How to measure a room

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Hurrah! It’s time to buy a brand-new carpet for your home. But before you start getting giddy about choosing colours or picking patterns, the first thing you should be doing is measuring your room. You might be wondering about where to even begin, so to help, we’ve put together a simple guide to teach you how to tackle it like a pro. Measuring a room is not as daunting as you might think, and remember, when you place an order with us, we’ll be happy to pop over and give your room(s) a free measurement check to be 100% sure of a perfect fit!

Things you’ll need to measure a room

Tape measure
Pen or pencil
Piece of paper
Ruler
A helpful assistant - if you can find one!

Things to remember when measuring a room for flooring

Whether your new floor will be carpet, vinyl flooring, luxury vinyl, or laminate flooring, how to measure a room remains exactly the same.
Only record actual measurements on your plan. Don’t add any allowances or extra centimetres on.
Measure all the way into the doorways as well as the width and jot down this information on your plan.
Note the number of doorways so we can accurately calculate the connecting door bars and thresholds that we’ll need.
Measure any drop backs, alcoves, or fireplaces.
Take a few measurements wall to wall across each room as some walls are not actually parallel!
Take lots of photos so we can see your room in more detail.

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How to measure a room

Draw a floor plan of the room you want carpet measurements for, making sure to jot down any doorways, windows, or drop backs, including fireplaces, alcoves, and fitted cupboards.

Tapi Top Tip: Only include actual measurements – we'll add on any extra allowances later that you’ll need. Use our carpet calculator to help you get a good idea of how much it could cost for your favourite options.
Measure the width of the widest part of the room using your tape measure, then measure across the room at a few different points as the walls might be a little uneven (especially in older houses) and note down these measurements on your plan.

Tapi Top Tip: If you can get someone else to help you hold the tape measure straight, measuring is so much easier. Trust us. Just watch those fingers!
Remember to measure all the way into any doorways and measure the widths of doorways and record all these measurements on your plan.

Measure the drop backs and jot these down, as well as any split levels or steps.

Tapi Top Tip: Take photos of your room from different angles – it really helps us to give you a more accurate quote.

All done! We told you it was a piece of cake!

Now take your plan and photos into your local Tapi store where our team of flooring experts can give you an accurate free quote. Or, if you can’t get to a store, call our order line on 03330 150 501.

If you need help measuring your stairs, follow our how to measure stairs guide.

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Other things to consider when measuring a room

To make sure any quotes we give you are as accurate as possible, it’s helpful if you let us know a few extra bits of information about the room or rooms you’re measuring. When measuring a room for carpet or other flooring such as vinyl, laminate or luxury vinyl, it’s great if you can email some photos of the room or bring them along to one of our stores so we know what we need to fit the flooring around - for example, a built-in wardrobe. All this extra information will help us provide you with a more accurate quote.

Here’s a few questions we might ask you – so be prepared!

What type of room is it? Tell us if the room you are measuring for carpet or other flooring is a bedroom, lounge, kitchen, bathroom, home office, secret laboratory, or a mix of all of them! Knowing how you use the room will help us to determine what floor types are suitable for the space.
How many windows and doors are there in the room? Do the windows reach the floor? Where are the windows and doors? Are they internal or external? Are the windows north- or south-facing? Some flooring types don’t like heat or light, and dark coloured carpets are likely to fade over time in a room with lots of sunlight.
Is there any built-in furniture in the room? It’s useful to know if there are kitchen islands and fitted wardrobes in the room that we need to fit the flooring around.
What’s under the floor you’ll be replacing? Is it concrete or wood, new or old, level or uneven, stable or wobbly? The condition of your subfloor can affect the performance of your new floor, and some flooring types (like carpet and vinyl) are better than others at hiding the imperfections underneath.
Are you measuring for multiple rooms? If so, write the name of the room on the drawing and, if possible, draw the connecting hallway or adjoining room. This helps us understand the layout of your home and which room is which, so we can plan the correct flooring or pile direction. And if you can also let us know what flooring is in the next room (if it’s not being replaced), we can choose the correct type of connecting thresholds.

A HANDY GUIDE ON HOW TO MEASURE A ROOM

You’ve made it to the end of our guide, and hopefully you’re feeling confident and capable of measuring your room for carpet and other flooring! If you think you could do with some extra assistance, however, why not book a free home visit today so that one of our flooring experts can come out and give you a helping hand. Or, if you’re feeling confident and ready to purchase new flooring right away, come on down to your local Tapi store to see all the beautiful samples we have available! Alternatively, to see our experts in action, watch our ‘how to measure a room’ video.

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Post author

Jeremy Garrish Buyer Jeremy has 35 years of carpet industry knowledge

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Published: 02-02-2022

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