. 528 divided by 9 equals 58.67.

If the carpet is sold by the square yard, multiply linear feet (44) by 1.33 This allows you to establish a unit price for your budget. 44 linear feet times 1.33 equals 58.67 square yards.

Consider this; a yard is 36 inches, a square yard is 36 in. X 36 in. or 1296 sq. inches. A twelve-foot wide carpet is 12 ft (width) times twelve inches (inches in a foot) or 144 inches across. 1296 sq inches (a square yard) divided by the carpet width in inches (144) equals 9. So 9-inches of roll length times the 12-ft carpet width is a square yard. 12 inches of roll length divided by 9 inches (sq yard) equals 1.33. Carpet roll length (in linear feet) times 1.33 will give you square yards. Is this simple or what?

Assuming you have established a $1500 budget for carpet only, the budgeted amount divided by the square feet of carpet needed (528 ft2) would provide the cost per square foot for carpet only ($2.84 per ft2 or $25.57 per yd2). Carpet installation and carpet cushion (carpet padding) prices should be added to this amount, but in most cases $1 per square foot should more than cover the cost of these goods and services. In some geographic areas, this number could be as little as half of this amount.

Buying Carpet From Dalton Carpet Outlets

If your purpose for measuring your own carpet is to purchase carpet online through a Dalton Carpet Outlet, make sure you fax or email a detailed diagram to the carpet wholesaler, so they can double check your calculations. It is also suggested that you contact an installer prior to carpet installation to confirm that your measurements are accurate. Once your measurements have been confirmed, you are ready to receive shipment of your new carpet. The WWW has actually made it easier to purchase carpet online, and while Dalton Carpet Outlets have thrived for more than 50-years in selling first quality and irregular quality goods through mail order; the web has increase the volume of this business.

In the past, a local carpet retailer may average $300,000 per year in retail carpet sales, while Dalton Carpet Outlets may have averaged $5 million per year in wholesale carpet sales. Today, the local retailer may still average $300,000 per year in retail carpet sales, while Dalton Carpet Outlets may average $10-20 million in wholesale carpet sales. The higher their sales volume, the steeper their discounts from carpet manufacturers. Whether you use carpet prices from Dalton Carpet Outlets as leverage with your own local carpet retailer or buy carpet online; you'll probably save substantially.

Did you know?

Carpet measuring can be easy if you understand the basic principles. Carpet measuring is an inexact art because different carpet measurers may lay carpet out in different directions. It is possible for three different carpet measurers to arrive at three different carpet square yard/square foot results. Make sure the carpet is installed according to the carpet installation diagram to limit shortages. Also use our flooring calculator to estimate the amount of carpet needed for your carpet installation.

About the Author
Michael Hilton was the original creator of Carpet Buyers Handbook. Having owned and operated a carpet wholesale company, Hilton has a vast knowledge about all-things carpet related as well as other types of flooring.

Carpet Benefits
Purchase Decision
Budgeting for Carpet
Shopping for Carpet
Private Labeling
Where to Shop for Carpet
Carpet Measuring
Carpet Tile
Carpet Tile Installation
Indoor Outdoor Carpet
Enjoying Your New Carpet

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