How to Measure & Cut a Carpet Remnant

Carpet remnants are an inexpensive way to patch or update your existing floor.

Carpet remnants are the leftovers from larger carpet rolls. Carpet stores typically sell remnants at discounted prices because they will not cover as much area as a normal carpet roll. Remnants can still be useful, however, for patching up an old carpet or for covering a smaller area of flooring. Measuring and cutting a carpet remnant is a fairly simple process, requiring only a few standard tools and a bit of time.

Things You'll Need

• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Carpet knife or utility knife

Instructions

1. Measure the width and length of the room with your measuring tape, and jot down the measurements on a notepad so you can recall them when needed. If you want the carpet to end under a door, measure past the doorway into the entryway, rather than stopping at the edge of the door frame.

2. Unroll the remnant with the carpet-face down.

3. Use your measuring tape and the dimensions from the first step to measure out the desired size of the remnant. Mark out the dimensions on the carpet with your pencil.

4. Cut along the pencil lines with your knife. Depending on the type of knife, the thickness of the carpet, and the sharpness of the blade, you may have to slice the blade across the lines several times before it is cut completely through. Cut the carpet on a solid surface, preferably one you don't mind being scratched by the knife. Put down a length of particle board as a backstop if you don't have another appropriate surface.

Tips & Warnings

• Cutting around irregular objects, such as fireplace hearths, posts and half-walls, is essentially the same process as cutting to fully cover a room. Just make sure you mark out the sections on the carpet that will need to be cut out to accommodate the objects, then cut the carpet to those specifications.