Carpet Calculator
Calculate how many square yards of carpet to order for a room, accounting for standard roll width and seam waste.
About the Carpet Calculator
Unlike tile or laminate flooring, broadloom carpet is manufactured and sold in fixed-width rolls — typically 12ft wide — so you can't simply buy your room's exact square footage. This calculator figures out how many full roll-width strips are needed to span the room, then totals the actual square yardage you'll be purchasing.
Formula: Strips Needed = Room Width ÷ Roll Width (rounded up); Purchased Area = Strips × Roll Width × Room Length; Carpet Needed (sq yd) = (Purchased Area × (1 + Waste %)) ÷ 9
Because carpet is cut in full roll widths, a room only slightly wider than one roll can require a second full strip — and a seam. A 10% waste allowance is typical for pattern matching and pile direction, but increase it for rooms with lots of closets, jogs or stairs. Carpet (and the pad beneath it) is almost always priced and sold by the square yard, not the square foot, so this figure lines up directly with a retailer's quote.