Carpet Calculator

A 12 by 15 foot room is 180 square feet. Dividing by 9 gives 20 square yards of floor area. With a 10 percent waste allowance for cuts and seams, you should purchase approximately 22 square yards. If the room has a closet or irregular shape, add additional waste to account for extra cuts.

Professional carpet installation in the US typically runs $1 to $2 per square foot for labor, in addition to the cost of the carpet itself. Carpet prices range widely from $1 to $2 per square foot for budget options to $5 to $10 or more for premium wool or thick pile. Carpet pad, tack strips, and removal of old carpet are additional costs not included in per-square-foot carpet pricing.

Carpet has historically been manufactured on wide rolls measured in yards, so the industry adopted square yards as the standard pricing unit. One square yard equals 9 square feet, so a price of $30 per square yard equals $3.33 per square foot. When comparing quotes from different contractors, always convert to the same unit to make an accurate comparison.

Use 10 percent for simple rectangular rooms. Use 15 to 20 percent for rooms with multiple angles, closets, bay windows, or hallways connected to the room. Patterned or directional carpet that must be matched at seams requires the most waste, often 15 to 25 percent, because the pattern repeat forces additional cuts to maintain alignment across the room.

Quality carpet padding runs about $0.50 to $1.50 per square foot, depending on density and thickness. Good padding extends the carpet's lifespan and improves how it feels underfoot.

Woven carpets (like Wilton and Axminster) use the backing threads themselves to hold the pile, making them more durable but also more expensive. Tufted carpets insert the pile with needles into a pre-existing backing and account for the vast majority of residential carpet.