How to Measure a Floor for New Carpeting

Sketch a rough outline of flooring areas you plan to cover with new carpet. Graph paper is easy and helpful for drawing your sketch, but not necessary. Another way to make your outline is using the Paint program on your computer. If your house has more than one level, make a separate sketch for each floor.

Enlist the help of a friend or family member. It's much easier for two people to take measurements than just one.

Take measurements in each room that requires carpet and mark them on the appropriate walls of your sketch. Measure the length first, rounding up to the nearest half foot. In other words, if a room is 11 feet 4 inches long, mark down 11.5 feet. Another example would be if a room is 10 feet 8 inches wide, mark down 11 feet.

Treat an L-shaped room such as a combined living room-dining room into two complete sections rather than one room. Consider large walk-in closets as separate rooms when measuring.

Multiply the length of each room by the width to determine the square footage needed for that particular room.

Add together the total square footage for all the rooms and add an additional 10 percent to cover extra carpet needed for things like seam allowances and small closets.

Divide the total square footage by 9 to determine how many square yards you need. This is necessary because, in most cases, you buy carpet by the square yard.