How to Calculate How Much Carpet is Needed For Stairs

There a number of decisions that go into choosing the best carpeting for your home. You have to decide on the style, the weave and the color. You have to consider the durability of the carpet. You also have to weigh your options against your budget.

When it comes to budgeting, the amount of space you intend to carpet is the determining factor. Carpet, no matter the style or weave, is generally sold by the square foot or the square yard. Calculating square footage for most rooms in your home is straightforward. Just measure length and width and multiply. When it comes to carpeting stairs, the calculations are a little more involved, but still doable.

Things You'll Need

• Flexible tape measure, like those used for sewing

Instructions

Measure Stair Square Footage

1. Measure the width of your staircase first, and write down the number. Round the number up to the nearest foot.

2. Use the flexible tape measure to measure the rise and depth of a single stair.Firmly hold the end of the tape measure at the bottom of a stair. Run it up the front face of the stair and across the flat top of the stair until you reach the bottom of the next stair. If your stairs have a lip, you may need someone to help you by holding the tape measure down underneath the lip so that you get an accurate measure of the full distance. Write down this number.

3. Count the number of stairs you plan to carpet.

4. Multiply the number from step two by the number from step three. Round up to the nearest foot.

5. Multiply the number from step one by the answer you got in step four. This is the square feet of carpet you will need to carpet your stairs.

Tips & Warnings

• Measure landings separately by multiplying the length times width. Don't forget to add in the landing riser area to your measurements.

• For curved staircases, measure angular stairs at their widest depth.

References

• World Floor Covering Association, carpet tips