How do you measure for new carpet? To the nearest rounded foot, to the next higher foot, to the next inch, convert inches in measurement to decimal foot, ???
What about tack strips - all places where carpet touches a wall? Or are there other places these should also be used?
How is carpet puchased? To the nearest square foot? Or is it rounded up to the number of feet in standard carpet roll width - 20 ' or whatever?
How do you determine what thickness of padding to buy?
What else should I know while measuring?
Anything else I should have asked as a complete carpet purchasing tyro?
I always measured to allow for a little to trim off . Usually wall to wall plus about 4" .
All the walls , and if the carpet butts to a "step" , like a 3/4" hardwood floor .
Sold by the square yard , allow about 5-10% overage for seam cuts , doorways , out of square rooms , etc . Standard carpet is 12' wide , sometimes + an inch or 2 for seam allowance .
It's more about pad density than thickness . Too thick and the carpet will stretch and loosen from the deflection when you step on it . Standard when I was in the business was 1/2 inch thick . Not sure if they still make it (been out of the business quite a while) but Omalon Extra was considered a premium padding .
They're going to come out and measure your rooms , you need to measure also , total sq feet divided by 9 to get yardage then add a little - if their measurements differ significantly from yours go somewhere else - padding the yardage is a very common trick to pad the bottom line .
You'll want to compare pile density , it's in oz/per sq foot or yard , more is better . As above pad density is also important . Be sure they plan to use a power stretcher , modern synthetic carpet backing must be stretched a certain percentage to remain tight and that ain't happening with a knee kicker . Seam placement is important too , you'll want the seams in lighter traffic areas if possible .
To clarify this a bit, yes, it is priced by the square yard, but you do have to buy it in 12' wide pieces. If the room is wider you have to figure that 12' wide and add pieces on the side. They have to be cut so that the weave all faces the same direction.
Sounds like you are considering DIY? It can be done, but you can hire a pro at reasonable price and save a lot of headaches too.
Other answers good; a more complete exposition of points covered by Terry/Ed is at
Note that 12-ft is the most common width; 15-ft and 13'-6" are available from some manufacturers for some carpets; you'll just have to ask what any particular carpeting you select is available as--sometimes if the dimensions are just wrong, it'll pay to pay a slight premium over base cost to minimize waste or simply the number of seams reduction makes for a much cleaner install so it's worth a little more up front cost.
My carpet knowledge is very old but I spent 20 years in textile fibers basic R&D. I was very familiar with carpet fibers but construction is also very important. Not only that, there is misrepresentation. All nylon fiber for example is not the same and there are carpet finishes that are important. Nylon carpet fibers should not be round and a trilobal structure helps hide dirt. Stain resistant finishes and antistats are important. I've seen tire cord nylon purchased by a carpet manufacturer. That would make a lousy carpet.
Underlay is also very important as what appears nice and bulky may permanently disfigure under furniture legs or otherwise collapse in use.
There is a big remnant supplier and installer here that I had a bad experience with. I bought what was labeled nylon and after it was installed I took a piece into the lab to check the basis weight and the fiber. The fiber turned out to be polyester. Had it been on stairs, I would have had it removed but settled for about 25% rebate.
A technician here had a similar problem with the same outfit. We both picked up something the average person would have missed.
Carpet used to be sold by the square yard but now it is the square foot.
I would stick with reputable carpet manufacturers and reputable carpet brands. You can google all this stuff up.
You have automatically assumed that a difference in measurements means that they are ripping him off.
In this situation we have a complete novice (no offense intended) doing the measurements and then a professional (assumption) doing the measurements. A significant difference could be based on experience, not dishonesty. Seams, direction of carpet, fitting standard size carpet into a non-standard room, hallways, foyers, stairs, etc. There are a lot of variables.
If the salesman's measurements differed significantly vs. mine, the first thing I would do is ask him to explain how he came up with those numbers. I can then either agree that his numbers makes sense (i.e. I missed something), I can question him further or verify his numbers through other means (if I'm still uncomfortable) or I can send him packing if I think he is trying to rip me off.
I worked in the industry for over 15 years , and saw this from SOME places I contracted installs for . I'm assuming from what I've seen Ken post that he can measure and calculate square feet/yards . What I'm saying is that if he comes up with 87 sq yd for 3 rooms and the salesman comes up with 103 , something ain't right . Your suggestion to ask how the salesman how he got there is however a good one , people do make mistakes ... I worked sales for a very brief time for one small store . I quit the day I was told to call a customer back and lie to them that I'd miscalculated by
10 yards . Also called the customer and warned him that the guy would probably call . Sad thing is that the places that do this also want to pay the (contract) installers only for the "real" yardage .
Kenny my boy, it's clear that as little as you know about carpet and installation, the best advice is to head on down to your favorite carpet store and let them handle it...
Yeah, because learning new things is bad. Never strive to expand your knowledge. Never try to educate yourself even if it's only to protect yourself from unscrupulous tradesmen. Never try to educate yourself so you'll know if there are more options than you had considered. Stay ignorant. If you don't know how to do something, always ask someone else to do it for you. There's never a reason to better yourself.
Little harsh... He's like many other posters here that do the basic research here first instead of other logical sources. Some of the posters here have informed us about materials and spec's so it's not a wasted topic.
It's obvious to anyone with even minimal critical thinking skills that the OP's reach is well beyond his grasp. He'd quickly get in way over his head. Hey, if he wants to piss away thousands of dollars and end up with his house looking like crap, it's his call.
I was just trying to save the guy some money and some grief- not to mention what he'd get from his wife- until he hired a professional to come in behind him to fix his DIY disaster ;-)
Measure the rooms to the nearest inch, eg 15 ft, 6".
Take the measurements to a carpet store, have them install it. They will come out, measure it again, order it, install it right and quickly. Some things just aren't worth DIY. You have the tools, skill and knees to stretch it? Tools, supplies to do seams if necessary?
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